Imperial Boot & Shoe Repair

I am a teacher for special needs children. I am on my feet for en entirety for the school day, in addition to another after-​school teaching position I hold elsewhere a few days out of the week. I only bring this up to emphasize how much wearing the right shoes is to me — these are the only shoes I have found that I can wear all day and not feel pain at the end of the day. They were recommended by my doctor. They just needed a minor repair, and I decided to take them to Imperial since it is in my neighborhood and because I wanted to support a small business.
I took my work shoes in on a Monday and was told they’d be ready on that Friday, and that they’d call me at the number I left with them. Friday rolls around without a call. I call them and no one answers. Since they are closed on weekends, I call Monday. No answer.
The son finally answers the phone on Wednesday evening and they are unable to find my shoes. They eventually find them and say that they won’t be done until that Friday (an entire week late) because they had to order a basic material for the repair. I said, «I understand if you all have to order something to complete the repair, but why did you ask for my number if you weren’t going to bother telling me about the delay? And why is it so hard to get you all on the phone?» They had no response. Then I ask whether there will be any sort of discount for the delay, the lack of communication, and for spending a great deal of time just trying to get them on the phone. The father in the background said that of course he would be charging full price and that it wasn’t his fault he didn’t keep the materials in stock and that he was late. His tone was fairly rude. At this point they hadn’t even STARTED the repair.
Honestly I wouldn’t have minded the delay so much if they had just called me told me right away that they were going to need more time. It’s not professional to keep a customer in the dark. Communication is important.
I decided to pick up my shoes that very day. I do not want to a support a business that:
1. Is so disorganized it loses my hard-​earned belongings.
2. Does not answer its phone.
3. Does not attempt to right a wrong.
4. Does not extend the courtesy of calling when they say they will, which is dishonest.
5. Cannot meet its own deadlines.
I’ll be taking my shoes elsewhere. Hopefully I won’t be subjected to this same nonsense.

I really wanted to give them a good review, however after seeing the damage that was done to my pair of Louboutins, I cannot. One major positive is that they were able to work with me and do a quick turn around on applying the sole savers to my shoes. However, the quality of work that was done is not what I expected after reading all of the glowing reviews here. The sole savers are approximately 1 mm too large and do not sit flush with the shoe and glue can be seen. There is also an inexplicable gash on one of the soles of the shoe. What a disappointment. They may be good with boot repair, but after seeing the results of the work done, they may not be familiar with this sort of task. Take your Louboutins elsewhere.

Just know that YES-​the old guy and his son do an excellent job on your shoes. BUT know that his shop does NOT open on time so even though it says 9am-​you are fooling yourself if you think it will open then. Not sure why he just doesn’t change the time to 10am-​apparently after asking around this is a problem.

Exceptional service! Quick turn around and shoes look like new. I recommend anyone looking for good shoe repair guy this is the place. He is also a sweet hard working man.

I got a new pair of motorcycle boots. I’ve had this style before. When the boots were 13 months old a heel fell off. I couldn’t believe motorcycle boots had the heels glued on, not with all the abuse a heel would take with the stopping. I found a cobbler who fixed them.
I got the boots but the cobbler who fixed my last pair was gone. So I went to imperial. I left them Wednesday morning and he asked if I could pick them up on Friday.
Friday morning I stopped to get them and he was hammering the last of the nails. For the two boot heels I paid 10 bucks. I thought that was inexpensive.
If I need cobbler work again I will come here. The cobbler is a very nice guy.

I brought my boots to this business for repair and was promised that they would be ready on Thursday, a week later. When I came to pick the boots up Thursday afternoon, he had not even started on them. The posted hours on Unilocal show the business open from 9AM — 6PM but I’m sitting in front of the business after 10AM on Friday and it’s not open yet. When you call the phone number, you get an unintelligible voice message, so I’m not sure if it works or if messages left are actually received. The proprietor is an older man so I’m wondering if he is in poor health or something. I’m just hoping I get my boots back. I’ll post an update. It’s 10:30. Here he comes. Definitely appears to have health issues.
Update: Owner apologized for being late. He was delayed at his doctor’s appointment. My boots look great. Bumped my review up to 3 stars instead of 1 star.
It’s a shame that we are losing some of these old-​timers and their skills.

I had a pair of boots from my Grandfather (recently passed) and wanted to resole them from a classic walking heel to a Roper heel and to narrow the width to a «D» from an «E». It was a complete refinish from the ankle down.
Absolutely amazing job on a pair of boots that held significant sentimental value! I highly recommend this guy. A true professional who knows his craft.

3 shoes heel repair 25 bucks. good price i like it. but when i pick up them, it was not ready yet… just heel cap repair 7 days??? if you need hurry. not here.

Took in a few worn down boots that had worn soles, heels and even a hole. One pair was even starting to talk to me. Picked them up better than if they were new. The owner is a really sweet old guy that really takes pride in his work. Don’t make them like him anymore. Will definitely be back and will recommend to others. :)

Salvador is an old school cobbler. He’s great!

Great job but pricey

I went here a few weeks ago. I needed a pair of heels fixed. I called several places and they told me their turn around time was about 5 days. Uumm just to replace the heel cap? Anyway I needed them that day as I was headed to Vegas the following day. Anyway, I called this place & the owner aka shoe repair man was very nice & understanding. He had my geeks looking like new in 3 hours. I paid $ 6.50… ! He was great I’d definitely go back