"Hidden gem": Daughter saves father’s 34-year-old London shoe store from closing with one viral TikTok and now customers wait hours to shop at the family business

For 34 years, Rachid Lazraq’s shoe store in Shoreditch, East London, survived on loyal customers and the reputation he had built over decades. But as times changed, the family business saw tough times and was dangerously close to shutting its doors.

Then his daughter, Zineb Lazraq, discovered something her father had missed. She slowly discovered that the shoes that seemed old-fashioned to him could actually be exactly what a younger generation was looking for.

A few TikTok videos later, the struggling shoe store was suddenly attracting customers who were willing to wait for hours outside.


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A 34-year-old shoe store was close to shutting down

Rachid had spent decades running Rich Collection Italia in Shoreditch. The store had once been surrounded by other independent shoe businesses, but the neighbourhood gradually changed.

Rising rents, gentrification and the arrival of chains, cafes and newer businesses affected the area. More importantly, many of Rachid’s regular customers stopped visiting as frequently.

Zineb explained that her father’s traditional customer base included many older African shoppers. “They stopped coming or they just didn’t come as frequently. He thought the business had run its end.”

The situation became so difficult that the 59-year-old was preparing to close the store after more than three decades in business.

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Then a TikTok video changed everything

The turning point came when a French TikTok user visited the shop and described it as a “hidden gem.”

The video attracted more than 300,000 views, and Zineb began noticing something unexpected. People were suddenly interested in the shoes her father had been selling for years.

Growing up, she had assumed many of the styles were “auntie shoes for older ladies”. But she soon realized that some of the designs fitted perfectly with the Y2K fashion trend that had become popular among younger shoppers.

That gave her an idea. “As soon as I found that out, I thought, let me make my own TikTok,” she told PEOPLE.

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Zineb’s TikTok videos brought a new generation inside

Zineb had experience in journalism and video editing, so she began creating videos showing the shop and its Y2K-style sandals.

The response was far bigger than she expected. “Then that blew up, and then the lines started forming after that,” she said.

The videos continued to spread, and the daughter who had initially stepped in to help her father quickly found herself becoming part of the business.

“So I continued making more videos, and very quickly I realized, ‘Oh, this is my new job for now,’” Zineb said.

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From a closing sign to hours-long queues

The viral attention created a problem that the family would probably have been happy to have: there were suddenly too many customers.

People began waiting for hours outside the London shoe store, with many of the shoes selling for around $75.

Zineb had no previous retail experience, but she jumped into the business and started helping her father manage the sudden demand.

The timing was particularly remarkable. The shop had been expected to close in late June, and Rachid had even put up a closing-down sign.

But the customer surge changed his plans. The sign was removed on June 10.

The family is now thinking beyond the London store

While the initial social media frenzy has settled, the business has continued attracting customers, particularly on Saturdays.

Zineb is also looking beyond the physical store. She wants to establish an online brand so customers outside London can discover and buy her father’s shoes.

The family has already created a TikTok Shop, after receiving messages from people around the world interested in the products.

A father-daughter story with a bigger lesson

For Zineb, the experience has been emotional as well as professional.

“There was a part of me that was like, ‘Why didn’t I do this sooner?’ My dad was struggling for years; I could have done this sooner,” she said.

But the experience also showed Rachid the power of social media. A business that once seemed to have reached its end suddenly found a completely different audience.

His daughter understood something he did not: sometimes, a business does not necessarily need to become something completely new. It may simply need to be seen by the right people.

And in this case, one daughter’s TikTok videos helped turn her father’s 34-year-old shoe store from a closing business into a viral London shopping destination.