Broadway Shoe Repair Closing After 82 Years In Business Due To Beloved Owner’s Death

LAKEVIEW — Since taking over the family business in 1990, Dionysios “Dan” Kanellakis spent almost every day inside Broadway Shoe Repair.

That, too, is where his life ended suddenly last week.

Kanellakis, a beloved neighborhood fixture, died Tuesday of a heart attack, according to Alexis Kanellakis, his daughter. He was 59.

Broadway Shoe Repair, 3171 N. Broadway, will close permanently after 82 years in business following its owner’s death. The Kanellakis family have spent their days since the patriarch’s passing in the store, letting customers know to come pick up orders and chatting with longtime patrons and friends who have stopped by to pay their condolences.

Flowers sit inside Broadway Shoe Repair’s door and on its countertop as neighbors mourn the highly visible and very friendly shop owner.

“He basically talked to people all day and then worked at night,” Alexis Kanellakis said. “I think it was very on par that he died here.”

Broadway Shoe Repair was opened in 1942 by George Kanellakis, Dan’s father. It has remained in the same location since opening.

A closing date has not been set, but the shop will likely close in the coming weeks after outstanding orders are returned to customers, Alexis Kanellakis said. A GoFundMe has been launched to help the family retire the business.

There was little Dan Kanellakis loved more than the store. On any given day, you could find him either fixing up some shoes, chatting up a customer, or more than likely, both at the same time.

The store survived eight decades of rapid change along one of Lakeview’s most busy streets, even making it through the tumult of COVID-19. During the pandemic, he would come sit in the store with the door open so he could chat with passing-by friends.

Alexis and her brother George, 26 and 30, spent their childhoods in and around the chaotically maximalist store before moving to DeKalb and Aurora, respectively. They still made an effort to visit in adulthood, always finding their dad wearing a baseball cap with his hands on one of the display cases, his phone in the other hand, and Bluetooth headset in his ear.

Shoes wrapped in plastic bags line the walls of Broadway Shoe Repair, with every corner covered with shoe soles to leather wax. In the window sits a tiny replica of the storefront. Dan Kanellakis was always fixing something, from the shoes, handbags, and belts he worked on in the store to hand radios, motorcycles and bikes.

Neighbors remember Dan Kanellakis as the kind of businessman who put customers first, respecting the value of connection.

One Lakeview resident, who moved to the neighborhood as a young widow, shared on Facebook that Dan Kanellakis refused to accept payment when she brought in items, so she would offer him some homemade cookies. 

As rival prices rose and the trade became more of a lost art, Broadway Shoe Repair stood tall as not just a remnant of old-school Chicago, but a pillar of the neighborhood. Customers knew to expect more than just expert shoe repair, with dozens sharing anecdotes on Facebook of Dan Kannelakis’ gravitational connection. He would frequently share stories of his beloved Greece, where he was born, as well as talk lovingly of his children and his craftsmanship.

It was his desire that the family business die with him, his children said. He wanted them to pursue their own endeavors, with George working in tech and Alexis in criminal justice. 

Dan Kanellakis had recently gotten his teeth done in Greece, solving an insecurity he had long held, Alexis Kanellakis said. He loved showing off his new smile, sending his children random selfies of his new pearly whites. He planned to visit Greece again with his children in October, showing them his hometown of Pyrgos. 

They still plan to go visit their extended family, bringing some of their father’s ashes to spread in his honor. Dan Kanellakis teased his daughter about getting her tattoo removed in Greece, but after his sudden death, Alexis Kanellakis has another kind of tribute in mind.

She now plans to get a tattoo of the storefront tile that displays the store’s address in her father’s honor, keeping the store an eternal piece of their family. 

“I always thought he was invincible, and I’ve said this to everyone,” Alexis Kanellakis said. “He would smoke cigarettes every day and just drink black coffee and he never got sick. He was always fine all the time.”

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