I read a lot of positive reviews about the shop and Oleg specifically. So when the time came to resole a pair of nice dress shoes, I chose this shop over sending them to a national repair center associated with the manufacturer for resoling/reconditioning.
Tips I learned from this experience, what you should expect:
1) Customer service is second to getting the job done. Not that Oleg was rude, by any means. But it's about the job. We had a nice conversation, as long as he was telling me about his life and work, and how things should be done, which brings me to...
2) Be prepared to be told "the best way" to do things. I respect his expertise and experience, but I had to insist to have my leather soles replaced with leather, as opposed to the rubber soles he thought I should have used. I got the feeling he often gets his way by pushing his way. Not overly hard, but still. I had to convince him that I only ever wore my dress shoes inside, out of the weather, so I didn't need the rubber soles. Which, again, brings me to....
3) I try to do a little research when it comes to repairs on higher quality items, if for no other reason than to understand the craftsman (and Oleg is a true craftsman) when they explain their approach. But two things slipped by me: First, a high quality resole will job includes a channel in the sole into which the stitching to the welt is done. I knew enough to ask for a Goodyear welt, to match the original shoes, but my shoes were resoled with the stitching on the surface of the sole, and not in a channel around the outside. This means that the stitches will wear away more quickly than if they were embedded in the channel. From what I've read since then, this is an easier way to do it, but it seemed more to me like cutting corners, particularly since the original soles were constructed with the channel. Secondly, the sole was only replaced to the arch, not the whole sole. I've never had my shoes done this way by any manufacturer. This was clearly easier to do, and it undoubtedly meant a less expensive repair, but it would have been nice to have heard that explained when I first dropped them off.
4) Finally, bring cash. They don't take credit cards here.
Am I happy with the resole job? Yes... it's a good job, with some minor "I wish he would have done it this way." A full sole repair, with the stitches in a channel, would have cost more an taken more time, but would have lasted longer than the way it was done here. You can arguably chalk that up to a communication failure (see #2 above).
Do your homework if you have a need to have something done the truly "right way" before going here. I would use him again, and I shouldn't have to ask for things to be done a specific way, but next time I'll be better prepared. And I have no doubt that Oleg could have done the job I wish he had done, if I'd only asked. read more