Tommy Rhine has owned a shoe repair shop for decades. But it was hit hard by the pandemic, and he fell behind in rent. Then his son put up a 'Black owned business' sign. Now, he's taking orders from states away—and has raised tens of thousands of dollars.
Tommy Rhine, 70, has been repairing shoes in Denver for more than 40 years. He's repaired shoes for everyone from Broncos and Nuggets players to doctors and lawyers at Rhine's Shoe & Boot Repair."I mostly deal with downtown businesspeople," Rhine said."Half of them are not working or if they are working, they are working at home. They don't need to dress up or have the shoes right now so that kind of killed everything.
Rhine Sr. has not been a part of the Black Lives Matter protests downtown, but he said he was more active in the 1960s as a young man when he was living in Fort Worth, Texas. He remembers having to ride in the back of the bus and using segregated water fountains. When he moved to Denver in 1970, he said he was often stopped by police.
Since the media coverage began, he's been constantly working. He's been taking orders while repairing shoes.
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