Merv’s Shoe Repairs has resided on Park Road in Dingle for 35 years, but could now be forced to move
Mervin Garner has been ordered to close his shoe repair shop as supermarket giant Lidl wants to use the premises for storage(Image: Andy Teebay)
A family-owned shoe repair shop which has served the Dingle community for more than 30 years could be forced to shutter its doors after being ousted by a supermarket giant. Merv’s Shoe Repairs and key cutting services has stood the test of time from its small but sturdy premises on Park Road, where it has remained since 1991.
The shop currently resides within a unit inside the Lidl supermarket. Before this, it occupied similar units within a long line of supermarkets which have operated on the Park Road site over the years.
Owner Mervin Garner, 63, said: “It’s been a bit of a rollercoaster over the years with life in general, but I’ve managed to get through it and pay my mortgage, raise two kids, and my son has been working with me for the last nine years or so.
“When I first moved into these premises it was a Kwik-Save, and they were my landlords then. Then it changed to a Co-Op, a Somerfields, my latest landlords were B&M Bargains, and then they left and Lidl took over – that was five years ago.”
Mervin Garner inside the shoe repair shop he has run for 35 years(Image: Andy Teebay)
Since then, Merv’s Shoe Repairs has operated on a lease from Lidl. But last year, Mervin said he was told to pack up his business and move out by the end of his lease in June 2026, as the supermarket wanted to use his shop for storage.
It is reported that a mobile phone business, located in another Lidl unit beside Merv’s, has also been asked to move out by June.
The ECHO understands Lidl inherited the tenanted space occupied by Merv’s Shoe Repairs when it purchased the site on Park Hill Road. The company has decided not to extend the lease of the tenants, which are due to expire later this year, due to “a need for additional warehouse space for daily store operations”.
Both tenants have been given a standard six-month warning.
The ECHO also understands one tenant’s lease had initially ended in September 2025, but was extended on request.
However, Mervin has insisted this won’t be the end of Merv’s Shoe Repairs, as he hopes to move into new premises in Dingle.
He said: “I’ve got my eye on a few shops not too far from where I already am, so they’re not going to lose me as such. But people are disgusted by the way Lidl asked me to move out.
“They have done it all legally because they waited for the lease to run out. Everything they have done is legal, but it is just a shame they’re doing it.
“Without a doubt I would stay if I could. It was 1991 that we moved in. The actual space itself does have a lot of sentimental value.”
An online petition, Save Mervs Shoe Repairs on Park Road from closure, set up by Katie Chin, received more than 1,800 signatures in just 24 hours. The petition aims to persuade Lidl to make alternative plans so Merv’s shop can remain in its long-term home.
Katie told the ECHO: “He’s been there for 30 years before it was even a Lidl. He’s always operated from that site and yet they’ve asked him to move. They’re a little independent business and I don’t like the injustice of it.
“I just set up the petition to see if there was any way Lidl could reconsider, and after 48 hours it has sort of grown its own legs and taken off in the Dingle community. I knew L8 was a strong community but wow – I woke up and it was at 700, then I looked again and saw it was a thousand. I started reading comments and seeing the passion people had.
“In this community Merv is someone’s dad, someone’s uncle. He’s something to everyone. If something goes wrong, if your shoes are broken or you need a key, you go to Merv. He’s known, he’s got a reputation. You know he’s not going to rip you off. If you live here, your first port of call isn’t to go to Tesco or Timpsons, it’s to go to Merv.”
The shop can be found in a unit within the Dingle Lidl supermarket(Image: Andy Teebay)
On the petition one supporter, Nicola, said: “Merv has been a mainstay of our Dingle community for forty years. His business and the service he provides is essential. It is wholly unfair for him to be forced out of these premises. If Lidl need more storage space, then those two adjacent shops are hardly going to be large enough to accommodate. So let Lidl build storage on the rear car park that never gets used. Merv was there a long time before Lidl came to that site.”
Another supporter, Anna, said: “Merv has been part of the local community for many, many years. So much so that he is called Magic Merv! Friendly, reasonable priced varied goods and brilliant repairs both of shoes and other items. We have lost so much in the area in the last years. Small, family run business are very hard to find so… leave Merv where he is!”
Mervin, who has been a cobbler since leaving school at the age of 16, said: “The lady who set up the petition just thought it was wrong because of the amount of space Lidl have got already, and their campaign recently has been about caring for everyone and supporting communities.
“We were just hoping to change their minds on the moral side.”
He added: “I’ve been in the area 34 years now. I did leave for a while and try another job, but I never took to it and I ended up coming back to shoe repairs. I’ve enjoyed it and it’s all I know.
“We’re in the south end and they’re building houses all around us, and it’s getting more popular being nearer to town. We have so many newbuilds around us. But a lot of my customers have known me from when they were kids, so its like an ongoing thing.
“We do keys, we do watch batteries. We do a little bit of everything. We’re just everyday cobblers.
“It’s one of those things. Hopefully life will do me a favour. I always tell myself there’s someone up there looking down on me and I’ll be OK.
“While I’ve been here I’ve been moved around the building, and each time it seems to have worked well for me. Every time something has happened like this, it makes you pull your socks up. I’m optimistic. I’m at the age now where my son is going to take over, so if we’re able to get another shop and get it established, I’ll be able to retire.
“I’m definitely not shutting down. I’ve got my eye on other places where I can set up. It’s just that this is where I’ve been for 35 years. I’m hoping to get as near as I can to here if I do have to move.”
Lidl were approached for comment.