If you didn’t know better, you’d have to believe that Bud Grant was one of the last of the old-time shoe-repair men, standing behind the counter of his shop in his well-worn leather apron, with his silver hair and moustache creating the image of an amiable backcountry storekeeper of a bygone era.

You might be half right. He could be one of the last, but he’s not the long-time cobbler he might appear.

This is his second go-round in life. The Easley native who operates Foothills Shoe Repair at 1689-B E. Main St. in his hometown had never fixed a shoe in his life, or even taken a hand to leathercraft, before he bought the shop on March 1, 2016.

But now, it’s just as though he’s always been there, working amid the antique contraptions that are the tools of the trade.

“It’s fun to get up and go to work again,” said Grant, 61, who came to this

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