Sharpen While You Shop

Sharpen While You Shop (SWYS) is a one-​man knife sharpening operation that’s a little slice of genius. Owner-​operator Jeff White sets up a tiny canopy outside of various Grocery Stores and Farmers Markets so you can drop off your knives before shopping, and when you return they’ll be sharpened and ready for you to pick up. I’ve been in dire need of getting my knives sharpened, as my whole knife set hasn’t been professionally sharpened since I got them as wedding gifts―over 12 years ago! This was the nearest SWYS location to my house and I brought over my two 8″ Chef’s Knives for a much needed shave.
Location: SWYS has various set stops and locations throughout the South Bay and Peninsula. This one just happened to be in front of the Lunardi’s on Branham and Meridian every Sat from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Check out this website to find the location closest to you:
Prices: Cost varies depending on the knife size and type. He does all kinds of knives, shears, axes and even ceramic knives! The price is roughly $ 4 – 8 for most standard knives that most «normal» home chefs use. I’ll post a pic of the price sheet to go along with my review. Also, Cash or Local Check ONLY!
Service: Jeff was really super-​friendly and one of the nicest guys I’ve dealt with in a while. He will definitely be seeing more of me as I slowly bring in the rest of my cutlery.
End Result: Perfection! I came home and gave both my knives the old Tomato Test and they cut through it like buttah!
SWS has an excellent FAQ/​Blog (
) on their website and is a highly recommended read before visiting them as it’ll answer most questions you’ll have. Meanwhile, SWYS is highly recommended for getting your beloved knife set back into fighting shape. After all, what’s a cook without a good knife?

This is so convenient! I saw the Sharpen While you shop stand at the Campbell farmers market and was so excited to find them, I was looking for a place to get knives sharpened and what’s more convenient than getting them sharpened while you shop. They have multiple locations in the San Jose Area, so it’s easy to find a convenient time/​place. I had 3 large knives which were $ 7 a piece to sharpen.

He did a great job sharpening a meat cleaver, several kitchen knives, a pizza cutter, and a pair of scissors for us while we shopped. Pleasant and quick. Check his hours and locations on his website.

Did an excellent job touching up my machete. Had some burrs on it from my sharpening attempts but he smoothed them out wonderfully.

Wow had to walk away after 5 minutes of standing there listening to knife discussions while trying to drop off scissors (would have only taken a second for them to acknowledge). No acknowledgement from proprietor and no acknowledgement from second person just sitting there while the one discussed knives proprietor was trying to sell-​no kidding.

Sharpen While You Shop definitely deserves all the 5 star reviews. The last time I took my knives to be sharpened, it cost about $ 100 and I had to wait an entire week. This time, it took maybe 10 minutes and I paid somewhere south of $ 30. I’ll be passing his info along to friends.

I used this service for the first time this weekend. I took my knives to the Lunardi’s on Meridian and Branham.
I had my four very dull Chicago cutlery knives sharpened within 15 minutes. The cost was $ 28. He repaired the tip of one of the knives and they are the sharpest they’ve been in years. I would highly recommend this service.

Job well done at a reasonable price.

They did an awesome job of bringing my 13 year old set of knives back to life!
I brought in all of my knives rolled up in a beach towel and wrapped in rubberbands. The guy said just go ahead and leave them as is and come back when you are done with your errands. No ticket, no questions, no names, no hassle. Ummmm ok. (Sort of a leap of faith, but this guy was surrounded by knives. JOKING!) I told him that there were about two in bundle that I wasn’t sure if they were quality knives. He said, no prob. He would take a look and let me know when I picked them up. COOL.
A few afters of me running around, I came back and the knives were bundled. The guy remembered who I was and told me that he took care of all my knives. Such a great guy and great customer service. I didn’t even have to get out of my car upon pick-​up and he just walked over to me.
TIP: Don’t forget that this is CASH ONLY!!!

Had an awesome experience here, got 6 knives of different lengths sharpened and it was done within an hour (there was someone ahead of us) and the price was very reasonable. I believe the gentleman’s name was Jeff and he couldn’t have been friendlier, I’d highly recommend this place

My utility knife was long overdue for a sharpening. A few friends told me the cost of sharpening my utility knife would outweigh the cost of just buying a new utility knife because of its unique, serrated edge. This utility knife is of sentimental value so I couldn’t part with it and brought it to the «Sharpen While You Shop» stand at the Campbell Farmer’s Market.
I introduced myself to Jeff, showed him my utility knife, and, within less than five minutes, my utility knife was just like new! Taking note the blade was difficult to pull out with just my thumb, Jeff oiled the hinge and now it swings out in one fell swoop.
With the professionalism, speed, and quality of service that Jeff provided, I felt I was undercharged so I tried to tip him, but he refused and simply asked I keep them in mind for next time.
I most definitely will!

Whooo hooo. Blades are cut you to the bone sharp. I had to wait a little even though showing up early because his watch had stopped but once he got to the task of sharpening my knives it was quick and speedy.
Great service and would definitely bring my stuff back.

seriously awesome guys you are dealing with here. Our two Shun utilities dice and slice vegetables like never before!
I visited them at the Campbell farmers market but you can find them at other locations. Check out their website — its worth a visit.
Happy sharpening!

Before visiting Jeff’s mobile location, I needed to check that he was familiar with Global knives, and his email response was thorough and reassuring. I was very happy with both the sharpening work he did on the knife and on an unusual pair of scissors, and with his information and attitude. Well recommended.

I have never taken knives to be sharpened before, and just knew I should. Well, I got a whole lot more: Jeff was so nice and so informational. He talked me out of getting my cheap knives sharpened and going to invest in a good quality chef’s knife. He even talked to me about brands, materials, and handles. Amazing. He then took a couple of my cheaper paring knives and sharpened all the serrated edges off to make them work better for me.
He just got a customer for life!

Who can complain about a knife sharpener who comes to your grocery store every week and charges rock bottom prices for his work. I regularly take my dull knives to Jeff and he does a very nice job of sharpening them. He also is working on my Bonsai tools, which are very difficult to sharpen because of their concave angles. He has repaired one trunk cutter that no one else has done satisfactorily. I usually drop them off before I go shopping at Lunardi’s off of Bascom Ave.

Dropped four knives off with Jeff at the Campbell Farmer’s Market today. As most everyone else has said, the service is very fast, excellent quality, and reasonably priced! I plan to bring all my dull edged cutlery to SWYS from here on.

Do you have old knives, scissors, serrated blades, cleavers, or pruning clippers ready to throw out? I do. My 12 year old high quality but dull kitchen shears folded paper instead of cut them.
Decided to bring that including my rusted pruning shears, and a beloved Henckel chef knife to Jeff at the Campbell farmer’s market. Jeff guarantees his work. If he can’t sharpen them, he doesn’t charge. Got them back. No rust on pruning clippers and they’re sharp! The Henckel cuts through carrots without shooting them across the room. The most impressive was the kitchen scissors. Looks brand new and saves me $ 30 from buying a new one. The price was low, too.

The best… period.
Thank you Jeff but most of all thank you Lunardi’s for allowing Jeff of «Sharpen While You Shop» to set up his knife sharpening business in your parking lot on Meridian Ave Saturday, October 20, 2012. Jeff’s a terrific guy that offers a great service at a very reasonable price.
Need to check «Sharpen While You Shop» web site to find where they will be setting up next in order to have your knives sharpened.
Couldn’t be more pleased.
Thank you Jeff and thank you Lunardi’s.

I cook a lot and love sharp knives. I mostly do my own sharpening, but I have neither the knowledge or the equipment to sharpen scissors and serrated knives. I mentioned this to Jeff while passing by, had a brief and pleasant conversation about many things knife and otherwise and at the end of the conversation, I decided to bring my bread knives and kitchen shears to him for a sharpening.
Jeff sharpened a 14″ bread knife I use for large loaves, a 8″ bread knife, a 6″ serrated, and a pair of shun kitchen shears. All went from frustratingly dull to incredibly sharp. I can’t remember the exact price for the 4 items, but I do recall it was reasonable and well worth every penny.