Busy Bee Shoe Repair & Alterations

I have been very pleased with my experience at Busy Bee. Mary (Maria) is enthusiastic and speaks quickly (or I listen slowly) and knows her craft, both in shoe repair and alterations. After Quentin Virgil listened to my repair needs, and handed me my receipt, I said «I’ll pick them up in a week?» «No», he said — they’d be ready in TWO days! Busy Bee prices are much more reasonable than their nearest competitor. And, they often have a coupon on the back of grocery store receipts. Yay! In short, Mary and Quentin V. are customer service oriented and their quality is consistent.

I came here last summer in 2013 and had a pair of old birk sandals resoled for 25 $. The man was very accommodating, efficient and capable. I was extremely happy and grateful with the finished product especially since I had been to a 3 other shoe repair places prior who refused to repair them as the cost of the repair would be more than purchasing new sandals. This stuck in my mind and made me return back with another pair of birk sandals with the same resoling issue. Unfortunately the man who runs the shoe repair was not present and the woman repeatedly stated she was the boss and owner offered an estimate for his services at 50 $. I told her this price was more than half of what the same repair cost last year inquiring as to whether we could check with the man who does the repairs to get a more accurate estimate. At this point she literally yelled in my face saying she owned the store and therefore made the final calls on all prices. She scoffed that this repair could be 25 $ and berated me repeatedly. Then she stormed around waving the resoling material in my face yelling about how much it costs. I was so taken aback at her unprofessional and aggressive nature that I again appealed asking her if and when the man who does the repairs would be back to clarify the repair estimate and work involved. She continued to demean and berate me in an aggressive and rude voice saying 50 $ was the price and in no reality would the price ever be less. The whole experience was so confusing and overwhelming I informed her unfortunately my business would have to go elsewhere as and her behavior was so combative. Albeit everyone has bad days, but she was downright nasty to a willing and returning customer. Not sure what business model she was following, but it must be a new one. Too bad her partner, the man who does the shoe repairs is so darn good and she is scaring her customers away!

When a business states they are open until 6 I expect them to be open until 6 especially when I call to confirm. I arrived at 550 after driving 20 minutes out of my way to pick up my order and they were closed. I would give 0 stars if Unilocal would allow.

Short story: THE WORST. AVOID AT ALL COSTS.
DO NOT TRUST EARLIER POSITIVE REVIEWS. Most of the positive reviews here are from 2008, 2009, 2010… They’re under new ownership!!!
The second most recent review gives them one star and the third most recent review from March 2013 giving them 5 stars is just suspicious. Only review that person ever wrote on Unilocal to date and they signed up in March 2013. Shady. Not surprising at all considering the people working here are hella shady.
The long story: My favorite pair of boots needed the heels patched up as they had worn through. Simple request, right? Apparently not. Even though I considered it a simple task, I was still very detailed in my request, asking the guy a couple times whether the heel heights would be the same on both boots (even though I assumed that should be a given), etc. The guy blew me off, didn’t listen to anything I said, just muttered «Yup. Cash only.» Whatever, I can handle bad customer service. I’m not one to whine about people being rude. I can take it.
Fast forward to two days later when I picked up my boots: he sliced about half the original heel off on both heels and added an extremely thin heel at the bottom of the now half-​its-​original-​height heels. So now, shoes that were meant to have 3 and ½ inch heels are now barely 2 inch heels and impossible to walk in. My soles burn just standing in my now ridiculous, completely ruined, expensive shoes because they slant so ridiculously forward due to the fact that the heel heights are severely mismatched with the original height of the shoe. They’re not even shoes anymore. Not at all walkable and they look ridiculous.
I feel like anyone with even the lowest-​level attention span would surely notice that something is off when 3 ½ inch heels have been shortened to 2 inch ones… I mean, the boots don’t even stand up on their own anymore. I don’t understand how this escapes someone’s attention. I noticed it as soon as I picked them up. I feel as if this place was aware that the heels were not long enough and they just didn’t care that it would severely affect the quality of the shoes. They just don’t seem to care here. Period. Not only did they completely ruin my shoes, their pricing isn’t great and they’re extremely unfriendly. All of which I could take, by the way, if they were capable of doing very basic repairs.
Do not go here, like I did, because their hours are more convenient than other repair places that are only open 9 – 5. Go on the weekend, pop in at lunch, ANYTHING. Just avoid here!!!
Now I have to shell out even more $ to try to get these fixed at a legitimate shoe repair that actually cares about their customers/​pays the slightest attention to what they’re doing. Or worse, repurchase the shoes I once loved because they’ve been ruined permanently. Who knows. Will update y’all.
Update: It cost me an additional $ 55 to get my shoes re-​fixed after the damage they caused here. When I bought my damaged shoes to this other shoe repair, they asked me if I tried to fix the heels myself. Like no joke. Sincere question. The guy there was downright bewildered when I said I had them professionally repaired and asked me where the hell this place was. The work was so atrocious he didn’t believe me. ‘Nuff said.

Prices on a pair of mens dress shoes are $ 60, in-​line with most other places. Went to their competitor down the street first; quoted at $ 65, bust wouldn’t be ready for two weeks. Seriously? You have THAT much business that it takes you two weeks to fix a pair of shoes? Busy Bee offered to have them done in 3 days. That’s a smokin deal. Great service and reasonable prices. The work is quality as well.

I took my internal frame backpack here to repair a broken strap. They sewed strap back on with a stitch identical or superior to the original for a mere $ 6, and it was ready the next day.
The guys in the shop are incredibly friendly and are eager for your business. I’m bringing a pair of Sperry’s in this morning, I’ll post how they do, but I expect nothing but excellence.
If you live in the area and need ANYTHING repaired that has heavy stitching, these guys are the best around. Cannot beat the price, service, and hospitality!
I don’t think they take credit cards though, so be prepared to pay cash or check.

Hampton Shoe (a competitor to Busy Bee) wanted to charge $ 70 for soles and heels for the same style shoe. Leather soles on tasseled loafers. I guess $ 45 isn’t so bad.

I’m almost positive this business is UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT. It’s still (I think) a husband-​wife duo, but the husband isn’t deaf, and the wife isn’t that nice. I paid cash ($ 20) to get two pair of heels re-​tipped — that seems pretty pricey to me, but they did have the shoes done in 4 hours.
They only take cash, no credit cards or checks.

I’ve been here twice in the past few months now (most recently June 23 – 2011).
I’ve had mens shoes repaired and polished. Simply put:
you cannot beat the price.
you cannot beat the service.
you cannot beat the turnaround.
These guys had my shoes to me a in less than 24 hours (and I didn’t ask for rush service or anything). They we’re done perfectly.
Nicest guys working at the shoe counter. Can’t say enough good things!

I came to this place based on a friend’s recommendation. I took in a pair of new boots that I wanted sole protector put on, a pair of trousers to be taken in, and a suit (jacket and pants) to be taken in.
It was $ 35 for the boots, which is more expensive than other places I’ve gone, but they came out wonderful. It look like they came with the sole protectors.
The turn around was 1 week for the clothes and I was so pleased with the outcome that I took 4 more suits, another pair of pants and a skirt in to be altered. I’m not sure how she did it on the jackets because I can’t tell at all where it had been taken it. I feel like I got 5 new suits for about $ 200. Saved me from buying a new work wardrobe.
This would be my go to shoe repair and alterations place if I still lived in St. Louis.

I recently purchased a pair of cordovan colored vintage boots off of Ebay for like, $ 40. Gotta love Ebay! They were in pretty good condition when they arrived in the mail so I just put them on right out of the box. And I’ve been wearing them practically every day since then…
That was back in September. It’s now December and the boots weren’t looking so great. Some scrapes, water damage, etc. I’m hard on my shoes… give me a break!
Enter Busy Bee. I’d used them before to repair lifts on my shoes and trusted them with my now favorite boots. And I’m glad I did! They restored the cordovan color and shined up the boots — they look BETTER than when they first arrived in the mail. Woo hoo!
The owners are pretty interesting. It’s a husband and wife duo — he does the shoe repair and she does clothing alterations. Because he is deaf, she does most of the day-​to-​day transactions, including the pricing, payments and arranging for a pick up date for your items.
For $ 15, my boots look great. It did take a week for them to get the job done, but I was happy to wait a few extra days and support local business. Will gladly take my boots there again and any other shoe needs will be set aside for Busy Bee :)

My boots were supposed to be ready today but they haven’t even started on them and couldn’t remember what they were supposed to do to them. I’ll find out their quality of work tomorrow. They are nice so far though and I couldn’t find a cheaper price near me.
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I’m revising my two-​star to a three-​star. I got my boots and the work they did turned out really nice.

I’m half and half when it comes to this place, but I still love the whole operation.
For one, the people who work here are so sweet. The ladies in back have an accent, but I’m not sure where it’s from. They at first appear a bit gruff, but it’s just their personality. They’re really quite lovely. I have to say, though, I didn’t like the work they did on two of my nicest pants. A bit too snug for me and I stressed I wanted them loose.
But in the front, the darling man (and I mean darling) who repairs shoes takes such care of my personal belongings, almost as if they’re little babies rather than ratty shoes I really should have thrown out long ago. He looks pained when he tells me the shoes are in a color he can’t match and he’ll have to paint them in a shade a hair less subtle. It’s okay, I tell him, and wait to see what happens. A few days pass and the shoes aren’t ready, but he’s even more pained at this reality. It wasn’t his fault, you see, he had to practically remake my shoes. I don’t know the specifics, but I smile and come back later.
This man is deaf, you see, or very nearly so, yet he takes such pride in his work, is honest and incredibly devoted to all things shoes. He doesn’t once try to cheat me out of anything. The shoes are a mere $ 5.
I go to Busy Bee for the little man in front. One smile and your heart will melt forever. Who cares about the shoes.