Salvio’s Dancing Shoes Taps Out

By Madeleine Gray on June 3, 2016 in News

Salvio’s Dancing Shoes is a Sydney institution. Italian immigrant Enrico Salvio founded Salvio’s Shoes in 1881 in Melbourne. He wanted to make a business that valued quality craftsmanship, the best materials, and loyal customer service above all else. He succeeded.

In the mid 1920s, Salvio’s moved to Taylor Square in Sydney, and in 1943 to its current Randwick location at The Spot. Enrico’s great granddaughter, Cathy Lennox, and her husband Phillip currently manage the store. Phillip is a fourth generation shoemaker and was taught by his father-in-law, Ted.

Evidently, it’s a family business, and it is this close-knit, artisanal spirit that has brought Salvio’s through the ages, resisting the overpowering din of factory mass production and cheap imports.

Sadly, on March 12 this year Salvio’s revealed that it would be closing its doors for good on June 30. It is simply too difficult for them to compete with cheap overseas labour.

“Online shopping for cheap imports has affected us a lot,” Ms Lennox told The Beast. “When you can buy ballet shoes for $12 you know that you are not paying for Australian wages or quality.”

When questioned about what the future looks like for handmade dance shoes in Australia, Ms Lennox believed that it would be very difficult.

“We are losing the talent and skill of people who can make these shoes each time a business like ours closes,” she said.

“There are very few people who can do what we do, not just in Sydney, but also throughout Australia.

“I believe any small artisanal business has many challenges in competing with cheap overseas competition.

“And another thing we lose is the ability to pass this skill on to the next generation. This is not just with footwear, but also things such as clothing, jewellery, watchmaking, etc.”

Salvio’s has made shoes for an amazing array of customers over the decades – from actors in shows in Australia, China and France, to Olympians and Commonwealth Games competitors. The real advantage to having shoes hand made, Ms Lennox said, is that “they can be made to fit difficult feet, and allow people to dance who otherwise couldn’t”.

Ms Lennox said that some of the best memories in the store “are of serving upstairs in the factory before we moved the shop downstairs after the hairdresser and the barber left. I think that it was a real experience for people to see the shoes being made by hand while waiting to get fitted”.

On Salvio’s Facebook page, hundreds of customers have been sharing their memories of the store.

Local resident Danielle DeAndrea reminisced about getting her first tutu and dancing shoes there.

“Heart is broken!” she wrote. “Still remember the bell ringing as you walked in and that smell of ballet shoes that hadn’t been tried on yet, and of course that gorgeous smile and personality of Mr Salvio himself!”

Other customers have commented that they will be stocking up and getting as many pairs as they can before the store closes.

So another local legend bites the dust. Vale Salvio’s. You will be missed.