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Corrie's Dev will wear them on TV
Coronation Street star Jimmi Harkishin visited a 128-year-old shoe factory to pick up a pair of their finest footwear in preparation for the soap's 50th anniversary celebrations.
Mr Harkishin, who plays shopkeeper Dev Alahan in the ITV soap, visited NPS Shoes in Wollaston to pick up two pairs of classic brogue shoes.
The actor, who has played the shop owner on the show for 10 years, had a tour of the factory while collecting his specially-designed footwear which he will wear for Corrie's 50th year of being on the air next year.
Mr Harkishin said: "I've always wanted a couple of pairs of brogues, but I didn't know where to start looking. I saw some in the local shops, but they weren't what I wanted. I heard about NPS years ago and just looked them up in the phone book."
The soap star met excited workers while he was in the South Street factory and even promised to send signed photographs to anyone who asked for an autograph.
And the next time fans will get to see the shoes – a black and white pair of brogues and a brown and cream pair – will be when Dev next wears a suit on the show.
Talking of his visit to the factory, which opened in 1881 before moving to Wollaston in 1900, Mr Harkishin said: "I'll never look at shoes in the same way again.
"The visit has been fantastic and I'll definitely be wearing them on the show. Most of the time in life you don't get to see something different. We go and buy something from a shop and we have no idea of the process it took to get there.
"It's one of the few accessories that a man can say, it's not just a shoe, it's a statement. I'm going to take great pride in saying these were made especially for me."
Ivor Tilley, owner of NPS shoes, formerly the Co-operative, was thrilled to have Mr Harkishin visit the factory and said some of the staff who watch the show were very excited.
He said: "When he rang I just thought 'how did he find a little place in Wollaston?'.
"He was very interested to see the process."
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