Alba Dry Cleaner & Tailor

Apparently they have some people on here writing positive reviews for them.
I took my silk shirt in, which had soap residue and steak grease on it. They were unable to remove the stains, after three attempts to remove them and two weeks of waiting. The gentleman at the front desk seems to be quirky with his comments, but he really is just a jackass. One time, I was told that my shirt would be available on a Saturday, but when I went to retrieve it was told that «it was a weekend and I didn’t give it to my guy». Are you not open seven days a week?
Since they were unable to remove the stains, I was still charged $ 5 for a $ 8 job. After $ 13 spent, my $ 150 shirt may very well be ruined. I contacted someone at Alba via e-​mail about my dissatisfaction and asking for my money back, but I received a response in extremely broken English and was asked to come in to the store again. I even received a phone call, which I’m afraid to return at the moment, as I sense it will only turn into a shouting match. I do not plan on wasting any more of my time or money after writing this authentic review. GO ELSEWHERE.

I had about 7 – 8 pants tailors here. Great job done with precision.
They were your average run of the mill wool slacks.
The owner/​guy measured me and had me try 1 on.
Happy with the workmanship.

The owners seemed to be a nice person. I’ve come here once before when they first opened and I remember being charged an arm and a leg for alterations. This didn’t surprise me seeing this business is in Manhattan.
This time, I decided to bring a jacket I wanted shorten. I was charged $ 45 for the alteration. At first I couldn’t remember the price for jacket, so I back-​tracked and found I paid $ 30 for the jacket.
I decided I no longer wanted to pay that kind of money for this jacket (this entire event happened all in the same day), so I went back to get my jacket. The owner wasn’t happy about it, then proceeded to ask me what price I wanted for the service. I wasn’t sure what the cost would be for this type of alteration, so I told him I would come back. Upset I decided to take my jacket back, he gave me such an attitude. When I asked for my money back, he said he would refund my card. I asked for a receipt and that made him even more upset. He went into his wallet and took out $ 45 and put it on the counter for me to take and dismissively went on to talking to another costumer.
Because of how rude the owner was and how outrageous his prices are, I will never return here again. I took my jacket down the block to another cleaners and paid a cheaper price and the jacket turned out perfect.

Fantastic service
Dropped by and they were so quick to help and so friendly
This is what you want from a small business like this — fantastic, personal service
Bravo

I messaged this establishment to get a price quote on my dress, detailing what alterations I wanted. Lumi responded saying that he wanted to «touch my dress» before giving me a price quote. Okay, fine, that’s a reasonable response. I went to the shop with a friend and brought my wedding gown with me.
From his response, I foolishly thought he just wanted to feel my dress to assess costs. (This was also the first place I went to get a price quote, so i didn’t know any better) When he found out that I didn’t bring my wedding shoes with me, that was the end. His responses were curt and laced with attitude. He wasn’t okay with me trying on the dress for him to get an accurate quote or to see if there were any additional alterations I might need that slipped my untrained eyes. He gave a rushed quote and told me to come back with my shoes. The phone rang and he went to pick it up. My friend and I waited because I wanted to ask him how much it would cost to take in the bust (had only asked him about adding cups previously). When he got off the phone, I asked about the price. He said, «Sorry, please, can we do this next time? Bring your shoes next time. Ok, bye.» He acted like I was giving him a headache! This whole «appointment» was only about 5 mins, and with a long phone call in between! What kind of treatment is that to a potential customer?
I really was leaning towards using him because of his highly rated reviews, his proximity to home and his price quote (lowest one I received through at the time). His attitude was a turnoff but I was still considering him because of the lower cost. My friend was utterly disgusted and couldn’t fathom why I would even consider going back.
Highlight of this session? Tootsie rolls that my friend grabbed for us: D

Lumi is amazing. I needed a sequined dress shortened for a wedding and after calling a tailor I had used before only to be told that they couldn’t do sequins because they break the needles, I found Alba on Unilocal.Lumi welcomed me, offered me espresso and really seemed to care about getting the fit of the dress exactly right. All of his customers seemed to be very loyal to him and it is clear he takes pride in his work. His prices are very fair. I will be bringing all of my dry cleaning and alterations to him from now on.

I took pants to be tailored in a rush after they had already been altered incorrectly by another place. The owner was incredibly helpful and sincere– he had them fixed within 30 minutes. Every person who came in while I waited seemed to be a regular and very loyal customer. I will continue to come here for alterations and dry cleaning needs!

I spilled short rib burrito grease on my overpriced 3 layer wool ninja jacket and needed to have it cleaned ASAP.
I was welcomed in at about 7:00 PM, and was told it wouldn’t be a problem.
I get an email the next morning that it’s cleaned and ready for pickup.
No more stain, less than 24 hour turn around. Yay!

Proper NYC laundry and dry cleaners! Super efficient (touch panel and email) and fast (24 hour turnaround on a holiday weekend — setting new standard for ²⁴⁄₇ culture). These guys are dedicated to service and quality at a very fair price. Boom. And you’re done.

Very friendly staff. Reasonable prices and thorough work. I go out of my way to go to this business because of the respectful way I’m treated and the quality of the job that gets done.

Overpriced, dishonest, and second rate. He ruined a pair of pants and lost one of my shirts. I will never go back to him!

Solid! I’ve gotten skirts, dresses, shorts all hemmed here and he does a quick and reliable job. I used to get my dry cleaning here but I found somewhere closer to home thats cheaper too. I will most def be back here if i need any alterations though. He has a quick turnaround and he’s super friendly too!

I don’t do a ton of dry-​cleaning but as fall had arrived, I’d pulled out a few coats and sweaters that needed some TLC. Not having any sort of decent laundering options in North Chelsea, I decided to bring my shit downtown where I work. I was charged $ 30 for a shearling coat which I thought was expensive till my colleagues told me it was pretty standard. A few sweaters were $ 10 a pop. The owner was extremely pleasant and everything was done through the internets so I was notified via e-​mail when my shit was clean, and when I went to retrieve my shit he entered my phone number into his computer and a long electronic belt brought my shit to me.
Now the real reason why I’m giving this an above average review is because, as I’ve said, the owner was very nice. But when I went in to pick my shit up a man was also picking up an alteration. The owner asked if he wanted to try it on but the man declined. Then the owner tells him the cost and I swear this grown ass man almost broke down and cried. He said that he had been quoted something much lower and the owner explained that the alterations needed extensive and intricate attention. The man’s hands trembled as he shuffled through his money wad which seemed to be a little short, making a sad papery sound.
«Ok give me a price, my friend,» the owner offered. And they negotiated till the man walked out paying almost half of what was due. The owner thanked him for his business and wished him a good day.
Watching this interaction really warmed my icy heart because I know that what he charged that man was a pittance for an altered suit. And then to show such gratitude for our business with such sincerity was such a refreshing experience in a city where so much is driven by greed and petulance. 4 cheers for human decency!

Stopped going there after several horrible experience. Dry clean was never ready at the promised time. Lost my suit pants TWICE. Mixed up delivery once. The guy would always «promise» but never gets it done. Tailored my pants way too tight and cut out materials so I can’t even get it re-​tailored! DO NOT GO THERE.
I go to Wagner’s Tailoring on Fulton now. Their hours may not be as good but it is way more reliable and has great service!

These guys gave me the runaround. I had to go back three times before I got my clothes back. When I asked the guy where my clothes were, he started giving me some sob story about how he would rather go home to his kids.
And to top it all off, the clothes werent even clean on top of which he overcharged.

Excellent. Fast turnaround, highly recommend.
If you need a tailor or dry cleaner, they are open 7 days a week — better than most others in the neighborhood!

Starting going here after the place in my building closed. First two times were okay. I went to pick up and my stuff wasn’t ready, so I had to go back multiple times.
Third time I dropped 4 dresses off — two for dry cleaning and two for alterations. When I went to pick up, the dry cleaning was done, but the alterations were not. He said he would deliver the next day, but I received nothing.
A week went by and I called and he said it would be there same day. Nothing showed up again. Called again the next morning at 7am and he said he would delivered by 3:30pm. Got home from work and still nothing. Called again and said i need my stuff right now. He laughed when I said how ridiculous it was, but it would be there by 8pm.
When it finally arrived at around 9pm my two dressed (one being a $ 500 dress) were wrinkled in a ball in a shopping bag (see pictures). Very rude for someone who sent multiple people there.
Never again.

Well, Unilocal,you definitely steered me wrong on this one.
I decided to come here to get alterations for a bridesmaid’s dress for my best friend’s wedding even though I live in Brooklyn because reviews promised great service at a great price – but I was thoroughly disappointed.
First, the prices are definitely not cheap. The reviewer who quoted $ 35 for 3 dresses is waaaay off the mark. They quoted me $ 65 for three changes: shortened hem, pulled in waist, and pulled in around the hips so I wasn’t swimming in the dress (i.e., a pretty typical alteration, nothing too fancy).
Second, the person behind the counter (owner?) was in a big rush and when I tried on my dress showing him how it needed to be altered, he started marking things before we were done discussing alterations. This meant that he marked the straps even though we agreed the straps should not be touched. Sure enough, when I came back (the first of three times, which took over an hour roundtrip each time), the straps had been shortened. The second time I notice the waist was pulled in but the hips were not and that the straps had been poorly sewn back together, which I had them fix. But I didn’t even bother mentioning the fact that the pleating around the chest had been flattened in an odd way because of how the waist was altered. In other words, I definitely wasn’t impressed by the workmanship.
Third, I brought the dress in a nice box that the dress maker sent me. But when I came to pick up the dress, the box was nowhere in sight. They had thrown it out without asking me (with my wedding invitation tucked inside, which I’m kicking myself for forgetting to take it out; I’d planned to hold on to both as keepsakes and as storage for the dress after the wedding).
In the end, coming here was a lot of wasted time and a really frustrating experience. But, I’m giving them two stars because the owner was, indeed, very nice and in the end he gave me the alterations for free because of all the problems. That was really nice of him, no doubt, but I just don’t see myself coming here again.

I really wanted to like these dry cleaners, I did. The main guy was very nice the first time I can me in, and assured me that the work is better than ever, now that the girls from Conde Nast have started to come in. «Wow, great!» I thought. After all, I had expensive cashmere from Rick Owens, silk skirts from Rag & Bone, pants from Maje, Burberry tench and a fur vest. After a half hour of consulting, talking about the garments’ dry cleaning and tailoring, he put everything back in the bag, and bid farewell until the next week when I would pick up the first half of my things.
A week later, he is still as nice, but much more frazzled. Seems that there is so much work to be for everyone else, he forgot about my items and they are still in the bag somewhere under the counter. Uh… «Please come back next week», he says, «don’t worry, all will be ready then!» He is petting my hair and hugging me, and I leave feeling a little creeped out an annoyed that my clothes are nowhere in sight.
I give him extra time – I come back in 2 weeks. The clothes are STILL in a bag, now with a few more items mixed in, NOT MINE. Mixed in, tied up, crumpled and pitiful. «Please, don’t worry, come back and I promise I will have everything ready for you!» he says like clockwork. I ask him to give me my clothes and I get the hell out of there. No way I am waiting another month for him to loose my expensive clothes.
Seriously? How is that ok? And who can recommend a better tailor in this neighborhood who can deliver on time?

By far the best tailor I have dealt with in New York. I came here because I needed to get a few dresses altered. Most places were quoting me $ 30 — $ 35 per dress. He did all my 3 dresses for $ 35. Not only is the place cheap, the quality and the service that they provide is amazing.
One of the dresses that I gave to alter was a little bit harder to do. Lumi tried it the first time but it still wasn’t fitting me well. So he was like «No, don’t pay — pay when I get all your dresses done». He took an extra but fixed all the dresses.
He is funny and friendly — and does an amazing job. Honestly, if you need to get anything altered in NYC come here!