Carl’s Boot & Leather Shop

Carl’s is my first stop for boot, saddle or tack repair. As long as I’ve known the shop, maybe 12 years, the owner’s name is Glen. He only uses top notch materials and does excellent work. He tends to keep it simple and reasonable if that works. He does utilitarian patches on my barn boots cheap but did a beautiful job replacing floral inlays on my daughter’s show boots for a very reasonable price. Glen never charges extra based on the boot or the saddle; just by the job.
He packs the shop with items for sale. It’s a small shop but the limited selection includes a lot of useful items. With Glen you can count on only good gear. I’ve bought plenty of excellent headstalls, reins, mecates, etc. His leather care products are top notch. He’s got Churchill elk and deerskin gloves and the best boot socks imaginable; the Cal Fire favorites. Great ropes for ranch or team roping and a selection of used saddles for sale. He’s got Garcia bits and spurs in the showcase at the best price you’ll get on them. He’ll order any saddlery parts out of the catalog for you, or custom tack.
My wife has her shoes repaired here for the last few years. She’s always been happy with the work and the price. And, «Yes», you pre-​pay for all repairs. Funny, seemed normal to me.
I’d give him 5 stars except for the sign that I have to leave my horse outside!

Maybe good for saddles but not polishing boots or sewing purses. Dropped off my items and tried to pick them up a week later and one day after they were to be ready. I had paid up front in cash when I dropped them off and I believe prices were high. When I asked for my items, I had to explain my purse and she went to the back and found it after looking for a while. My two pairs of shoes where in a bag on the floor and ready and my other pair of boots were no where to be found. I described them and after searching, through the piles of stuff, they were located and not polished. First I was asked if I could come back in 20 minutes but then they decided to polish them while I waited. The polish job was okay but not worth $ 9 for a pair of boots.
I’ll take my business elsewhere next time and get better service.

This shop is great. Carl has done work on purses, shoes and boots for me. He is always ready to offer advice and gets the job done quickly and at a great price. Thank you

Carl is a great guy who fixes tack along with other leather goods. I brought in a pair of suede half chaps to have two new zippers put in and while it took him a day longer then he quoted me the price was right and he did a fantastic job! Will definitely be returning if I have other leather goods that need repairing.

Dropped off my boots. He did ask me to prepay which was strange, but the boots were ready on time and the price was right. Will return

I had utilized this business for years. I knew that his shop was always unorganized but he was nice, appropriately priced and close. The last three times I had work for him, things were not done when promised. The last time was the straw that broke the camels back… I dropped off the work and was told to come back in a week. I came back a week later and «he had forgotten it». I was told to come back in another week… I went back 10 days later. At first he couldn’t find it and then guess what… NOT done. I was told that he’d have it done in four days. I go in a week later to find that it was done but not in the manner I asked. This ended a business relationship that had lasted over 15 years.

Horrible place, I assume is Carl the man whom was there… rude, didn’t greet me when I step inside the store, were talking with other customers at the little place, anyway I brought my shoes for a repair 3 weeks ago to have an idea about the repair for the hills and sole of my hubby’s working shoes… «$ 20.00 bucks» oh ok let me think and talk with him and I will bring it back… 3 weeks after, exactly today I went back with the same shoes… «Oh $ 40.00 bucks and I will be able to do that and deliver it after the 26^th» WTH??? twice as much and really rude, not worth! I will prefer to use the same amount to buy a new one at Wallyword! Not happy at all… you may have a better experience but be aware, the place is not that friendly!

Great service. Repair was very fast. Carl did an excellent job for a very reasonable price. Thanks!

I went to this location because of the reviews written here… what a disappointment… my boots were not ready on time, as a matter of fact, I was over a week late in picking up the boots and the owner at first could not find the boots! and then when he found them after several long minutes, the boots were not done!!! My blood was boiling!!! I guess the work was adequate, but I think he overcharged and because they were not done on time, he should have apologized. I would not recommend this place to anyone! What a disappointment… The customer service there does not exists…

This is my first time ever trying a shoe repair, so I dont have much to compare it to, but I have heard other people talk about some outrageous prices and that was NOT the case here. He seemed very knowledagable and very busy, which is a good sign. I’ve lived near here almost my entire life and never noticed this place, so if he’s able to stay open it must be from word of mouth. Again, another great sign of a good place! Overall I was very satisfied and my boots were done as scheduled unlike some of the other reviews on here =)

$ 9 for tips on my boots! Compared to NY i’ll take it!

He did a fantastic job on replacing my heels, reinforcing the toes, and repairing one heel that my dog chewed on. I would definitely recommend this place, but only if you do not need your shoes anytime soon. He was extremely slow. He kept promising that they would be done on a certain day but when i went to go pick them up he would say he needed more time. The workmanship and prices are great, but service slow.

The price was right, they guy was nice… Other than that not too enthused… I didn’t go to Carl’s for shoe repair… Just to have a couple leather loops attached to my bf’s tool belt. He insisted that he should hand sew them rather than use the machine as it would be a better quality, stronger stitch… But it would take a little longer, so I would have to pick it up tomorrow. I agreed, and he told me to come back the next day between 2 and 3 o’clock to pick it up. Well, my bf went to the store at 4 o’clock the following day. And was told that they had simply «forgot all about it»… So the guy told my bf to come back in 30 MINUTES! to pick it up… which I might add was a total inconvenience since we don’t live near the shop. Anyways, he gave the guy and hour (just in case)… Well, the job was done when he got back (thank goodness), but unfortunately it was done kinda sloppily and for some odd reason the guy left the red tape on underneath the loops when he sewed them on… Not a huge deal, but unprofessional and once again, sloppy… So anyways, I gave them 3 stars because their inexpensive, it’s a cute little leather shop, and he was nice… but I guess we got what we paid for…

WOW, WOW, WOOWWWWW! This place is one of the most perfect examples of why I love and trust Unilocal!as much as I do.
I am pretty much always in heels, so the toss up is usually «Do I get these shoes fixed or just go buy another pair?»… and up to this point I have never been satisfied with shoe/​heel repair for the cost. This time, it was to save the life of my most favorite pair of stilettos, I just couldnt bring myself to give them up. While I was at it, I threw in two other pairs of work heels that needed a polish and cap replacement.
I arrive and have Carl take a look at my shoes. He tells me $ 8.50 for the heel replacements, and I think to myself, per SHOE or per pair??? It was per pair! shweet. (Unlike others I called that were $ 25 a pair!) The cleaning/​polishing was only 4 bucks a pair. He asked if I would pay now, and although hesitant, I did. I never do that for my drycleaner or tailor until its all done, but whatever works for these folks. I would never abandon my beloved shoes, I would come back and pay I swear!
Today was pick up day and I felt totally compelled to come home and write this review. I am SO amazingly happy. All three pairs turned out so beautiful, they look like brand new shoes, not old shoes that were fixed. He took such great care to make them look perfect and touch up spots I didn’t even mention. He even polished a pair of non-​leather pumps with permanent dyes or something that just made them shine and, again, look brand new. That was the most impressive pair too, because they were so worn. Not anymore!!!
Thanks Carl, I will be back again and again! My total for a 3 pair makeover was under $ 40, better than buying a new pair! :)
(Did I mention, that I brought these on a late Monday afternoon and picked up on an early Friday afternoon, with no wait or delays!!! Rockin!)

I drive from North County for my shoes to be repaired. He has repaired shoe that my dog has eaten and fixed my saddles. The best in the county.

Not owning a horse or a cowboy hat, I never would have ventured into this shop, except on the express advice of my Grandmother.
Now Carl fixes all of my favorite shoes and purses. He sells and can advise on all the best leather cleaning, dying and restoration products.
He is always fair, patient, and friendly.
One piece of advice, call to be sure your repairs are finished, before you go to pick them up. He has so much work; his organization suffers due to a lack of space. Roughly 30% of the time, I have arrived on the promised day and the work wasn’t finished. This has never really been a problem for me, but if you have a serious deadline, I would advise a bit of babysitting.

The owner is always on site and can fix anything, including shoes, saddles, tack, and boat rigging. He also sells boots (English and western), used saddles, ropes, clips, and new and used tack (ask to look at the catalog). He does a good job; the drawbacks are that repairs often take longer than I would want, and sometimes aren’t done by the agreed upon date. Also, the owner seems rather gruff at first.

This place is so great! I have taken my favorite pumps and boots here to have the heels replaced as well as my Uggs to be cleaned. He is always helpful and very reasonably priced. I was going to go to another shoe repair closer to my house but when I called they didn’t speak English and were so not helpful. So glad I didn’t switch! I love this place!