Shoe & Leather Service

In case anyone is wondering, Marina & Nikolai retired… nothing «bad» happened (ie. they weren’t priced out by rent or anything). Thanks to them for many many years of loving shoe care!

This store closed with two pairs of my shoes. Shouldn’t a store contact customers so we could pick up our belongings? These shoes cost about $ 800 a pair. Am I the only person this happened to? What do I do now? I really want my shoes back!!!

Did they close? I looked yesterday and the space has been vacated :(
I loved this cute couple and their leather tricks! Their prices jumped in the last few yrs but man… they’ll be missed.

Is this place gone, I went by the other day and it looked for lease?

Rude customer service. Brought in a pair of BCBG cowboy boots that are in need of lots of repair but they quoted me $ 75 to reheel! For that amount, I asked to pay when I actually saw the repairs. The women shook her head, gave me a one word explanation — «no» and turned around.
Then I went to Jack’s Shoe Repair at 53 Sutter and got a quote that was lower than half of what this place was asking ($ 23) and in about half the time.
I will never step foot in here again.

my favorite pair of boots is this vintage pair that i bought on ebay. i love them. i loved them so much the heel wore out. i didn’t know where to go and refused to spend $ 40 or more (at other places) to get my heel reinforced.
one day, my coworker recommends shoe & leather so i come in and am greeted by a cheery man who said he would have them ready on tuesday (it was thursday… big points here for getting them done in less than a week). it was only going to cost me $ 26! big, big points here… wasn’t able to find it under $ 40.
i come back to pick up my boots and pleasantly surprised that he shined them so they looked like the perfect, brand new pair of vintage boots (feast on that verbiage there). i love them more now than what i bought them, thank you Shoe & Leather Service for fixing my favorite pair of boots.

I go into the store with a canvas bag that needs what is essentially a small belt loop sewn back on. The woman says sure, fill this out, then takes what sounds like a non-​urgent personal call while I wait to ask how much it will cost. When she gets off the phone, she says, «Oh, I don’t know, maybe 6, 7, 8, 9 dollars.» Uh, okay, kind of a range there for what seems like a pretty simple job, but fine, whatever. She gives me my end of the order ticket and tells me she’ll call when it’s ready.
Fast forward a week later, and I still haven’t heard back. I go back in the store with my ticket, and the friendly guy rummages around in back looking for the bag. The woman who originally helped me comes in asking what he’s looking for, I describe the bag, and she says she doesn’t remember it. The guy finally finds it, says it’s been ready for a long time, and the woman says, «Oh yes, that bag!» She rings me up and says, «$ 9.50.» Uh, $ 9.50? Just for having that small little belt loop sewn on? «Yes, I told you last time.» No, last time you said it would be around $ 6 – 7. «$ 9.50.» No explanation of any loving craftsmanship that went into the work, or why this bag was especially tricky to work with (probably because you don’t really need to put loving crafstmanship or fine detail into sewing a belt loop back on to an Old Navy bag). Grumble, grumble, fine.
As she hands me back my change, I drop a quarter on the floor. «See, money is flying everywhere!» Yeah, money is flying straight from my wallet to yours. Thanks lady.

They did a good job repairing my jacket. It had water damage to the point that I couldn’t wear it out anymore, so I’m glad that it’s wearable again.
However, they quoted me $ 60 – 80 for the repair and charged me $ 150. Not cool.

I’ve taken two expensive pairs of shoes to Shoe & Leather repair to be re-​soled. They were very friendly and did a great job on the shoes. I would certainly use their services again.
The only thing is that they are SUPER expensive. I learned this after taking a pair of shoes to a place close to my house in the suburbs — same quality workmanship, one quarter of the price. Live and learn.

I took in an old leather mail bag that needed a bit of an overhaul and I knew it would cost me a few dollars ($ 80) but I didn’t care, I loved this bag. I told the woman at the counter that I needed some of the leather replaced and all of the stitching needed to be redone. She said no problem at all. Great.
Two weeks went by, I called them, they said another week. Two more weeks went by, they said another week. Two MORE weeks went by, I called them… It was over two months before I saw my bag again and only because I harassed them. When I finally went in to get my bag I saw that they had replaced the leather with mismatched scraps and I had a feeling the stitching wasn’t redone, they said it was and pointed at their «beautiful» work… I didn’t see a difference.
Not a week went by before my bag was falling apart again.
I went in to let them know that I paid for a job they didn’t do, the woman became angry and told me that they didn’t do the restitching because the bag didn’t need it and if I wanted it done I could pay them again and they’d do it. I told her no thanks I wouldn’t be giving them any more money and walked out as she and the man behind the counter yelled rude insults at me.
Lovely people, I recommend them to all the masochists out there.

I needed some heels redone before my sister’s wedding. They did them quickly and were friendly but at $ 20, I will probably go somewhere else next time.

Hey now I read most of the other reviews and I must admit that this place is a tad bit expensive but they hooked my boots up completely. Nice shoe shine and they added a rubber sole so I wouldn’t be sliding around like a mediocre figure skater! Plus they were kind. So, if you have some favorite feet covers that you can’t live without go over to them. Plus they have great store hours and centrally located (near BART and MUNI) what else do you need?

You know you have a shoe addiction problem when the shoe repair couple here knows you by the following 1) Name 2) Shoe Size 3) Your favorite brand (s) of shoes. Yes — I have a shoe addiction problem.
Every time I come in here with my damaged shoes (I haven’t brought in any bags yet) — they fix them up and make them look like brand new. They are excellent in boot stretching and are able to do most replacements to make sure your shoes don’t lose any important details, i.e. designer zippers, etc. Since coming to this place, they have gotten me hooked on getting the special grips for the bottom of my shoe so I wouldn’t trip or slip on anything (Yes, I am very prone to doing stuff like that and seriously hurting myself after a night of wining and dining).
This place isn’t cheap — but it’s definitely worth the investment.

Good, friendly service in a convenient downtown location. The woman who helped me complemented my pants the last time I was there. I think their prices are comparable to other places. The location is really easy for me to pick up things on my lunch hour or on my way home from work.

Let’s just say you get what you pay for:
Nice workmanship but expensive! $ 20 to replace stiletto tips! Holy moly! It’s $ 10 everywhere else. I seriously dropped a wad of cash on getting 7 pairs reheeled.
+
Nice work
Open later (7pmish on weekdays)
Convenient to my work
Cheerful attitudes
-
Can’t understand the people! They talk in riddles (trust me you’ll know it when you experience it!) and phone communication is difficult.
Didn’t call me to notify me when they said they would because «I have a long distance number and they never promised me they would call my long distance number.» (This is the only piece of info I was able to glean from the above mentioned phone convo.)
Still can’t decide if the nice job was worth sacrificing so much cash that I could have spent on… ya know… rent…or food…

My favorite quote from an old boyfriend, when I told him the heels on my boots were wearing down: «Oh, take them to a cobbler. They love that shit!»
Turns out, they do! Specifically, the owner of Shoe and Leather Service does. He has delighted in bringing my boots back to life time and time again. Not only do the heels look even and flawless, but he’s always sure to give the shoes a lot of polish and love, sending them back out into the world far better-​looking than when they arrived.
What can I say? This guy’s really into leather.

I trusted this place with my both my Gucci and Helmut Lang boots back in December for new heels, etc. in preparation for the rainy season. They did a fantastic job and were even able to repair a strap that broke on my Manolo’s (I thought was un-​fixable). Thanks to everyone who gave good reviews to this place. Without Unilocal I’d have no idea where to take my poor shoes for repair. Would give it 5 stars but they almost gave me the wrong pair of shoes on my way out. This place isn’t cheap but when you are repairing $ 1000 shoes, its acceptable to pay $ 40 for the repair.

I felt a little uneasy on Monday night… leaving my pair of Mary Jane Louboutins, but time was not on my side. After calling at least 3 other shoe repair stores and all of them closing at 5:30 or 6:00 pm, I reluctantly walked over to Shoe & Leather Service since they close at 7pm.
They replaced my heels in less than 24 hours. My Mary Janes are shined and ready to go and they look great!
I’ll be back with more pairs of shoes for repair soon. They so deserve an extra star for staying open the extra hour, for calming my nerves, and for making my shoes look brand new again!

Sometimes I very seriously wish that life had an undo button in it.
I had visited this place three times. Here is my story.
Foreword: I realize that second language is a pretty high and wide barrier for most immigrants, which could cause a lot of miscommunication (and what could be considered rudeness), but when your first language is the same as that of your store’s customer, you could easily get around that barrier. These people choose not to. I respect that choice, even if it has no logic behind it whatsoever.
Experience: The first visit the result was pretty good. I needed new heels on a pair of pumps, turn around was pretty quick and painless.
Second time I brought in two pairs of shoes, both needed new heels, and one needed to be fixed (simple-​looking insert and sew deal). One of the pairs had a wooden heels, and one of the shoe came back with a huge, but not *very* noticeable scratch on it. Its not something I could have made on there, but it was presented to me as if «it was fixed for me.» Uh. Thanks for putting it on there too.
Today I picked up my most favorite pair of black fuck me boots from getting new soles. This was my third and last trip here. I really wish I just wore them until there were holes in the soles and threw them out rather than have them trashed here — my most favorite, best-​find-​ever boots got completely destroyed. They had a rolled-​up not-​too-​pointy sexy toe, with leather sole going up about 1÷8−1÷16 inch up the front edge. The sole was light brown leather to match the skinny wooden wedge, about ¹⁄₁₆. They were all perfect, except that the sole started wearing out. So I wanted the sole to get covered. I brought them in, and was told that the toe needed a little build up on the toe part, which I agreed to. I was quoted $ 28-​something. When I came to get my newly-​soled boots back, they looked nothing like what I brought in — sexy toes are gone — lots of new things about the new toes though: they are pointy (how can that be?), there is a huge scratch on the right one, which is just painted over (quote: «I fixed that hole for you, eh?! Looks great, doesn’t it?!»). The sole that was rolled up the edge is now sticking out all over, and looks cheaply glued on and painted over. Its also about 1/​8in thick, with some areas that are almost ¼ thick. I brought them in with perfect toes and a sexy little skinny sole that was running up the front edge. Now they look plastic, and $ 90 cheaper (per boot) — exactly twice as much as I got charged for new soles here.
Afterword: I don’t care about the money as much. I just want to press undo. That’s all I want.
That’s all. Please give me my boots back. I am size 6.5. They are Kenneth Cole’s «Outer Case.» I just went on Zappos, they are not there, of course, otherwise I’d be buying a new pair.
End run: Lesson learned. I can’t spell.

A couple years ago I took my briefcase here to be repaired. One of those wire letter holders had scratched the side like a cheese grater through gouda, and I wanted my briefcase to look new again.
I will admit they did a good job working out the scratches. The problem was that for weeks afterwards, the black polish from the briefcase would stain my clothes.

I took my new Fiorentini & Baker boots over to get the heels and soles protected, and the husband/​wife team over here were just as professional as they were jovial.
It wasn’t inexpensive, but the results have really made a difference.
The other day, I noticed a small tear in the leather, so again went in. They had the boots polished and repaired that day. Now I am the man in my new boots, which are not just made for walking, but for looking good.

My kitten heels went in hissing and returned purring.
One pair in particular had needed the heels rebuilt all together. I had taken them to Jack’s on Market St. and they came out glued sloppy & messy looking. Pretty much too embarrassing to wear (the heel’s nail was exposed!) and a waste of time, effort and money.
But I figured I’d give them one more try, somewhere else! The shoes came out rebuilt, (Marc Jacobs would have been proud) repaired, polished and in better shape than I had anticipated.
What I also enjoyed was the attention to detail and the high spirited friendliness of the couple that ran the shop. They made me laugh and even kept a look out during the transaction, making sure I didn’t miss my morning bus!