Bj’s Shoe & Luggages Repair

Review for the luggage/​bag repair service.
Two years ago, I overstuffed my laptop backpack and broke the stitching on top corner of the bag. The fabric gradually separated from the seam over time resulting in a 2 ½″ hole. After visiting several alteration shops, I was told that I had to visit shoe repair store since they had heavy duty sewing machines that can handle a repair.
I checked Unilocal and found B. J’s Shoe and Luggages Repair two blocks from my office. Brought the back in at 11am this morning and John evaluated my bag. He said the repair can be done and that I can pick it up at 1pm. I asked John about the cost and he said $ 7 and that I could pay when I picked up my bag.
Stopped by at 2pm and John showed how he resewed the stitching and resulting in a small ½″ fabric crease at the spot repaired. It was barely noticeable. John did a great job and well worth the $ 7 price. Beats paying $ 60+ for a new laptop backpack. Very pleased!
The name on the store and business card is B. J’s Shoes and it sells and repairs shoes. They also sell handbags and luggage. I’ll be back for luggage/​bag repairs and will try their shoe repair service as well.

My Husband and I have been going here for years but my husband starting having his shoes resoled here almost 20 years ago. Mr. Tran has kept his expensive shoes in service and looking good for decades. I feel that he is an artisan. We feel lucky to have such a reliable business. I would highly recommend B. J’s Shoes and the products he sells are top notch too. Thanks.

I am very impressed with Mr. Tran’s 30 years of shoe repair skills! I recently brought in my favorite pair of boots to be repaired and it only took 1 hour to replace the sole of the heel! I was so happy with the results that I took my favorite pair of booties to be repaired the very next day! I wore it so much this past year that I completely ruined the heel. Luckily, Mr. Tran was able to fix it for only $ 20 and I am sooo happy!!!
I’m just so thankful that this sort of top notch service still exist! Thank you so much!

I would have given him more stars if he admitted that he scuffed parts of the heel.
I just had him change out the rubber part of my heel to my worn out stilettos. When i picked it up, there were more noticeable scuffs. Thank goodness these shoes were a test pair to check out the craftsmanship!
The only reason I would go back is for the cheap price for changing out the heel tips. But it definitely would not be for any $ 100+ pair of shoes.
Whoever gets their shoes to go fixed should take a picture of the before and compare to see if he did any damage.

My previous review magically disappeared, so I’ll make this quick. This place is the worst! I went to have the zipper on one my combat boots replaced. Not only was the zipper not replace in the 7 days he told me, he hadn’t even removed the old broken zipper. I came back the following day and the new seem was disgraceful. The replacement zipper broke not soon after. I will never come here again.

I had a recent and very disappointing experience that will send me elsewhere in search of my shoe repair needs. One of the heels on my pair of Prada pumps was broken after only a couple of wears (but that’s a whole other complaint), so I asked my husband to bring them here for repairs. First, the proprietor told my husband to come in several days, but when my husband did, the shoes weren’t ready. He then said that he didn’t have screws long enough for the heel but he would figure something out, at which point we probably should’ve just taken the shoes back and left. But stupid us, we said fine, we’ll come back. The first time I put them on, the heel broke again! So, in the end, nothing was fixed.
— Don’t tell me that something will be ready, when it won’t be!
— And if you can’t fix something, just admit it.

Came here to make a key copy, the owner was very friendly, quick and only $ 1.50 for 1 copy. He also had a selection of import luggage and some brand name shoes/​slippers in stock.

I saw the good review for handbag repair. I have a similar Frederic convertible bag with a strap problem. I decided to try BJs in Oakland Chinatown. They did a great job on my favorite handbag. He fixed it with new parts, it functions and looks great! I’m really impressed with the store owner and his shop (very clean and professional). I will be returning for future shoes and handbag repairs. He also had some nice handbags and shoes for sale in the store. Very happy!

Nice work repairing my shoes and reasonably priced. All in all — a very happy costumer that will return.

I have a Frederic convertible handbag that needed repair. The screw-​like hinge that connects one of straps had stripped and would no longer stay fastened. I couldn’t locate the manufacturer on the web and after some running around and phone calling, I finally was referred to BJ Shoes for the repair.
I have to say, I was a little wary of shipping off my bag for repair. Then again, it wasn’t usable; so, if I didn’t get it back, it wasn’t much of a loss. I’m happy to say that after a couple months and $ 20, I just got Frederic bag back.
BJ Shoes did a great job on the repair, was completely reliable, and returned the bag shined up and looking like new. You can’t beat that!

Tip: Read the reviews from his old location too.
I brought a couple of my heels in to get fixed. They were quite damaged from walking around drunk. I specified my requests and he quoted a price. Cheap. Deal.
One pair came back dirtier than I brought them in. When I pointed that out, he said that he’d tried to clean it, but it wouldn’t come off. For the insole, all he did was stick an adhesive — which I could’ve done myself if I knew the job would be so unprofessional. He did nothing for the other scuffs and missed doing the heel tips on one pair of my shoes. I didn’t want to deal with him at this point so just paid and left.
Yeah, it’s cheap. But I got ripped off and feel like I paid the guy to do practically nothing. I wouldn’t bring my business back here.

I haven’t used bj’s services lately. services of shoe repair, not what you all are thinking of.
they also sell bostonian shoes, luggage tugalongs, shoe laces and other odds & ends. the store looks spiffy not like the hole in the wall it was at it’s former locale.
i wouldn’t hesitate to resole my shoes here except i don’t wear resoleable shoes now. i now need more arch support.

I took my backpack to BJ’s on a Monday to have the zippers repaired because they were no longer zipping properly. He said I could pick the backpack up on Thursday. When I came back on Thursday he told me that he had to order special zippers because he didn’t have ones that fit.
Disappointed that he had not told me this before I gave him my number and asked him to call me when the bag was repaired. After a week of not hearing from him I called to check on the status of the repair. He said the bag was ready and I could pick it up. When I got there I saw that the zippers were the same original ones. I asked him why he had not replaced the zippers and he said that he never needed to order new zippers. I then zipped the bag to see if he had fixed it and it immediately came of the track just as before. I complained and he charged me $ 4 instead of $ 7.
BJ wasted two weeks of my time. He communicated poorly, failing to let me know key details like the fact that he needed to order new zippers and when the bag was ready. And in the end he didn’t fix the bag at all, although he wouldn’t admit it. I don’t recommend BJ for luggage repair.

Short Story Short:
Dropped off some boots to have new tips put on the heels. One hour later picked them up, shined/​polished and all, for a whopping total of $ 6.00!
Short Story a little Longer:
Called ahead to see how long it would take and how much it would cost to put new tips on heels. I was told 5 minutes and $ 6, respectively. I actually figured it would be $ 6 per heel; luckily I was wrong about that.
So, when I went in to BJs about an hour later, I was told I’d need to pick them up 2 days later. I said, «I called and was told it would only take 5 minutes!» So the guy caved and said 10 minutes. I offered to come back in an hour, and voila! See above.

What can I say about BJ’s shoe & luggage repair? The guy is AWESOME!!!
My favorite pair of $ 500+ Kenneth Cole boots… ruined by tons of city walking… heel taps broken off, leather binding coming off of the heel (thanks to my new puppy Lola), and the leather soles worn down and ready to be worn through…
All fixed for $ 28 by BJ. Not only fixed at a great price, but with excellent work and back in my hands within 48 hours??? REALLY!!!
He is my favorite new go-​to guy for shoe repair. I loved his work so much that I brought him another 3 pairs of boots within a week and brought by a few pairs of my friend’s shoes as well.
BJ is no nonsense and really nice, not only does he do great work, but he tells you exactly what you need, doesn’t try to rip you off and sell you other crap/​services that you don’t need, and returns your shoes to you in a timely manner. With parking being horrible, if you call ahead within 15 minutes on the day your shoes are done and you tell BJ you are on your way, he will actually bring the shoes TO the door for you so you don’t have to find parking. HOW AWESOME IS THAT?!
BJ will definitely be getting my business for a long time!!! :)
These boots are made for walkin’…and that’s just what they’ll do… and when they need some lovin’…BJ is the guy they are going to… :)

I had a pair of work boots resoled for $ 45, with two options for soles. They were done on time, for the amount he said, and seems to be quality work.
I wish he would have cleaned them as well; that would have been the super extra cool bonus.
He will certainly get my future business.

If you love your shoes, you need to take it Bj’s Shoes & Luggages.
I toke 4 pairs of my favorite shoes to them for safe guard and they did an amazing Job! Very reasonable price $ 15 –what a steal!

This store sells Stacy Adams, makes keys (only a few kinds) and fixes luggage/​shoes, the shop personifies Oakland’s texture and difference.
BJ’s is solid, he fixes shoes and my South-​Bay Mom gives me bags of shoes for BJ’s because he is affordable and does a good job.
He always has your things finished and I am not sure anyone in the shop is hip to the old ‘BJ’ connotation but maybe they are. Great Cobbler.