Meet Carmel Cassar of Bormla’s ‘Omega Shoemakers and Repairs’, one last few operating cobblers in Malta
The shop was first opened in 1957.
Emma Galea
23rd April 2023
The profession of a cobbler has been around ever since time itself yet lately the trade has been slowly disappearing as many today buy shoes and instead of fixing them, throw them out as soon as they break.
Recently, ‘Kappa Vision’ interviewed Carmel Cassar, the man behind the ‘Omega Shoemakers and Repairs’ shop in Bormla and one of the few remaining cobblers in all of Malta.
The shop was originally opened by Carmel’s father, Joseph all the way back in 1957, making the shop 66 years old.
“At first, they started with little things, ‘ċuċati’ as we say. They made kids clothes, towels and things like that. Then later, with the help of one of his relatives, my father started making shoes”.
The photos taken, show the beautiful and vintage sign the shop has, a style which is slowly disappearing from the facades of Maltese shops.
The shop is found alongside Saint Paul’s Street in Cospicua and is commonly known by locals as ‘Fuq San Pawl’.
Although Carmel doesn’t open as much as before he still opens the shop every morning.
When asked about his father came up with the name ‘Omega’ for their shop, Carmel revealed that his father used to work with the Atlas company, and he got the idea from there.
“Atlas is Greek, the first letter of the alphabet, so when my father thought about naming his shop Atlas, the owner of the Atlas company, is-Sur Karm as we used to call him, told him ‘No, don’t name it Atlas as well!’. So then, instead of Atlas, he named it Omega for the last letter of the Greek alphabet”, Carmel explained.
For a long time, up until the 1940’s in fact, it was impossible to buy ready made shoes anywhere in Malta. Back then cobblers were very popular as this was the only way you could acquire shoes. The good thing about having your shoes made at the cobblers is that they were made and fit to measure.
Do you still make use of the services of a cobbler?