Ioan "John" Chereji, master shoe designer and maker, moved from Romania to the USA in 1991. Ioan is a craftsman with exquisite attention to detail. He is most caring to construct your shoes to benefit your feet and especially your gait.
After high school in Romania, Chereji studied shoe design and manufacture for three years in the city of Arad, not too far from his home in Simleu Silvaniei in Transylvania in northwestern Romania. He later earned a certificate as a master of manufacture and design in a one-year course.
While in Romania, Chereji spent eight years making shoes on a state-run assembly line. After earning his master's certificate, he was refused a job because he would not join the Communist Party. So he found work in a small shop, designing and making shoes for about 10 years. In 1991, a couple of years after the revolution that brought down President Nicolae Ceausescu, Chereji got exit visas to the United States for himself, his wife and two children.
Sometimes he worked two jobs to support his family, Chereji had a job at a shoe-repair shop the third day after he arrived in St. Louis.
In June, 2000, Ioan Chereji saw an ad for a job at Comfort Shoe Specialists in Des Peres. Wanting something close to his house, he told the owner, "Give me one week, no pay. If you not like me, say 'Good-bye, John." She hired him quickly.
In an interview with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in November, 2000, Ioan Chereji stated his goal of opening his own store. That dream became a reality in 2007, with REAL Shoes Experts.