Do you know how many shoes we consumed last year? Here is the answer. Women purchased 728.8 million pairs of shoes in the U.S., and men purchased 327.4 million pairs, according to market research company NPD Group. Even with all that footwear out there, shoe-repair shops are becoming increasingly rare. Stepping up are a number of online cobblers, who accept and return footwear by mail.
There are just 7,000 shoe-repair businesses left in the U.S. today, down from more than 120,000 during the 1930s, according to the Shoe Service Institute of America, a trade group. Many cobblers now have Web sites where consumers can select from a wide range of services—from basic repairs to major refurbishments—and place orders, complete with printable prepaid postage labels. A few even offer to send shipping materials to consumers.
We tested four shoe-repair businesses that agreed to do the latter: Resole America, American Heelers Inc., NuShoe Inc. and Great Lakes Shoe & Orthopedic Service. Shipping materials arrived from each company within six days, and we filled them with four different types of worn-out shoes including discount ugg. In most cases, we ordered basic repair work—a new set of full heels and soles—and some of the services included standard extras, such as polishing, cleaning and waterproofing.
Overall, our shoes came back not looking new, but in much better shape than they were before. The downside: A longer turnaround time and heftier fees than what we’d expect from doing business in person with a local cobbler.
At Resole America’s site, Resole.com, we found simple instructions on how to place an order and request a mail bag. The Web site listed shoe styles and brands, with services we could purchase, such as to have old insoles replaced with new ones. For example, we could order resoling for a pair of Birkenstocks—sandals with a cork sole—for $35.
We also checked out AmericanHeelers.com and found easy-to-follow instructions on how to request shipping materials and make a purchase. Shipping is free, the site says, and the order form features prices, photos and service descriptions.
Since we weren’t sure what was needed to salvage a pair of badly worn-out leather pumps, we chose “craftsman decides” for a to-be-determined price tag. We received a confirmation email after placing our order.
In our NuShoe.com test, we found simple instructions for requesting a postage-paid mail bag but no option to place an order online. Instead, we could print out an order form and mail it in with our shoes or wait to receive a glossy, color brochure featuring detailed service descriptions, prices and photos along with the mail bag we’d requested.
We sent NuShoe a pair of worn-out women’s dress shoes with a 3/8-inch heel. On the order form, we selected “Ladies Ultra” for $60, which includes a new set of full leather heel covers and soles, polish, refinishing and conditioning. We then cut out the customer receipt that let us know we could track our order online.
Less than a week later, NuShoe sent us an email informing us that our shoes and payment information had been received and that it would take two to three weeks to get our footwear back. However, we ended up waiting nearly four weeks, which Eric Neuner, president of the San Diego-based company, says can sometimes happen to customers who order from long distances like the Jersey City, N.J., address we provided. He also noted that the company repairs about 2,000 shoes a week and has 60 employees.
NuShoe otherwise delivered on its promises by sending us back shoes in far better condition than what we’d sent in. The company gave us a few extras as well, including new cushioning inserts, a small container of black polish and laces. We also received another mail bag and order form in case we wanted to place a second order.
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