BEHIND THE LARGE WINDOWS OF Rago Brothers Shoe &
Leather Repair, a smiling Manuel Reiban looks up from
his sewing machine to wave at a passerby on Morristown’s
busy Speedwell Avenue. Reiban, who learned to sew as a
boy in his native Ecuador, has been repairing jackets at Ra-
go for 14 years. “He’s been a coat maker all his life,” owner
Tony Rago, 55, proudly declares. “Everyone here is the
best of the best at what they do.”
Reiban is just one of the many skilled specialists who
have helped Rago earn a national reputation for being able
to fix anything. Shoe, coat and bag repairs form the core
of the business, but Rago craftsmen have resewn arms on
favorite dolls, healed a bruised accordion and restored an
antique fireplace screen. They once repaired an Alfred
Dunhill box for an $80,000 pen. Stitching worn baseball
and hockey gloves for local athletes is routine.
On the same block in Morristown since it opened in
1911, the third-generation family business is redolent of
leather and chemicals—a sharp contrast to the Latino
neighborhood’s aroma of chicken empanadas frying a few
doors down. Tony Rago’s large personality commands
the counter; he doles out orders while taking phone calls
on his ever-present earpiece, laughing deeply while deli-
cately handling a torn shoe. His older brother, Tom, 57, is
the calmer presence, exuding quiet confidence and ef-
ficiency. A photograph of the two brothers and their late
Rago Brothers has built a national
reputation for shoe and leather repair on the
strength of its team of skilled craftsmen.
FAMILY TRADITION:
Brothers Tony, left, and
Tom Rago in their busy
Morristown repair shop.
ole Men
BY JOANNA BUFFUM
PHOTOGRAPHS BY NOAH RABINOWITZ
