PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) — Jonathan Gil is an entrepreneur through and through.
The Met School graduate opened a shoe repair shop called “ The Sneaker Sink ” off Weybossett Street earlier this year with one mission in mind — to give old kicks new life.
“I kind of look at a shoe and clean it like you would detail a car,” Gil explained. “You go piece by piece so you don’t miss anything.”
Gil said his love of sneakers started at a young age.
“I always knew that others loved sneakers as well … but a lot of us don’t have time to clean our sneakers,” he said. “I thought, ‘Why not start a business and provide a service where people can just drop off their shoes and we’ll make them look like new?’”
Rehabbing well-worn shoes for a living wasn’t the 33-year-old’s initial plan. Gil said he was well on his way to becoming an electrician until a hand injury a few years ago put him out of work for two months.
“I was opening a package and I ripped open my hand,” he recalled. “It was nuts.”
That’s when he started buying used sneakers online and working his magic.