[August 19, 2011] End Of AnaEUR^Era: Cobbler created cache of clientele Tweet Aug 19, 2011 (The Stanly News & Press - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- FRIDAY, August 19 -- It's very plausible that Bob Honeycutt never met a shoe he didn't like. Considered by many customers and friends as one of the brightest characters in Albemarle, Honeycutt, 84, died Tuesday at Stanly Manor following months of sickness and a fall. Honeycutt was owner and operator of Honeycutt's Shoe Shop on West North Street. His father, Lewis, began the business on North Second Street in 1936. Honeycutt and his brother, James, co-owned the business for many years and had a loyal following. Ted Smith, acting chief of Albemarle Police Department, which is just a short walk from Honeycutt's Shoe Shop, remembers Bob as "a fine man" who referred to him as "Old Smithy Smith." It turns out Bob Honeycutt had a nickname for many of his customers. "We were getting shoes from him still," said Smith, who was also known as "The Master Detective." "I'd always ask him when he wanted me to come back and wait on it." That was a running joke as many customers remembered, which added to the overall love of the experience. "I always enjoyed meeting up with him down there and talking. He was just a fine fellow," Smith said. Charlie Frye of Stanly Funeral Home would often stop in to see Honeycutt when the funeral home was located at the back of his store. Frye says he would usually be greeted: "Oh, hell-oooo there, my friendly mortician." "There was so much about him that was unique," Frye said. "A bright spot of the city is gone now because I never saw him unhappy." Oakboro resident Jeff Branch, who was Honeycutt's nephew by marriage, called him "an icon in Albemarle." "You could go to the shoe shop and even if you were having a bad day, after a fun conversation with Bob, you would leave with a huge smile on your face," said Branch, otherwise known as "Jefferson City, Missouri." Bear Knotts of Albemarle considered Honeycutt a dear friend. Knotts remembers that the shoe store was a thriving business when he back to town in 1950. "He sort of personified small town living and a small town merchant. Albemarle is going to miss him very badly." According to his obituary, the shoe store is destined to close. In part it reads, "Honeycutt's Shoe Store will be missed by many people in the community." "You're seeing shoe shops go out of existence," Smith said. "It's a lost art in America." To see more of The Stanly News & Press or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://thesnaponline.com. Copyright (c) 2011, The Stanly News & Press, Albemarle, N.C. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]