Widmer’s

Just got my clothes back from Mr. Howell the tailor. I am as pleased as could be with the fit and quality of his handiwork. I am happy to have someone I trust. Thank you, Josh. I took a stack of your cards and will sing your praises!
–Scott Ponder
Northside Chop Shop

do not bother taking your wedding dress here to be cleaned. i was charged $ 250 and you can’t even tell they did anything. complained to the cashier and they did not offer a partial refund or anything. i feel like i flushed $ 250 down the toilet. save yourself some money and have it done by an online wedding gown cleaning/​preservation company.

WORST BUSINESS I HAVE EVER DEALT WITH! I started going to widmers about 5 years ago because it was located conveniently close to my home. After just a few visits, I had to switch cleaners because every shirt I got back had at least one button cracked or completely missing, and they burned a hole into one of the shirts. I was told that it wasn’t their fault, and it’s impossible for them not to break the buttons (are you serious?! If you can’t avoid destroying garments, get out of this business!), and it was my fault for not warning them that they might burn a hole in the other one. Oh, and every single one of these shirts were either Gucci, Armani, or Theory ($ 125 – 325 each). They offered to replace the buttons each time, so before long, all of my shirts had a combination of a few original buttons and their cheap, mismatched buttons. Fast forward a few years, and I have been going to A1 cleaners in pleasant ridge (although it is not near my office or my home, they have never disappointed me, and they are as friendly as can be), but just this week I was in a bind and knew I wouldn’t be able to drive out of my way to go to A1. I decided to give widmers another chance, but told them to take extra special care of my FAVORITE shirt (a $ 475 Isaia that I bought in chicago less than a month ago), because I was interviewing for a huge promotion later this week, and I planned to wear that shirt. I was given the same line again, and was told that they tend to break buttons in the laundry process, and the only way to avoid that was to pay extra to have it dry cleaned. No problem– I’d happily pay the extra few bucks to ensure my favorite shirt was in perfect shape for my interview. I went to pick it up today, and guess what? THEY BROKE THE BUTTONS! The lady behind the counter couldn’t have cared less, even though she was there when I brought it in the previous day and explained how important it was to me that they took good care of it. She didn’t offer to credit the cleaning fee. Heck, she didn’t even offer to reduce it down to the fee they typically charge just to launder (and ruin) shirts. She just said to bring it back after my interview, and they would replace the buttons with their crappy ones (gee, thanks!). I absolutely hate this place, and hope they go out of business due to the thousands of dollars of my property that they unapologetically destroyed, while being rude and condescending along the way! I should have just worn a dirty shirt to my interview, rather than giving these cons another nickel! Oh, and if you don’t believe me, think I’m exaggerating, think i lied about the quality of the clothes they destroyed, or think I’m some owner of A1, trying to bash the competition, just email me– I can show you receipts from both widmers and A1, as well as pictures of the garments they destroyed (well, the ones I haven’t yet thrown away).

AVOID Widmer’s!!!
So on the first try, they charged me just shy of $ 40 for returning a skirt with the zipper apparently ripped out, along with the lining, and poorly sewn back in; stains baked into a dress; and they somehow shrunk my silk shirt. Seems that they wash and dry things, not dry clean them.
My favorite part was where the store clerk tried to explain to me what she thought happened (uh, your contractor effed up?); declared that it was not their fault if it was a manufacturer defect; and asserted that she did not know if this had happened before or whether they had insurance but that when they paid out claims…