An important element in the makeup of any community is the long-standing, reliable, and friendly relationship that grows between its residents and those who provide them with essential services. Marelli Bros. in downtown San Rafael fits that definition to perfection. The shop on Fourth St. between C and D streets is celebrating its 100th anniversary this July and has been owned and managed by three generations of Marelli family members. On June 30, 1921 The Marin Journal reported that locally born brothers Charles and Louis Marelli would open, “a modern and up-to-date shoe repairing plant at 814 Fourth St, opposite the Tamalpais Bank…on the first of July.” Newspaper ads of the time touted the Marelli’s, “First Class Work”, their “Modern Factory Machinery”, and their use of “Exclusive East Coast Stock.” As a testament to their honesty and commitment to the community another Marin Journal article reported that in 1933, the worst economic year of The Great Depression, the Marelli’s put a call into the Sheriff’s office after finding a small pouch on their floor containing two diamond rings worth an estimated $5,000. It turned out that Mrs. G.M. Simmons of Inverness had “lost” her rings and forgotten that she had secreted them inside a pair of shoes that she had brought to Marelli’s for repair. The story ended with, “The
Sheriff was informed, the telephone got busy, and Mrs. Simmons was the happiest ever. And did she sleep that night!”
The shop would move farther west down Fourth St to 1316, eventually settling into a larger space next door at 1318. By that time the sons of Charles and Louis, Harold and Louis Jr., were running the business and employing their own sons, Ron, Dennis, Dave and Bob. In a recent conversation with Ron, who now manages Marelli’s with his brother David, he spoke of the long legacy that his family has established with the residents of San Rafael. His family has remained in business, in virtually the same location, during the good years and the desperate economic times of the 1930s and through this last challenging year of the pandemic. When you walk into Marelli’s you are greeted by either Ron, his sister Karen, or long-time employee Jamie Wilson, along with that wonderful, unique ‘scent’ that is a mixture of fine leather, shoe polish and leather oils. The shop processes hundreds of orders weekly made up of shoes, boots, purses and luggage with women’s shoes accounting for almost 75% of repair requests. The open-air floor plan of the shop also allows customers the opportunity to see the employees at work restoring and repairing leather footwear and accessories while they are being served at the counter.
Ron and his brothers Dennis and David still live in the houses that the original Marelli brothers lived in at the west end of San Rafael back in the 1920s. Marelli’s Shoe Repair, is celebrating a century of serving Marin County residents while keeping alive the long tradition of the cobbler’s art.
(Originally appeared as History Watch article in the Marin Independent Journal in 2021)