At Avon Shoes & Orthopedic Center, 67 Public Square in Watertown, the owners would be quick to embrace the title of an old Nancy Sinatra song: “These Boots are Made for Walkin’.”

As continuous family businesses go, this one has an almost unique longevity and shows no signs of stopping after 87 years.Around 1919, a talented and energetic 17-year-old orthopedic shoemaker from the tiny Italian village of Morolo sailed through Ellis Island into New York. He was quarantined there for some time with chicken pox, but eventually grew restless to begin plying his trade. His life’s work became an odyssey that eventually blossomed into one of the most well known businesses of its kind in the region.

Young LaBindo Martini, with no knowledge whatever of the English language, spent about a year working in an older cousin’s shoe repair shop located in Carthage.

He continued to learn and soon was anxious to head out on his own. Heading for the historic Madison Barracks at Sackets Harbor on nearby Lake Ontario, “Bindo,” as he was called, opened a small shop in hopes of doing leather boot and shoe work for the military personnel stationed there after World War One.

Legend has it that the Commanding General’s wife came into his shop one day carrying her husband’s fine, black leather cavalry boots with a broken welt. Bindo said he could make temporary repairs, but offered something more - to make a brand new pair of boots for the General.

Mind you, he couldn’t speak directly to the woman because of his limited English. Luckily, he had found some retired Italian friends willing to act as interpreters in his shop and they managed to bridge the linguistic gap.
It worked. The General loved the boots and young Bindo further enhanced his image by making two more perfect pairs for officers who also later became generals.

After a year in that location, he was given assistance by his military friends in moving to a shop on Arsenal Street in Watertown, next door to the Avon Theater.

He had no idea what to call his business, so he simply adopted the name Avon Shoes. Apparently his neighbors at the theater thought that was just fine.

Business thrived and there he remained for a quarter-century. During that time, he met and married the former Mary Crescenzi and they raised four children, three boys and a girl.

Bindo’s eldest son, Mario, known by the nickname “Bucky,” was born in 1928. He began working with his dad as a young man and remained at the store until his retirement 15 years ago. They gradually branched out from a shoe repair business into selling many brands of new shoes.

The orthopedic portion of their business continued to expand as well.

The landmark and formerly majestic Avon Theater that dated back to 1886 eventually became a casualty of urban renewal. Avon Shoes and Orthopedic Center moved into the beautiful brick Woodruff Hotel building on the north side of the Watertown Public Square. That grand five-story structure, built after what was called “the great fire of 1849,” also housed a restaurant and several additional businesses.

At that time, Bindo’s son, Renald “Ren” Martini, joined the shoe business with his dad and older brother. The 29-year-old Ren was familiar with the store, having worked stocking shelves and helping with shoe repairs in the back room as a young teenager.

He had also worked at the Watertown Times, but was inexorably drawn by fate into the Martini family shoe business. He made it his fulltime life’s work in 1964.

By then, the store had grown enough to sustain Bindo and two of his sons.

Eventually, the proverbial handwriting appeared on the wall of the old Woodruff Hotel and the owner informed the Martinis that he had decided not to pour lots of money into repairs and renovations. He announced that he would let it go back to the city for taxes, but offered to give the Martini family $600 to move into new quarters. Ren said, “That was a bargain. We moved only two doors down to 67 Public Square.” He laughed and added, “We borrowed a beer distributor’s truck and started in. We had a lot of strong backs and 20 cases of beer.”

Ren continued, “We were lucky to move into what had already been a shoe store. We closed in the Woodruff on Saturday afternoon and opened for business in our new location Monday morning at 9 o’clock. We’ve been here ever since.”

The family leased the building for two years with an option to buy and are not sorry they ended up owning it.

Ren said, “Not too many businesses can say they’ve been on the Square for more than 80 years. I love this place. Everybody knows us around here.”

By the time Ren’s older brother Mario (”Bucky”) retired, Ren’s son Renald, Jr., known as “Bobby,” was working-full time. He had also begun helping out part-time as a teenager and later attended a special orthopedic school, adding to what he had already learned at the shop.

When he finished the school and came home, he told his dad, “They don’t do anything that you and your brother and your father didn’t use to do.” He continues to excel at that kind of work in the shop today.

Ren said that most of the special orthopedic shoes these days are made by a number of companies according to prescription. More than 60 doctors and other professionals refer clients and customers to the Avon store. In spite of a struggling national economy, Ren said he is certain there will always be a need for the orthopedic specialty.

Ren’s father was deft at making footwear for those with special needs over eight decades ago and Bobby carries on with that expertise. Ren explained, “Bobby cuts the shoes apart. He puts in the build-ups. He does a tremendous job with the orthopedics.”

Ren can also perform all kinds of shoe repair and, when Bobby is overwhelmed with business, Ren works right alongside his son until they can catch up.

Ren noted that he also gets referrals from other shoe stores in the region. He explained, “People go into those businesses and ask for a special sized shoe or something with an extra rise. If they can’t fill the request, they send them to us and we do our best to help them out. That’s a real compliment.”

Ren’s wife Joanne, their younger son Michael “Mike” Martini and their married daughter, Sue Lucas, are also part of the Avon Shoe store family. Several of them spoke to this reporter, adding their individual perspectives to the Avon story.

Avon Shoes & Orthopedic Center is almost exclusively a family-owned and operated Watertown business. Besides relatives, they employ only a single part-time salesperson to assist.

We asked Ren what special quality his father possessed that might have encouraged the teenaged shoemaker to set off for America and pursue his dream of success in the New World. Ren’s answer? “I guess he just had lots of gumption.”
Bindo would be 105 if he were still alive. Wherever he is, he is saying in his native language, “We’ve come a long way, baby!”

The present store is certainly a far cry from his modest little shop at Sackets Harbor on Black River Bay in the early 1920s, but there is no doubt that Bindo is looking down from his cobbler’s bench in the sky with a broad Italian smile for a job well done.

How about a North Country toast to this long-lasting family shoe business? Set ‘em up, bartender. Martinis all around!