Next Step Leather & Shoe Repair

Ive been here a couple times and its an honest shop that does basic cobbler service. Nothing fancy. They also do embroidery. Prices are standard if not a tad pricey but the folks are nice and courteous.

Took 2 pairs of shoes for a shine and they ruined them both.
Place seems more focused on making patches more that shoe care or repair.
Just a disappointment. You would think when you drop of your shoes for nice shine… You are probably better of do yourself at home!

I’ve been more than disappointed at the poor service and quality of work from Next Step Leather. I dropped off my favorite boots as they were fading in color on the tips which were slightly darker than the rest of the boots. The owner reassured me he could «clean them up». I returned one week past the pick up date and they looked high and low for them in stacks of grocery bags covering the floor. (Which is the organization system).
He finally produced them unfinished and said he was waiting for a special material. I returned two weeks later and we went through the same scramble to find them. They were still not done. 10 minutes later he brings me my boots and to my horror the tips had been scuffed up to the point of deep gashes in the leather. The color had not been restored on the tips and I left with a ruined pair of expensive boots.
He seems to do a great job on sewing patches on scout vests but do not trust this business with a cherished pair of boots.

Good job with shoe repair and adventure guide vests. I will say it’s a bit unorganized and I’ve learned to call prior to make sure the job is done as a few times after I came when they told me to, it wasn’t! Overall good.

I really wanted to like this place as the owner is a very pleasant man. This place is great if you are getting patches done for a ymca vest otherwise skip it. The shoe repair work if amateur at best. I brought a pair of boots to be polished but it turns out they didn’t have the right color so they didn’t polish them but used a clear sealer. The boots still looked scuffed and now they were just shiny but terrible looking. I tried to use this place other times with always the same result: they can’t find the shoes, work was not done yet so wait 2 minutes while they do a speedy repair, oops one pair was done but come back for the other etc, unfortunately being a friendly place is great but not good enough when the quality is terrible.

I love this repair shop and the operator who always greets with a warm smile. Any time I have taken my items to Tiny’s then say it costs too much and is too hard, yet he never blinks upon request. My favorite boots have been restored several times although I should retire them for fashion’s sake. He is the best and I love giving this small shop my business.

I love this place! After having a terrible experience at a shoe repair place in La Costa I went to Next Step to have an orthotic insert rebuilt. He did a BEAUTIFUL JOB and charged me half of what the place in La Costa tried to charge me. …Also I sent another fried of mine there because her Black UGG boots were TRASHED and worn out. He made them look like NEW!
Thanks!

My husband’s old leather jacket was a MESS– broken zipper, scuffs, dried out, sun damaged, paint smears, stains… I didn’t have a lot of hope but for under fifty they RESURRECTED the jacket! I’m so glad I brought it here, they really treated me and this Sentimental item with loving care. My husband was so happy and touched with the gift because he loves this jacket. It’s worth it to fix up those items that have sentimental value! I know they fix leather shoes and purses and I saw some leather camp vests in there too. Best of luck to you, thank you!!!

Solid three stars for this shoe repair store. I wasn’t sure what to except as far as service, since a lot of the Unilocal reviews were split between good and bad experiences. But this store was close to where I live so I thought I’d give it a shot.
I dropped of a pair of leather boots to be re-​heeled. You have to pay in full when you drop off your shoes, this made me slightly worried on what sort of quality I would be getting but I threw caution to the wind and went with it. $ 18 for new heels to be put on and I had to wait two days. $ 18 seemed a little high to me. I couldn’t make it to pick up the shoes the day they were done so I dropped by the following day. The nice gentleman who greeted me pointed to the side where a sign was hung that said «customer boots» and asked me if I saw my boots there. I then had to rummage around about twenty pairs of other people shoes that were half in bags, half out and find my own boots. It seemed very unorganized! When I was outside I noticed the gold rim on my boots were all black and marked up. I walked back in and showed the guy my boots, explained they should be bright gold and not black. His response was «oh they forgot to clean them, hold on». About 5 minutes later he returned with the gold shinning.
All in all, I doubt I’d come back. Paying almost $ 20 to find my own boots and remind them to fully finish their job isn’t worth it. Plus I could see all the glue on the heel, sloppy work.

I did not have a good experience with this location. I was encouraged by other reviews and the amount of customers who visit the shop. I took in a pair of light grey boots that had a vintage stain on the toe. When I dropped them off Hector asked if I wanted them cleaned and we joked about how it’s difficult to tell when something is dirty or purposefully stained nowadays. I asked for them not to be cleaned since they weren’t dirty. Aside from everything, I took my boots in for a back strap that needed to be put in place. When I picked them up the strap was back in place (great job), but my light grey boots had been polished all over with BROWN POLISH! They were so light that they showed every passing of the brush with the brown polish and looked grimey or like they had been left at the bottom of a trash can for months. I asked what had happened and Hector recommended that I purchase a cleaner (which he sold in his shop) to remove the polish. Color correcting of leather is not my specialty so I asked him if he could remove what had been used because I didn’t want to further damage them. Upon the second attempt to pick them up, the boots weren’t ready and I understood as it was more important that the brown layer be removed correctly than I have my boots in 2 weeks. When they were finished I couldn’t believe how different they looked. All of the color was removed, including the signature vintage stain on the toe and spine of the boot. They look like they were dunked in bleach. I will never take shoes here again if this is what happens when a strap needs to be glued. The unique look of the boots (which I paid a handsome price for) is now ruined.

AVOID!
This is the worst repair place I have ever been to. After taking an additional 2 weeks to repair my shoes, they broke again the very first time I wore them.
I bring them back, and they promise to fix them properly. 2 weeks later, still not fixed. 2 more weeks, and they are finally available.
So I’ve done the «pick up» process 4 times now, and EVERY time, they couldn’t find my shoes. They searched the endless wall of dirty plastic bags, asking me to describe my shoes, showing me random black shoes hoping they’re the ones. Once I was in there for nearly an hour while they shuffled shoes around, only to realize he was hurriedly trying to glue my shoes together in the back.
And after all that, the quality is awful. Exposed glue dripping out and jagged stitching.

I recently took a pair of shoes to Next Step. I was greeted by Hector. He is the sweetest man and a very fair businessman. I wish more businesses around here were like this. :)

Our dog chewed on my favorite Coach leather boots. The heel was pretty much destroyed and teeth marks on leather were visible and looked bad. First I was going to throw them away, but then decided to try to repair them. Honestly, I didn’t expect them to be fixed, because damage was very substantial. So first I took them to shoe depot, they said that there is nothing they can do about teeth marks on leather. Then I came to this place, and oh miracle. My boot looks almost like new! I don’t have a picture of boot before, but here is how it looks now. Thank you so much for saving my favorite boots!

Poor quality repair and workmanship. Uneven stitching and cuts for a simple fix. I asked them to cut the side of the shoe next to the heel since it was cutting into my heel. Got the shoes back and it looked so amateurish that I just left so I could take it to another place. It was so bad that I didn’t want them to touch it again and make it worse. These are expensive shoes and I’m upset they botched it so badly and that I didn’t check other Unilocal posts first.

I love this shoe repair shop. Its owned by a very nice man who always does a wonderful job with my shoes. Ive brought 3 pairs of shoes here from oxfords that need a polish to ankle boots with worn down soles and theyre always good as new. They also fixed the lining of a suitcase! Love this place, seriously a gem when it comes to quality and attention to detail.

I took my husbands Gucci shoes to get shined and Gucci belt to fix a separation. The owner was very friendly and told me his shoes also needed a new heel and he would have to stitch the belt. I agreed and paid him. He said it would all be ready the following Monday. My husband went by on Monday and the shoes were ready but not the belt. He went back Wednesday and the guy said he would go to the back to get it. My husband heard a sewing machine while he was waiting and then the man came out with his belt. While his shoe heel DID look great, the silver part of the belt buckle on shoes were dark and no longer a bright shiny. We were worried it was ruined until my husband took a wet paper towel to the buckle and voila! It was shiny again! Isn’t that the point of a shoe shop? To make things shiny? I have a picture showing left side «cleaned» by our paper towel. The $ 500 belt? RUINED!!! The stitching looks like it was done by a 3 year old. It was wearable when we took it in. It is not wearable now. It is ruined. I do NOT recommend this place.

Disappointed after many years (10−12yrs.) of being a customer. I made the mistake of not taking a look at my two pair of boots I had brought in a few weeks ago, before leaving the repair shop. One was to be repaired and polished and the other only polished. Once home I was pleased with the repair and polish on one pair and disappointed in the boots that were only polished. They looked shined but without any polish applied.
I went in today to pick up a purse repair and brought the boots along to show the owner. He said that he would have never let them leave his shop looking as they did. He didn’t believe me. The owner has always been a nice man, but has no idea what means to offer good customer service. His pride got in the way of rectifying a simple situation. I picked up my purse, which was prepaid ($ 65) yet not completed (my choice to take it). I didn’t want to have to go back a couple of hours later.
He doesn’t care, he has enough customers and losing one doesn’t matter. I’m surprised and bummed about how I was treated. I hope to find another shoe repair shop in the area, that values every customer. All he had to do was take the boots and polish the toes of the vamp.
Make sure when you use Next Step, you check the work that was done on your shoes, boots, purses, etc. before you leave the shop.

They did a small repair for me on the spot, at no charge. Friendly, helpful, pleasant.

Not a reputable business.
I had my Kate Spade flat sandals repaired and paid $ 18. I had to go back 2 times to pick them up because they had forgotten to complete them. I fiinally picked them up threw them in my suitcase and went to Europe for a month. As soon as I tried to put them on the heel on one of the sandals actually unglued and fell off! So I carried them around for no reason as I was unable to wear them.
I returned from my trip and visited the cobbler again to let him know about my sandal and to have it repaired. He stated that it was not his fault and that this sort of thing happens with older shoes. I reminded him that I only wore them after he repaired them and the heel fell off. I also reminded him that he stated he guarantees his work. He simply shrugged and said it wasn’t his fault. How infuriating. It wasn’t even a difficult repair. I got home and took care of it with a little wood glue.
I was super disappointed and will not be returning. Find another cobbler.

I brought my beloved Steve Madden boots in because it FINALLY got too warm for me to be living in them every day and the heels? Well, they’re flats, but the the little heel that is there for stability was no longer as I was slipping and sliding in almost every restaurant I dared go into.
Was quoted $ 15 for the re-​heel and had to pre-​pay. They were ready a few days later (I wasn’t, they had to sit there a week!) and not only were they re-​heeled like new, they had also polished my old friends and made them look 10 years younger (which, given that they’re only 4 or so years old, is quite a feat). I wasn’t expecting that extra love for my boots and left with a big smile on my face.