A Short History of Duran

A brief history of the Duran Custom Dance Shoes Company, maker of full custom dance shoes, boots, and other footwear.

The Duran Custom Dance Shoes Company was founded by Gonzalo Duran, Sr. He was taught to make shoe by his father, Francisco Duran, a shoemaker the Northern Mexico village of Durango.

Gonzalo Duran moved to the United States in the early 1950's. His first job was picking fruit near San Francisco in Northern California. He later moved to Los Angeles in Southern California where he worked in a shoe factory.

Duran opened his first cobbler shop in 1968 in the garage of his home. He started out repairing shoes, and later began specializing in Folkloric dance shoes, tap dancing shoes, mariachi boots, drill team boots, and superhero boots.

Gonzalo Duran, Se. died in 2002 but his wife kept the business going until she also passed away in 2016, Today the couple's daughters operate the business. Isabel manages the business side and Margaret manages sales, advertising, and online orders.

Duran's two shoemakers have been employed by the companmy for more than twenty years. Both were originally from Leon, Guanajuato, Mexico, a center of shoemaking in Mexico. Both of them were taught by Duran's founder to adjust shoe patterns to fit the unique features of each dancer's feet.

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