STUART, Fla. - A specialty shoe store on the Treasure Coast first opened its doors more than three decades, but it burned to the ground in the summer of 2016. Now, two-and-half years later, Nobile Shoes is rising from the ashes.
“I think we are going to put a bench in front of this window,” said the store’s decorator.
With each measurement, Nobile Shoes is one step closer to reopening its doors.
“We’re anxious, we really can’t wait to not only get back open, but bring normalcy back into our lives,” said Daniel Nobile, the store’s owner.
Nobile says he has faced years of challenges and roadblocks ever since the family-run store caught fire. Flames started in the store’s repair section in July 2016 and engulfed the building.
“When the fire started I fully thought the fire department would get here quick enough where we could contain it and save most of the building, unfortunately, it didn’t work out that way,” Nobile said.
The specialty shoe store has sat near US 1 in Stuart for nearly 35 years helping treat different customer’s conditions with the proper footwear.
“He’s so humble he doesn’t realize how he changes lives,” said Terri Paiva, the store’s decorator.
On Monday, Paiva measured for shelving and light fixtures. She’s a longtime friend of the Nobile family, and her mother is a faithful customer.
“When he sits down, he’s like their son or their grandson talking with them, and he really listens to what they need,” Paiva said. “He has the ability to put them in the right product shoe just to make their life easier and make them happier.”
A staple in the community, Stuart has always been home base for the store, and now it’s reopening in the same location.
“We felt this is our home, this will always be our home and we’re very anxious to get things moving here as quickly as possible,” Nobile said.
The store will take up about 65 percent of the building, and the rest will be rented out. Nobile says he hopes to reopen in March.