Glenview Shoe Renew

I needed an emergency stiletto heel repair before going to an event later that afternoon. I dropped my shoes off here and went to get my nails done at Femimacus next door. By the time I was finished, my shoes were good as new and had been polished as well. The gentleman charged me $ 12 which I thought was perfectly reasonable given the rush order and the state my shoes had been in. He was very polite and friendly as well. I’ll definitely go back for other shoe repair needs!

I totally love this business! From the down-​to-​earth small town business approach of writing your contact information on the sole of your shoe in lieu of a claim check to his always being a day behind on his quoted day — don’t care about any of that stuff, because he does quality repair and is super affordable. If I needed a rush job, I think he could do it for me, but I never have had to put that to the test.
I have two pair of coveted, can-​no-​longer purchase Fluevog boots that he’s worked on. He replaced a zipper on one pair for $ 25 — $ 25!!! That’s it! I was quoted $ 85 from a place on Lakeshore, which compared to quotes in the city. The zipper looks awesome! The new stitching around it totally matches the other boot. Bravo! He polished my other pair of Fluevog boots, keeping the topstitching white like it was when I brought them in, which is a difficult task when you are working with black polish. He’s also cared for, and polished a pair of vintage Frye boots for me that have been with me for 20 years, and they look great. In addition, he cleaned up a pair of Cole Haan suede boots that I spilled red wine on, and you can’t even tell where the wine was. I currently have a pair of cowboy boots there for a cleaning and polish. I totally trust this guy to do quality work.
Give the guy a break for his casual business approach. He’s been around for a long time, and knows what works for him. He may not always be there when you go to pick your work up, but he’s a one man show, and deserves a cup of coffee or an offsite lunch break. If you are in a hurry, to get a job done, just let him know. If you have a tight window of time for a pick up, write it down on a piece of paper and let him know that is the time you will pick up because that’s your only available time — leave the paper with him. He’s a good old guy who does great work. I’m a fan for life!

Having lived in the neighborhood since 1985 I have to say that I’ve been going here to have my Church’s and Allen Edmonds dress shoes for half sole and heel replacement. He has done an excellent job and he polishes the shoes to boot.
It’s unfortunate that a comment was made from a reviewer of not receiving a job order ticket. I guess you have to been around in the old days when contracts were signed with a handshake and smile and realize that it’s just as simple as that. Yes, it’s dusty but this is afterall a shoe repair.
About the woman that couldn’t get a decent quote on a zipper repair I would of gone elsewhere. If it was that important why would you forget for a year that you had left your shoes at his repair shop? Much have your ex– got to the store to pick them up. You should be happy that he didn’t sell the shoes for failure to have them picked up.
We should be fortunate that a local business has been around for so long. Going to his store is like taking a brief time travel in history… much probably hasn’t changed.

I would give zero stars if I could. I won’t even go into all the horrific details of how disappointed I am with this place. I can’t even really comment on the man’s craftsmanship because a week and a day after I dropped my shoe off he hadn’t gotten to it. I will also add that the guy that works here or owns the shop is a total miserable sack and he needs to go do something else with his life that makes him happy.
Don’t support this business. There are people that work hard for our business and its not this dude.

Look for the cute vintage shoe sign and know that this is probably the oldest ongoing business on Park Boulevard. Joe Cervantes is the one man show here. He bought the business in 1957 from a gentleman who opened it in the 1930’s. Joe is amazing. I have brought him many challenging repairs over the years and he always comes through with a super fix. Only once, did he tell me that he could not do a sewing repair with his machine because the fabric was too thick. He does not use claim tags because he has an amazing memory. Everything leaves his shop dust free since he gives shoes, etc. a polish before he hands them over. I totally trust him with my Manolos. One mystery, though, he seems to indulge in some secret fountain of youth… Do you believe, he is 81 years old?

I have gone here since I bought my house in 1990. Yes, the first time I came I thought it was awful that I didn’t get a claim ticket. However, he has never lost a pair of my shoes, does a stupendous job, and I will be sad when he retires. Gotta run and pick up a pair of shoes from him right now!

Oh boy… This guy is out of control… I went in to get a zipper replaced on my boots– no biggie, right? I ask how long and am told maybe two weeks– huh?. I ask the price and am told «I don’t know– $ 20? $ 50? Maybe more, it depends». Um, what the hell pray tell would that depending factor be for a zipper replacement over 50 bucks I wondered. So yeah, I left with my broken boot. I forgot about the shoes for about a year, re-​discovered them and asked my ex to go drop em for a repair. He went to the same place of course. Low and behold, the repair only cost ten bucks? Interesting… Anywhoo, the repair was shoddy beyond belief. It looked awful, wasn’t sewn in properly at the bottom, and the threads were loose and unraveled the first time I wore them post «repair». The second or third time I wore em, the zipper pull came off (due to that horrible bottom zipper repair).
And another thing: I have a strange sort of fear of men who run shoe repair shops. I don’t exactly know what this is all about but nevertheless, it exists. I suspect it’s because there must be something more to the desire of this job as a career choice. Ok I understand some of these shops are family ran and generational but some aren’t– so what is it that would drive one to a career in woman’s footwear repair? I shiver at the thought of someone sniffing my shoes at night– or worse. Being that this is the case, it didn’t help matters when my ex told me «wow, those must be some good boots, because he wouldn’t shut up about the brand». Um, uh, no– had this NOT been said, I likely would have given this place another chance to redeem itself bc I love supporting my local small businesses.
To close: Making up prices as you see fit is extremely crooked to me; minimally he could have given a better estimate as he’s been in the biz long enough to properly ballpark the job. It makes me wonder if he wanted to charge me more because it was a good brand or because I was female and he figured I would pay it. And second, sometimes a bargain $ is the exact opposite– as we see here with the crappy repair job.
I do not recommend this place to anyone, period.

After receiving a quote and handing over my teal sandal with the unhinged strap, I asked for a job order ticket (a customary procedure, no?) and the sole proprietor countered with «That’s why I took your name and number.»
«No, I mean can I get a job ticket? Like half of yours? Probably won’t be needed, but for security, insurance, proof that my shoes were here in the event that the thief knows a woman with one leg who wears a size 11 shoe?»
This most basic business principle was lost on him. I should have walked out, especially after noting the layer of dust over the shoes on the front display shelf. Over EVERYTHING at the reception desk. Would love to support the little guy but, c’mon, a little pride, please.
A simple $ 20. repair job (strap had slipped out from beneath the foot bed) lasted three wears. Tread carefully here.

So this would be my first Unilocal review, and why? Because this guy runs a one-​man shop (okay, a pretty dusty one-​man shop, but hear me out) and his work is really good and really affordable. I have friends from LA & NYC who fly out to visit with broken shoes in tow because he does great fixes for almost nothing. Make sure you don’t need your shoes the next day, though.