Alexandria Shoe & Leather Service

Do NOT go here. They ruined a pair of expensive shoes and were incredibly rude on top of it. I have never written a Unilocal review before but was so horrified by my experience that I felt I as to let others know.

Did a horrible repair job on some shoes. Owner totally nasty when i tried to get a refund.
horribly rude owner
please dont use these guys. you will regreet it.

No longer original owners. Service is terrible!!!
STAY AWAY WILL RUIN YOUR SHOES!
Bought them 4 pairs of very expensive boots to widen calves. They cut a wedge shape in leather then glued leather patches over. Terrible!!! Job.
Owners have not returned my emails. Please take your shoes anywhere but to these incompetents.

I drove to 8+ tailor/​needlework places all around Arlington/​Alexandria trying to stitch up a torn stuffed animal that was ~25 years old. Every single place said they couldn’t fix it and to throw it away. FINALLY, I tried Alexandria Shoe & Leather for grins… they took it without hesitation and said to come back the next day. And they did an excellent job!
This review isn’t about shoes but the people here are super friendly and super helpful. I will be back for other services, no doubt!

This shop is mid-​way between my house and work and it received relatively good reviews, so I was excited. Unfortunately, it was a miserable experience…
I brought in two pairs of boots and they were supposed to be ready Dec 30. Went to pick them up on Jan 3, and they said only one pair was ready, come back Monday for the 2^nd pair. When I showed up Monday night, the guy couldn’t find the boots. I gave him a detailed description and he told me the owner would be in the next day and she’d give me a call. When she called she was confused on the boots I was looking for (she said «I hear you’re looking for brown suede booties.» (They are actually black leather over-​the knee). Much to my relief, after I described them to her, she said she had them but needed to do a little extra work on them and could I come back the next day. I was traveling so told her she had a couple days. When I showed up three days later, the guy STILL couldn’t find them. I asked him to call the owner and he had her on speaker. She answered the phone «WHAT DO YOU WANT» and continued to be extremely rude and unprofessional to her employee. Come to find out, the repair was done, but the boots still needed to be polished. I had pre-​paid for the repair (around $ 60), so decided to wait for them to be polished. When I showed up the next day it had been so long I had actually forgotten which pair I was still waiting on and missed them sitting on the shelf! But, almost a month after I dropped them off, I finally got my boots back.
In the end, the workmanship was pretty good and I most certainly would have gone back had I not had this experience. The hassle and time commitment made it so I will never go back.

I had brought a pair of light brown knee-​high boots here to see if they could remove a rather large oil stain that happened while I was moving. The woman who owns the place (I think her name is Barbara?) took one look at them and said it would definitely take some time, but she would try. That was fine with me — this was in July and I didn’t need my boots until it got cool. When I hadn’t heard anything in a month, I stopped by. They had lost the ticket that had been attached, so there was some difficulty finding my shoes. Turns out they were still in the back. Barbara had dyed them the original color to disguise the oil stain and needed to clean them up and shine them, so I was told to come back in a week. Then, I started working two jobs, and promptly forgot about them.
Fast forward two months, it’s getting cold, and I realize I’ve left them at the shop! I stop by again and, again, they can’t find my boots. Turns out, while they were sitting on the shelf ready to be picked up, the oil and the powder used to remove some of the oil began seeping back through the dye. Barbara and I discussed the options and I told her if she couldn’t get the rest of the oil out, she could dye them dark brown. She told me to call back in two weeks.
So, three weeks later, I call and the young man at the front desk told me they were ready. I stop by to pick them up, expecting them to be dark brown, but they’re still the original color! I didn’t say anything, I just wanted my boots back. But, as I’m inspecting them, literally with credit card in hand, I noticed the dye is flaking off! Barbara said the best idea was to strip all of the dye off and dye them with an oil-​based dye, meaning they would be dark brown (which I had already okayed). At this point, I had gotten a job back home and was moving in three weeks, so I told Barbara that if she couldn’t fix it, I had a cobbler back home I could take them to (which I do, he’s great). She insisted she could do it, but I should call a few days before I moved to make sure they were done. So I called the Tuesday before I was to move (that Saturday) and she tells me she forgot what color! I told her, for the third time, dark brown and that I would be there Friday to pick them up. I went by that Friday and they looked great! I was honestly worried about the cost of all this nonsense, but she only charged me for 1 standard dye job and even took $ 5 off, which I was thankful for.
I wore them once before Christmas, but put them in my closet because I didn’t want to wear them on the salty sidewalks. A few weeks ago, I pulled them out to wear and noticed that the dye is flaking off in large patches! Not even where the oil stain was, either. I’ve yet to take them to my home cobbler, but hopefully they can be fixed.
TL;DR
Why is it my responsibility to call and nag to see if my boots are done? What’s the point of the ticket if I have to constantly hound the employees?
Organize your store. It’s completely unprofessional to pull a customer’s shoes out of a loose pile of shoes.
Write down what I want! And, if you forget, call the customer and ask (it helps if you don’t lose their ticket)! What if I had waited to see if they were ready? I would’ve never gotten my boots back.
The entire time here, I felt like I was getting the run-​around from employees who could care less about whether or not I wanted to ever wear my boots again.

I recommended this shop to my girlfriend based on past experiences and will now never return. Not only did a routine boot repair take over three weeks to complete, we got the run-​around and it took five trips to finally find the boots. To make matters worse, the lady who runs or owns the place is very rude. Not just to us, but also to her employees.

I just started working in the area, and I’ve been looking for a good shoe repair place for a while. I am so happy I found this place! Their prices are very reasonable, and their work is implacable. Not to mention their wonderful customer service! As a shoe lover they will definitely see a good amount of business from me.

Reasonably priced, quick service and very good quality repair of my leather wingtip soles. Will use them again.

I wore the shoes they eventually repaired for the first time yesterday. They had sewed a two inch seam back together on a loafer. It fell apart after wearing the shoes for about an hour. I originally went to this business based on the many great reviews. Now I read the poor reviews and know exactly what they are talking about. Seems to be a hit or miss kind of place.

This place is wonderful. Great service with a smile. I’ve been going here for two years and always had a great experience!

I have been to Alexandria Shoe & Leather several times now — for stretching tight clogs, fixing boot heels, and cleaning flats. Every time I’ve gone there the service has been fast and excellent. They really love shoes, and the passion is evident in their work! Happy boots, happy clogs, happy flats!
I had questions about cleaning some canvas shoes, and they were able to tell me exactly what to do. They have a large selection of shoe-​care products, including boot shapers (for the newly happy boots). Overall, I’m just very impressed with the staff, the services, and the fluffy pup who sometimes graces the floor of the shop. :)
Highly recommend! One of the best shoe services I’ve experienced (and I own clogs, so there have been a few…)

Brought my worn out Ecco shoes in for them to see if they could fix them up. After about a year of heavy walking in the District, the combination leather/​rubber factory sole had worn out, and the heel portion was worth through. I dropped my shoes off and 4 days later, I picked them up good as new. These folks replaced the sole with a full leather sole and a good rubberized heel. Very pleased with their work. They’ll be seeing me again!

I have used their services several times, and have been pleased with courtesy, craftsmanship and pricing. I went in yesterday with Chanel flip-​flops, and the owner frankly told me they were unrepairable. However, she still insisted on a temporary fix, (no charge) and some sage advice on spending $ 400 on poorly made shoes haha. I am a customer for life… thanks for the lovely service, it really made a mark on me.

I took a pair of boots here a few years ago, before I had a Unilocal account. They may very well have improved since then, but based on some of the more recent reviews, it sounds like their customers are still experiencing the same problems I did in 2009 or whatever.
Background: I have a godawful time finding boots that fit (I have unladylike 10.5 WW feet — yes, it sucks), so I ordered some from a catalog for ladies of stature that promised to be both wide in the feet and the calf (which is also an issue, sometimes, but not always). The boots arrived and I SWAM in the calves — turns out the measurement provided for boot calves are usually based on a size 8 shoe (or somewhere around there) and they increase from there, so the calf for a size 8 is NOT the same circumference as for a size 11. But they fit in the foot, which was more important to me, so the search for a shoe repair place began.
I started with Alexandria Shoe & Leather Service. I brought them in in November and the cobbler lady (who corrected me on the original French spelling of my last name… which was bizarre) took my measurements and promised it would take a few weeks to get the calves taken in, since it was the holiday season and they were swamped. Fine. Came back in when they said they’d be done; they hadn’t even started working on them. They told me to come back in a week. I gave it a couple weeks because I wasn’t in a rush. Came back in. Still no boots; they were working on them, though. Came back in a few weeks later. STILL NO BOOTS. It ended up taking two months to get my boots back. «Finally, right?» is what the cobbler said when she handed them over to me (SERIOUSLY?).
And when I got them back? They looked AWFUL. The stitching was all over the place in the back, and they still weren’t snug. I ended up giving them to Goodwill, because I couldn’t bear to trash them, but also couldn’t bear to wear them in public. I still feel guilty about giving something that looked so awful to a charitable organization. I’m really hoping a woman with unfortunately sized feet who loves wearing long skirts or pants outside of her boots snatched them up for $ 10, because that’s the only way I’d feel even slightly better about my terrible experience here. Go see Don down the street — he’ll treat you (and your shoes) right.

I don’t have a ton of experience with cobbler shops outside of getting uniform shoes fixed while I was at the Naval Academy, but for my $ 12, they sure do an awesome job replacing the little taps on the bottoms of my heels, which I somehow manage to kill on a regular basis.
That’s not the only thing I’ve taken to them — I have a pair of Doc Martens sandals that I LOVE, and the stitching was coming out of one of them. I took them in and within a couple of days they had it all sewn up, good as new, and they didn’t charge me an arm and leg to do it.
Its a little, modest shop just off King Street, and you’ll miss it if you’re not looking hard, but they do a great job, and I recommend them to anyone who thinks they’ve ruined a pair of heels.

The line up front moved very slowly and parking is almost impossible most days. They did a great job with my shoes, but I wish the girl up front moved a bit faster and they also require prepayment which I really don’t think is necessary.

I think I tell everyone (even if they’re not looking for a cobbler) how much I love this place.
I’m a hard walker. I walk hard. And I always seem to buy shoes with the tiny little heel caps, even when I know that I’ll wear them out and hear the telltale ‘click clack’ on the pavement. But this place saves all of my heels, and perhaps most impressively, cleaned a big oil streak off this gorgeous buttery leather purse. It now looks like new, for the cost of around 20 – 25 $.
Even if you don’t live in Alexandria proper, give this place your business — you won’t regret it.

Such Potential… but bad execution.
I really wanted a decent experience at this small business because its located right on my drive to my office in Alexandria and the cobbler is a woman, and they open at 7am/​pre-​work hours.
I dropped a pair of black dress shoes to have their heels painted by a holiday party 2 weeks out. The cobbler, herself, told me to return in 1 week which would give plenty of buffer time. I returned 10 days later and her husband could not locate my order but took my cell #. No one called. The next day, I returned again. The cobbler found my shoes but they had not yet been worked on. She promised 24 hrs turn time. I returned for the 3^rd day, and the shoes were on the work table, mostly finished but the work was sloppy – part of the interior heel had not been painted, the shoes were not bagged, etc.
Unfortunately, they require pre-​payment so I had no recourse for such poor service and shoddy workmanship. I wont go back.

I think that they did a good job. I took in:
–a suede boot with buttons up the side – the suede had torn on one button and had to be stretched and reglued (I think this was $ 15)
–black kitten heels that needed new heel tips (I think $ 15)
–Lanvin ballet flats that had to be completely resoled, and the leather insole restretched and glued ($ 45?)
–Coach slingbacks that had to be resoled and have new heel tips (I think $ 45 as well)
All in all, it was about $ 120 or so. I am excited to be able to wear my ridiculously expensive silly metallic ballet flats for another year, and not have metal tapping everywhere I step with the heel tips so worn down. I think they took about a week to turn around everything, and they are particularly busy right now since people actually want to fix rather than buy new shoes in this economy. I thought it was all worth it, and I thought the woman who helped me was very honest about whether or not it was worth «fixing» what I brought in. She said if it wasn’t worth it, she would tell me since they almost have more business than they can handle as it is.
I’ll be back! And it’s nice to have in the neighborhood within walking distance.