Civic Shoes has been named as a finalist in this year’s Canberra Region Local Business Awards and owner, Miltiadis Vassiliotis, couldn’t be happier.
Hailing from Karpathos, a small Greek island in the Dodecanese, Miltiadis’ father, Nick, came to Australia in 1956 and worked as a cobbler from that time. He then opened Civic Shoes in 1973, which was passed on to become Miltiadis’ shoe repair store.
READ MORE: From Karpathos to Canberra: The story of a Greek Australian cobbler.
In the 20 years Miltiadis has been at the helm, Civic Shoes has been more in demand than ever before. They have even opened factories in Italy, China and Vietnam and they’re readying to begin exporting their custom shoes to Europe.
“Three years ago I started designing the custom made shoes and custom made inner soles,” Miltiadis told The Greek Herald in August last year.
“We’re doing something different than everyone else around.
“We’re the first to bring the 3D scanner, which measures 52 different measurements on your feet, in Australia. Through these measurements we build up the shoes.”
It’s no surprise then that Civic Shoes is up for another local business gong this year, after they were also named winner’s of last years awards.
Canberra Region Local Business Awards Project Manager, Chris Jamgotchian, said it’s stories like Miltiadis’ that judges are lucky enough to discover when reading nominations.
“Every business has a story it’s just about telling that story,” Mr Jamgotchian said.
Source: The Canberra Times.
