Booster Service Centre – a unique combination
Until recently, Jan Booster's traditional shoe repair, key-cutting and leather goods business was located in the so-called “Booster Passage” in Koningshoek Shopping Centre in Maassluis. As part of a redevelopment of the shopping centre, the company relocated to a prime location directly opposite Albert Heijn.
Since grandfather Jan Booster founded Jan Booster Shoe & Key Service in 1908, a great deal has changed. His son, also named Jan Booster, expanded the business by adding leather goods to the shoe repair service, and during the third generation the business grew into two separate shops: one for repairs and another specialising in luxury bags and suitcases. Cor Booster and his wife Ria are now continuing the 108-year-old family business. They used the relocation as an opportunity to merge the two shops and give the combined business a fitting new name: Booster Service Centre.
Across the full width of the glass shopfront, Cor's shoe repair workshop with key-cutting service is located alongside Ria's range of bags and leather goods. The suitcases are neatly displayed in the centre. This combination has proved to be a successful cross-selling opportunity: customers dropping off their shoes for repair while shopping are always happy to browse the bags, and vice versa.
The new setup also had implications for the layout and working methods in the shoe repair workshop: it must always be kept spotless and must not cause any dust or excessive noise in the shop. At Booster Service Centre, the machine is never piled high with shoes, and there are no racks full of repaired pairs. Customers pay in advance and collect their shoes again promptly, ensuring that Cor's workshop always looks neat and tidy. Also neatly organised are the specially designed key cabinet, manufactured by Jos America, which spans the entire back wall, and the sewing machine, which can be swivelled aside when not in use. For the sanding machine, Cor, as a long-standing Flexam customer, also turned to Jos America in Nieuwkuijk. He chose a Flexam City with powerful built-in dust extraction and, despite this, a low noise level. In this way, the workshop adds a pleasant sense of activity to the shop, while keeping the shop interior free from dust.
It is not only Cor and Ria who are pleased with the new concept. Permanent staff member Olivier, who graduated from DHTA in 2014 and is now learning the finer points of the traditional shoe repair and key-cutting trade from Cor, was closely involved in the purchase of the machine. This gave him valuable practical experience of what is involved in setting up a shoe repair workshop of his own. The shop staff are also delighted with the sale of leather care products in the specially designed area. They can offer customers an interesting new product, while Cor and Olivier no longer have to interrupt their work to handle sales, resulting in fewer overtime hours. In short, a move of barely twenty metres has had an immediate positive impact. Cor and Ria now have more time to spend on, among other things, the many enthusiastic customers who continued to visit the shop even after the official opening of Booster Service Centre to congratulate the couple.
