Col’s Cobble Shoppe

Thank you Unilocal,I wouldn’t of found Col’s if it wasn’t for you. More importantly, a massive THANK YOU to Col’s for restoring my leather boots to ‘as good as new’. I had asked around and was told by my local cobbler that I’m better off throwing them out as they would be too costly to repair. I asked at Mr Minit and they could do it no problems but their technique sounded like it would not last. Col’s Cobble Shoppe replaced the entire soles of my boots to look and feel like new, and on top of that, gave them a good polish so they actually did look brand new! Also he was slightly cheaper that the other quotes I had received.

A miracle worker!
We took a pair of boots into Col’s that we’d been told to chuck out by another shoe repair place because the soles had huge holes in them and were basically no longer attached, and the fabric-​y bit that’s between the sole and your foot had holes in it also.
Because my husband loved those boots like nothing else in his life (!) he decided to keep them, despite not being able to wear them (!!). Boot ornaments, if you will. Sigh.
i took them in on a whim when I was taking some shoes of mine in to be re-​glued, and lo and behold he said they could be fixed! He did say it would be pretty costly, since he was basically rebuilding the bottoms of the shoes, but the ‘costly’ figure ended up being $ 54 for both shoes, which is considerably cheaper than new boots, so seemed reasonable to us!
The boots did take a couple of weeks longer than he originally said they would, which we weren’t bothered about since they were just boot ornaments at the time anyway, but just worth bearing in mind if you need dramatic repairs on a deadline.
Will take all my shoes there for repairs from now on, especially as it’s an independent, locally-​owned store.
Yay Col’s!

Forget about all those rubbish chain shoe repair places: yes, you might luck in and find someone who knows what they’re doing, but why chance it when you could just go to Col’s and go to people who really know what their trade is. I’ve taken quite a few pairs of shoes here for various repairs, usually mostly heel replacements, and I’ve always been very happy with what the work they’ve done. They are also good at recommending what you might need doing, and also usually provide a range of options for fixing your shoes, from the affordable through to the more expensive and probably longer lasting. It’s definitely the place to go if you want to give your shoes a second or third life.

I hope the guy’s actually called Col, otherwise the name annoys me with its whimsy.
This place has a satisfying old-​timey feel, helped in no small part by Col’s amazing moustache. This is subverted somewhat by the selection of cock-​rock belt buckles for sale (do you like Texas? How about skulls?), but I guess you have to move with the times.
As for the cobbling itself: this is one of those lost arts that I don’t really understand and therefore find amazing. He can take broken shoes and make them into working shoes! Amazing! How does he do it? Does he do it well? No idea. But it’s a far better job than you or I could do at home (unless you yourself are a cobbler, but I’m betting that’s not the case).

Col’s Cobble Shoppe is an Auckland institution. Located on Dominion Road and having first opened in the 1970s, Col’s spans across three generations and is known by most of central Auckland as the one stop place to go for all your shoe needs.
Though brilliant at shoe repairs, Col’s offers more than just this service. As a real cobbler, Col’s has a small range of their own footwear available, besides every accessory imaginable to spruce up your existing footwear.
Col’s has also been known to undertake special projects such as repairing guitar straps, putting new buckles and domes on bags, and even reshaping shoes.
In my youth I was a competitive Irish dancer, and Col’s Cobble Shoppe was one of the few places in town that understood the requirements for my hard shoes. He re-​fiberglassed the toe on numerous occasions, as well as re-​soling my soft shoes and repairing their insoles. This service saved my life, and my feet!
Col’s is open six days a week and with on-​street parking available, there really is no excuse for putting up with broken or uncomfortable footwear. Get your shit together and save your feet the aggravation!
Bonus: As an independent family owned company, you feel like you are doing your bit to support local business when you shop at Col’s.