HOUSTON – He doesn’t work in a church. But from his store in Rice Village, Barry Croft is saving soles – shoe soles. 

“I’ve been doing this since my daddy was able to put me up on a box so I could reach the bench,” said Barry Croft, shoe cobbler at Shoe Saver.

While much of the economy is struggling, this third generation cobbler is finding his business is booming.  It seems people are looking to repair the shoes they have, rather than spend money on buying new ones.

Croft said it's been one record setting week after another. His business has increased by as much as 30 percent.

His wife, Ellen, agrees.

“I think everybody is thinking about spending less,” said Ellen Croft.

But people are not just pinching their pennies on their shoes. They are saving in other areas, too.

“They want the same services, but they’re trying to find a less expensive way to do it. So is a used car as good as a new car? Not quite, but it will still get them where they’re going,” said Steven Craig, University of Houston economics professor.

Last year was tough for many people, and we’ll learn how tough it really was later this week when the government releases the numbers.  But will 2009 be any better? According to Craig, it may be even worse for Houstonians.

“Nationally, it's going to be a bad year. But locally, even though we're doing better than the left and right coast, we might decline faster than both of them because they've already done the big crash,” said Craig.

If Craig is right in his prediction, cobblers like Croft just may be seeing a few more customers who are trying to make do with what they have.