Companies are shedding office space — and it may be killing small businesses

Cobbler James Wallace Sears has spent decades fixing the shoes of lawyers, consultants and financial advisers who work in nearby corporate towers. With so many of them still working from home, he's not sure his business will survive. (Arezou Rezvani/NPR)

LOS ANGELES — James Wallace Sears has more shoes at his repair shop these days than he knows what to do with.

"These are all pandemic shoes," says Sears, 80, pulling out drawer after drawer full of leather boots, suede loafers and designer flats. "They were dropped off here pre-pandemic, and they never picked them up."