DENVER — Several people have contacted Steve On Your Side, wondering if they’ll ever get their shoes back after they dropped them off at a local cobbler shop for repair and the shop suddenly closed.
A sign on the window of Cobbler’s Plus near Evans Avenue and Colorado Boulevard says the business is moving. But months after that sign went up, the website is down and Cobbler’s Plus customers have created a Facebook group — pressing the business’s owner Allen Trushkov to give back the shoes they had dropped off for repair.
John Lane dropped off a pair of hiking boots he loved at Cobbler’s Plus on Dec. 8. The boots are special to him, bringing back memories of Boy Scout hikes with his son. The 15-year-old boots cost around $300 originally, so he said a fee of $175 seemed reasonable for a repair.
Lane said he was told the repair would take about six weeks. So when that time arrived and he didn’t hear anything, he began trying to call Cobbler’s Plus, but the phone line was disconnected. He tried sending messages on Facebook. Those messages weren’t returned. The business website that once had a note about the ongoing move disappeared, too.
“I was just getting frustrated,” he said. “ I'd just like to understand what happened and just like to get my boots back, you know, if you know, businesses fold for a variety of reasons.”
Steve On Your Side spent the last month trying to track down the owner of Cobbler’s Plus, a man named Allen Trushkov. Trushkov is a well-known cobbler both in the area and online, where he posted a lot of videos about the profession on YouTube.
Trushkov didn’t respond to calls or text messages from 9NEWS Consumer Investigator Steve Staeger.
But Steve On Your Side learned Trushkov was connected to another closed shoe shop — a Comfort Shoes store on South University in Centennial. Trushkov’s father owned that store until his passing in 2022. Court records obtained by Steve On Your Side shoe Trushkov’s stepmother sued him over the store. Those same records show a judge ordered Trushkov to pay $60,000.
“I almost feel like he must have been having some kind of financial problems,” said Brady Sartin, who dropped off the boots he uses for western dancing in November. He paid $125 in advance for the repair and still hasn’t gotten his boots back.
Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser told 9NEWS in an interview last month that anyone who has property at a business that suddenly closes is entitled to getting their property back. He said anyone who can’t get their property back should contact his office and report fraud.
A spokesman for Weiser said the office couldn’t comment on or confirm if any investigation is underway.
But Lane said he made a report and has been in contact with an investigator with the attorney general’s office.
This story was the result of a tip to Steve On Your Side. If you have something you want Consumer Investigator Steve Staeger to look into, fill out the form at this link.
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