Lacey Shoe Repair was founded in 1951 in the same building it occupies today, which was purpose built for the original proprietor. In 1961 it was taken over by Edward Tafoya, who owned and operated it until 1981 when his son Paul Tafoya took over along with his wife Peggy. Paul and Peg faithfully ran the business until June of 2024 when KT Treadwell and Nell Tallos purchased it after a few months apprenticing. Paul and Peg continue to work in the shop occasionally as needed, and generously offer their knowledge and support to Nell and KT on a near constant basis.

KT’s background is in biomechanical engineering, and he holds a mechanical engineering Master’s Degree from the University of Washington, with a specialization in lower limb biomechanics and gait. He has worked in a variety of settings as a mechanical engineer, most recently at Naked Prosthetics in downtown Olympia as the head of the engineering department. KT actually took some shoe making classes and workshops in his younger years, and is happy to return to this craft after so many years in corporate “hands off” settings. KT brings excitement and expertise to orthotics side of the shop, and is our main patching and sewing guy.

Nell is a jack of all trades who comes to the world of shoe repair with a background in automotive, motorcycle, and bicycle mechanics along with a Bachelor’s Degree in art and design. She has been a handyman, a geoduck farm worker, a food coop staff member, a baker, and most recently a research and development technician at Naked Prosthetics with KT. Her art and design background, along with her out-of-the-box thinking makes her particularly skilled at finding creative good-looking solutions to strange or difficult shoe repair problems.