DENVER — Patti Pacana’s spiked Louboutin heels weren’t just for walking. They helped her kick cancer.
“They were my fighting cancer shoes,” she said.
Pacana was gifted the heels six years ago after she was diagnosed with a rare form of breast cancer, and they became a symbol of her fight.
“I wanted these to be with me for the rest of my life,” she told Denver7 Investigates from her home in Pennsylvania. “I know for some people they might be just shoes, but they really pushed me.”
But now Pacana is left wondering if she’ll ever see the shoes again.
Earlier this year, she shipped the shoes from her home to Cobblers Plus, a Denver repair shop, to add a protective layer on the sole of the shoe. She had used the shop before for the same heels and paid in advance, as she always did.
After a month, Pacana realized she hadn’t heard from the business and reached out to the company via email, but said it came back as rejected. Finally, she was able to make contact with the store through Facebook Messenger. She asked for the shoes to be sent back, but that never happened. Then Pacana learned there were others facing the same situation.
Pacana is one of several customers who reached out to Denver7 Investigates regarding issues with Cobblers Plus, saying they paid in advance and brought their shoes in only for the shop to close its doors without information on how to get their items back.
In Colorado, Ellen Slavitz visited the southeast Denver shop in early November 2023, bringing in a hiking boot to replace a broken hook. She said she wanted to patronize a local business rather than a chain store. After about eight weeks, she got a call that the boot was ready. Not in a rush, she went to pick it up about a week later, only to find the shop closed.
“The shop is gone. Not a crumb is left,” Slavitz said. “Not even any evidence that anything had been there.”
Denver7 Investigates visited the location. A sign was still posted saying that the business was moving and to check the company’s website for more details. That website is now down. The phone number is also disconnected.
An internet archive search shows that there was an update posted on the store’s website, telling customers to mail their items to a PO Box in Aurora. That’s where Pacana sent her heels, paying a little more than $80 for the work. Now she said she’d pay much more just to get them back.
“I would probably pay more than they’re even worth,” she said. “That’s how much it meant to me.”
Denver7 Investigates tried to contact the store’s owner, Allen Trushkov, through the company’s Facebook page and email. Messages were not returned. Through searches, Denver7 Investigates did reach Trushkov’s mother, who said her son is going through a difficult time and that most of the shoes are in storage.
A family friend also contacted Denver7 on Trushkov’s behalf, who said he is working to help Trushkov get a store open by May. He said they had another location recently fall through. He also noted the store was previously owned by Trushkov’s father, who died in 2022.
The Colorado Attorney General’s Office would not confirm an investigation into the company, but several customers had posted on the Cobbler’s Plus Facebook page that they had filed a complaint with the office.
An AG spokesperson did note that consumers who pay for a service and turn over their property are entitled to get it back. They also recommend that consumers send reports to stopfraudcolorado.gov.
