Charleston hotel shoe shiner recognized for his expertise and kindness | Business

Nelson Bumpers has spent nearly three decades shining loafers, derbies and everything in between at his shoe shine stand inside Charleston’s grandest hotel.

During this time, the downtown hotel changed owners and names: the Omni, the Orient Express, the Belmond and, today, The Charleston Place. The holy city has also become a tourist hotspot.

The Bumpers booth in the first-floor lobby was a constant for regulars who wanted to sit down to shine their cars and pass the time chatting like old friends.

The wood tone of the armrests and seat base is worn from years of guests sitting and making themselves comfortable. Today, however, the seat sits empty, a reminder of a bygone hospitality experience once offered in most grand hotels and now a service offered mostly behind the scenes.

Bumpers, 73, died Sept. 2 of metastatic bladder cancer. His health forced him to retire two years ago after a few difficult years following the pandemic, according to his family.

He was one of the last independent shoe shiners in Charleston, stationed in a hotel, ready to wait for someone to need his services. But it wasn’t just a shoe shine that Bumpers offered. It was an experience. Customers could socialize and see a master’s traditional methods up close.

Those who knew Bumpers say he lived his life the way he did his job: with patience, attention to detail and a talent for bringing out the sparkle not just in shoes, but in people.

Charlie Agee, a longtime friend, described him as a humble, hard-working man who dressed every day in his Sunday best “with shoes that shined like a mirror.”

The two men met while the shoe shine stand was outside the hotel, open daily from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Agee was taking a break from his usual walk downtown when Bumpers struck up a conversation.

The booth now sits in the hallway across from the Community Perk coffee shop in the hotel’s shopping corridor. To passersby, he may have been a friendly face. To those who worked alongside him or were close to him, he was simply known as “Shine” or “The Professor.”

Occasionally, actors like Danny Glover and politicians would even stop to admire the spectacle, Agee said.

“The Professor” was known for the advice and wisdom he imparted to staff and customers amid the hustle and bustle of the downtown business community and visitors.

“He always said, ‘You miss a lot when you’re in a hurry,’” Agee recalls, adding that it’s advice he still takes to heart.

Over the years, he left an impression on hotel employees who came and went.

Renee McDaniel-Newkirk was one of the youngest and rarest black receptionists at the hotel in 2002. She said it was a rewarding job that she loved, but there were days when negative interactions or comments from guests would erode her confidence. On those days, she said she always confided in Bumpers.

“He was a mentor and an encouraging father figure to all the young people at the hotel,” McDaniel-Newkirk said. “I’ll never forget when he told me, ‘Your purpose is bigger than this hotel,’ and ‘Never be ashamed of who you are.’ He saw something in me and he made me see it, too.”

She said if he saw you without a smile, he’d make sure you had one before you left. He often talked to the hotel staff between nights to pass the time.

McDaniel-Newkirk worked at the hotel for several years while she attended school. Every time she returned, she was greeted warmly by Bumpers.

“Mr. Nelson was one of those people who never met a stranger. He made you feel like he had known you forever,” McDaniel-Newkirk said. “He will be missed. … And the art of hand-shining shoes in the Lowcountry is an art form that has died with an extraordinary man.”

Master of his art

Bumpers was born June 24, 1951. He worked odd jobs and shined shoes occasionally since he was 12, growing up in Philadelphia and New Orleans. He came to Charleston after Hurricane Hugo in 1989 to work, and soon after, he chose his life’s profession.

“No words can explain how much he loved shining shoes,” Gerri Williams said of her late brother. “He took great pride in it. He had an impact on every person who sat in his seat, just by being himself.”

When Post and Courier columnist Warren Pepper profiled Bumpers in 2011, detailing his experience, he described how he received a full report on everything from the weather to college football while Bumpers was working.

“He applies the polish the old-fashioned way, with his fingers. Black, brown or cordovan mix together at the end of the day. The polish is just the beginning, the magic doesn’t begin until he pops the rag. That pop echoes through the mall hallways and makes many an unsuspecting passerby jump,” Pepper writes.

Shine on

Although the tradition of shoe shining still exists in the Charleston hospitality market, it is generally offered as a drop-off service rather than a booth.

At Dewberry, guests can request a complimentary service. Shoes are shined by hotel staff and delivered to the guest’s door in a special bag. The hotel receives several requests per week, mostly from business clients and wedding guests.

The Spectator Hotel offers a butler service that provides complimentary shoe shines to guests. General manager Carlo Carroccia said the staff hand-shines an average of two pairs of shoes per day. He said the service is a way to help guests “look and feel their best.”

The Bennett Hotel also offers a home shoe shine service, in homage to Michael Bennett’s father who shined shoes on King Street during the Great Depression, not far from where the hotel stands today.

‘Take your time’

Lewis Booth, a valet manager at Charleston Place, said Bumpers was a soft-spoken man whose personality came through when he spoke with customers. He described him as someone who “really embraced the art of brilliance.”

“Nelson will be missed, and more importantly, the art of shoe shining is now a thing of the past,” Booth said, noting that the hotel has no plans to seek a replacement amid its ongoing renovations.

Hotel guests would start conversations as strangers, but by the end of the session they felt more like friends, Booth recalled, running his hand over the worn wood of the chair arm.

Regular customers were locals: car dealership owners, lawyers, doctors and anyone who wanted to “shine their shoes,” he added. Bumpers also had his own shoe booth that he took to events and weddings in the area.

“From the upper crust to the working class to anyone who wanted to share a moment with ‘The Professor,’ they were all greeted with one of his favorite sayings: ‘Take your time’ — a gentle reminder to slow down and enjoy your time while you can,” Booth said.