Calamari’s Trim Shop

Joe is terrific. He did a beautiful job. His sister is nice too. Could not recommend it higher!

The headliner in my Camry was in rather sad shape. I called around to a number of places looking for someone to fix it. Once I narrowed down the places, a quick review through Unilocal convinced me to go with Calamari’s Trim Shop. The price was very competitive and he said he could fit me in for the next day. We dropped the car off the next morning, and as promised, it was ready later that day, before rush hour. The new headliner looks great, he delivered what he promised, and I was very happy with his service. Great job! Definitely on my I will recommend to friends list.

AMAZING! Took my Jeep Wrangler in for leather upholstery and they even installed the Bedrug flooring I purchased from Amazon for me. I got to pick my leather color and stitching color. It’s absolutely beautiful. Thanks to Mr Joe and his wonderful team. Excellent work and everyone was so nice.

Calamari fixed a sagging headliner in my Accord last year for a very fair price ($ 190).
Better yet, the when the board started falling down this year due to some unrelated dry rotting on the clip holding it up, Joe fixed that too… completely free of charge!
That was completely unnecessary and generous of him to do, so I definitely wanted to share my experience and leave this review for them.

Excellent service, fast, friendly and great value. I took my honda there on short notice, to fix a burn mark in my seat. They ordered the fabric and had it fixed in one business day. Very good price. Truly the best in town. I shopped around a bit and found the competitors rude and pushy. I would recommend this place!!!

About 3 or 4 years ago, the streets in Uptown flooded from a series of horrible thunderstorms. Sadly, my Mitsubishi Galant was parked on the street in front of the house on the day of the flooding. I’ve heard of streets flooding before but I never saw it like this. I wasn’t sure if I needed to pack two of every animal this go-​around. I actually witnessed someone kayaking down the middle of St. Mary St. and headed toward St. Charles Ave. I should have waited for large trucks to go by so I could break out my board and surf in the their wake! Why do the BEST ideas come AFTER the event?
Anyway, by the time I got out to my car and tried to move it, the water seeped under the door and filled into pools on the floor. I drove the car a block and parked it on the high ground in an empty parking lot. I used a cup and tried to pale the water out but that didn’t go so well. I did the best I could, put the windows down and let the car bake in the sun in hopes that the water would dry up on its own. It dried up, alright but it left behind such a pungent odor in the padding that would have rivaled a skunk’s blast! (Did you know that honey badgers also emit a foul smelling stench from their anal glands to drive bees from their nest so they can obtain sting-​free honeycombs? Thank you, Animal Planet!!)
I called EVERY auto shop in proximity, including the Mitsubishi Dealership (and when has a dealership not offered to fix something??) and they all turned me away. Part of the reason was due to the fact that the carpet and padding inside was considered cosmetic and not mechanical. So, unless I broke a metal, moving part, no work could be done. I was told to seek out a detail shop. The detail shops I contacted and visited with the car all brought me to the second problem: There was an Infinity amplifier to the radio that was located under the passenger’s seat. I was told that the wiring and amp were probably wet and their parts would rust out in due time, giving me the opportunity to call the merchants back and complain that they broke them in the process of replacing the carpet/​padding. They WOULD NOT touch it. I was eventually told to contact Calamari on Broad St. by another merchant. He explained «if Calamari can’t do it, no one can.» He wasn’t lying.
Calamari doesn’t look like much from the outside. In fact, it’s surroundings are a little sketchy, to say the least. The entire area is closed off in a fence and you have to call one of the guys on site to let you through. Calamari came out, checked my vehicle and quoted me $ 350 to replace all of it. He then gave me a swatch to choose from and I gave him a $ 100 deposit to order the carpet and padding. The work took him two days to complete. I was embarrassed to take the car in that condition to have Calamari check it. I had all the doors open in an effort to allow the breeze to dissipate the stench. It didn’t work. Both of us were inspecting the interior of the car like a couple of forensic investigators at a grisly murder scene; our faces wrinkled at the horrid spectacle. The malodor fit the crime, believe me! I’m surprised that Calamari didn’t ask me if I had a dead hooker in the trunk. «Not this week!», I would have replied. «The girls have been paying on time so no need to break out my pimp cane just yet!»
I picked up the car in a couple of days and the flooring was like brand new! I couldn’t find any areas at all where they didn’t get a custom fit around my seats and doorways. I had the car for another 3 years before I traded it in. In that time, the carpet never shed fibers or came apart. It held together as good as a new vehicle.
Two lessons here: 1) If you park on the street, be VERY careful about leaving your car there during a bad storm. The pumps can only handle about 1.5 inches of rain the first hour and less than half an inch every hour after that. Bad rainstorm = street flooding. 2) If your car does happen to get flooded OR for whatever reason, you need to change out the carpet, this is THE place to go in the city. Believe me, I called everywhere. These guys are quick, inexpensive and deliver what you agree on!