Owner Sal Bonavita, who started the shoe repair business in the late 1960s with his…
By Kathianne Boniello
After more than 30 years in business on Bell Boulevard, Bayside Shoes was saying goodbye to its customers this week as it prepared to close its doors later this month.
Owner Sal Bonavita, who started the shoe repair business in the late 1960s with his brother Antonio, said it was time to retire.
“There were a lot of people that were really surprised,” Bonavita said Monday afternoon. “I’m pretty sure we made all the people happy.”
Natives of Provincial Basilicata in southern Italy, Bonavita said he and his brother actually started their shop in another location on Bell Boulevard before moving to the intersection of Bell and 40th Avenue.
Antonio Bonavita, who died several years ago, was a shoemaker in Italy before continuing his trade in California, where he made shoes for Hollywood stars such as Frank Sinatra, his brother said. Eventually Antonio Bonavita joined his brother in New York City.
Sal Bonavita, 65, has sold and repaired his Italian imported shoes from the store at the corner of 40th Avenue ever since. Bayside Shoes sells a variety ladies, men’s and children’s shoes and also provides other services such as adding orthopedic molds and lifts.
Bonavita said that even though pedestrian traffic on Bell Boulevard, Bayside’s Main Street, has declined over the years, “we’ve always managed.”
Bonavita lived in Brooklyn before moving with his wife and five children to Bayside Hills when his family first opened Bayside Shoes. Several of his nephews run a shoe company in Manhattan, he said.
“It’s very difficult to all of a sudden close and go home,” he said. Bonavita said he and his wife would spend more time relaxing at home in Bayside Hills and their Florida residence.
AnnaMaria Gegan, who has worked at Bayside Shoes for nearly 20 years, praised her bosses and extended blessings to loyal customers who patronized the store.
“They treat me like family here,” she said. “I love all the customers — sometimes they stop in just to say hello.”
Bonavita said “we made a good life. We always tried to be honest with the people and the customers. All our customers — they were good to us.”
Reach reporter Kathianne Boniello by e-mail at Timesledgr@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 146.
