Mike’s Shoe Repair

Sadly Mike is leaving this month and unfortunately another small, local business is going OUT OF BUSINESS. Sad but true sign of times,

I have a serious purse issue. As in, I only have one. I got it for Christmas in 2011 and donated the rest of my unused purses. The zipper broke in summer of ’12. I just dealt with it, carrying around a purse that was always open (thank God no one ever robbed me *knock on wood*). People kept telling me to take it to a shoe repair shop and try to get the zipper fixed. Today, after months of using this purse, I finally brought it here for repair.
Walking in here is like turning the clock back 60 years. Not only does the smell of shoe rubbers and oils and whatnot hit you, but everything seems kind of old. Old in the friendly grandfather way. Lots of shoe-​type things were on the walls and behind the counter were all the shoes that had been repaired. The guy (I assume this was Mike) was very quiet and friendly. I asked him if he could fix my purse, but upon further investigation, my purse zipper was really broken. It couldn’t be fixed. I thanked him and left, glancing around the place one more time with respect. I love that this place is here. Places like this are a dying breed and rare to find.
As for my purse, we’ll have to stick it out together until I can find a replacement.

Mike is awesome. He has been around for a long time and is one of the few and vanishing old-school/“mom n’ pop” businesses around. He has never let me down, he is reliable, honest, and friendly. One-​week time frame is not unusual, as he is very busy. But rest assured that when you do get them back, they will be in much better condition than you ever thought possible! He is truly a professional and it is a shame there aren’t more small-​time ops in business like his – and I too, would be heartbroken if he were to close up shop!

With the heels of my dress shoes falling to pieces, I had two options:
1. Buy two new pairs of shoes and continue doing so every year (dress worn at work every day).
2. Find a place that can repair them for a fraction of the cost of buying new shoes.
After much searching on Unilocal,I came across Mike’s Shoe Repair and decided to give them a whirl.
At $ 15 for heel repair, I dropped off the shoes Saturday morning. He let me know that it would be one week for pick up.
One week later, I pick up my shoes with a perfectly fixed heel, nicely shined and polished, and practically restored to what they look like when I bought them.
It’s been two weeks, and they still look good, so we’ll see how long these new repairs last and I’ll repost.
Why only three stars? One week just feels way too long for a heel repair… especially since I only have two pairs of dress shoes I rotate between every day. Also, there isn’t a strong push for customer service (not sure if he was just fairly shy, or pre-​occupied with thoughts both times I stopped by).
Give me a month… if these bad boys are still going strong, I’ll up my star count, and bring a few more shoes to get fixed up.

I’ve taken a few pairs of shoes to Mike’s for repair. (Old Coach shoes I don’t have the heart to part with yet, a pair of boots that fit «just so» that needed a new heel, etc.) I also took a pair of satin shoes to be dyed. (Am I the only one with such an outdated request anymore?)
Every time, I found Mike to be friendly (and even funny!), quick, extremely inexpensive, and have the shoes done on time.
He’s honest when he can’t fix something, he’s told me «no charge» for a number of things (to which I always give more than he probably would have charged anyway because I feel so bad), and seems to really want to help. When I had my shoes dyed, I wanted them to match my wedding purse (made at lill studio, white and teal. The teal was impossible to match.) Mike pulled out his entire collection of dyes to match as closely as he could.
My sisters’ ice skates have been in Mike’s shop a number of times as well. I hope others frequent his shop, I know I’d be heartbroken if he closed.