Ullrich Shoe Repair

Simply the best. Even when I am traveling I wait to get to Ullrich’s to fix my shoes. The best. The best!!! Seriously don’t even bother going anywhere else. The best.

I had a great experience here. I dropped off my Allen Edmonds black leather mens’ shoes on a Thursday afternoon. They were in pretty bad shape. I lost a heel and had a hole in the sole. The uppers had quite a few scuffs.
I talked to the friendly owner who said he could fix ‘em up for $ 65. Helluva lot cheaper than new shoes. That’s why I bought shoes with leather soles in the first place. Pay more upfront. Lower cost of ownership long term. But it is important to find a reliable cobbler.
I found one. He did a nice job and they were done on time. No negative issues whatsoever. I will return the next time I need a shoe renovation.

People always look at me like I’m nuts when I tell them that I get shoes repaired. I guess the norm is to just throw a pair of shoes away if a heel wears down or a zipper breaks. But I get attached to shoes, so a good shoe repair place is a must-​find for me in a new city.
Ullrich’s is awesome. The owner (I think his name is Rex or Max? Something with three letters, anyway) is very friendly and will chat with you all day if you have the time. They are reasonably priced (about $ 10 for a new zipper, less for a heel replacement). Usually an order will take about a week for them to get to, but if you need it right away and you ask nicely, they can fix something while you wait. I’ve had three pairs of boots repaired here now, and have been very pleased every time. Highly recommended.

I brought my boots here to get fixed. They did a good job however the lady was extremely rude when I came to pick them up. I won’t be going here again.

I’ve been coming here for taps and minor stuff for a year. I finally needed to resole a pair of shoes, and they did an amazing job for a reasonable price. Thank you!

This place is horrible. The cobblers do not know what they’re doing. You can get better service elsewhere for cheaper.
I came to this place to get my dress shoes tapped and have rubber protection pads applied on the front half. There are logos on the bottom of the shoes and I told the cobbler to not cover the logos. The cobbler kept saying that he knew exactly what he was doing. In the end, I found out that he ground down half of the logo on one of the shoes and covered it with the rubber protection. Also, he smeared the black glue (used to apply the rubber protection pads) all over the bottom of my shoes.

I’d like to echo the advice of another commenter: do not pre-​pay.
I dropped off a pair of boots for salt removal, new heels, and a polish. I was very specific about the polish, because I wanted them to look nice. When I picked up my boots, I noticed that they looked very dull and there was still clumps of wax on them. When I pointed this out to the clerk, she took them back to the gentleman in the back (the owner, I think). He said that the wax hadn’t been buffed off. He gave them a quick polish and took $ 5.00 off the price. If he had then returned the boots to me freshly polished and shiny, that would have been the end of it. The problem was he gave them a half-​assed shine. After sitting for 3+ days with dried wax on them, a quick polish didn’t remove much the dullness. When I pointed this out to the gentleman, he said he had done the best he could. Quite frankly, If that’s the best he can do, he shouldn’t be in shoe repair.
I finally just gave up trying to make him understand why I was unhappy, because it was clear he wasn’t going to help me, and he was becoming rude and unprofessional. I had made the mistake of prepaying. He had my money and had no more use for me. I think if I had owed him money, he would have taken my concerns more seriously, instead of becoming increasingly snarky and mean.
I wish that I had paid closer attention to the other negative review about Ullirch’s on Unilocal (which also includes pictures) because it closely mirrors my own experience, both in terms of workmanship and customer service. The gentleman who owns the shop is sugar and spice when he’s taking your money if you foolishly prepay, but quite unpleasant if you dare to complain about shoddy work. Personally, I don’t mind if people make a mistake as long as they own up to it and correct it. It’s when you’re abusive about your own error that I take offense.
If you do chose Ullirch’s, do NOT prepay.

I am really careful with how my shoes are handled. Every time I buy a new pair of shoes, I immediately have sole protection covered. This was actually my first time doing anything like this in the states, and I really wanted to go to a place that does a perfect job.
At the shop I met Rex, whom he was very kind and friendly. Still, I was still skeptical about this shop so before I departed after giving my new pair of shoes I asked a one last final request to be EXTRA careful with my shoes. And guess what? He did an amazing job and I am really happy how he got it to be perfectly thin as I wanted.

I’ve been to Ullrich’s twice and both times received excellent service.
My first time at Ullrich’s was to have the end caps of my heels replaced (for a second time). Initially I went to another repair store in Sq Hill and had them replaced — but the replacement heels were totally wore out again within a couple months. Went to Ullrich’s to have them redone and after 6 months of hard walking, the heels are still wearing great.
I won’t go any where else.

Short story: the guy smeared the sole rubber all over the shaft of my boots, said he didn’t do it, tried to clean it up and took out some of the leather’s dye instead, and didn’t give me a refund (I’d already paid). Moral the story: if you risk this dude, only pay him at the end after you check for damages. Long story below.
Oh, Groupon, you’ve steered me wrong yet again. I have awful luck with service at places were I’ve used Groupons overall… hey, you put out a Groupon to bring in customers, not to be pissed when said customers show up for their discounts! basically, I think the cobbler screwed me because he was only making $ 5 for $ 40 worth of services.
I dropped off two pairs of leather riding boots to get new heels. I had called and been given a quote of $ 20 a pair and was told that they still do same day service. I’d had a bad feeling about the place after I called for the quote and the guy I talked to the didn’t know what riding boots looked like… He thought they had a spiked heel… but I had that magical Groupon to use, so I went anyway.
So, I went. After some haggling (and after seeing I had a Groupon), the cobbler told me that my soles were «bald tires» and he had to replace those as well. So now we’re up to $ 40 a pair. I said fine because I love these boots and they were quite expensive. I was told to come back after 2pm.
Three hours later, I return. The cobbler finishes one boot immediately and hands it to me to look at. I’m pleased and say so. I pay. I’d brought my own canvas tote so I start packing up the boots as they are done one by one. And then I see it appearing on the remaining three boots… the brownish-​black rubber from the soles is fingerprinted all over boot’s shaft. Oh, hell no. Here’s the play-​by-​play:
Me: Uhhhh, I don’t think this was on the boots before. [points to blobs]
Front Counter Lady: I don’t know, but you don’t understand the process. It’s not possible for that to happen.
Cobbler: [Not even looking] Nope, I didn’t do that. That must have been there. Looks like hair stuff.
Me: [WHAT] Um, I’m pretty positive it wasn’t there. [Get out my phone for the photo I took of the boots before dropping them off.]
C: Nope, wasn’t me, but let me see if I can get it off.
FCL: [begins rant about how people are never pleased, etc.]
Me: If you look at the shaft where it hits the sole, you can see that there are smears and splatters right there. So, it was not like this.
C: What do you expect for same day service?
Me: [now fuming] For you not to damage my boots that I’m paying you to repair.
FLC and C: [Talking over each other. Alternatively making excuses about no one else offers same day and blaming me somehow for the shoddy work.]
[C grabs another boot to clean off and I see that whatever he’s using is making it worse by taking off the dye.]
Me: Just please give me that back. I already paid and I don’t want you to clean them anymore.
C: You really should buy a de-​salting and waterproofing treatment if you’re going to wear them in the snow.
Me: I don’t wear them in the snow. Please just give me the boot so I can leave.
C: Okay, baby. Have a nice day, baby.
Don’t advertise «While-​U-​Wait» if you’re going to gripe and do a terrible job.
What would have made me happy, you ask? If the cobbler had admitted maybe he had made a mistake, voided the $ 40 dollar charge (the other $ 40 was the Groupon), and offered to clean them properly for free. I would have even agreed to run the $ 40 charge again AFTER he’d restored the boot shafts. But, instead, he was a total jerk.
Additionally, the woman «working» the counter had no clue about prices and had random friends using up all of the chairs for customers both times I was there. And both times, she ignored me for a good two minutes before screeching, «You need something?» Rude.
FYI, previously both my mom and I had repairs at Ullrich’s back when the older Calabrese gent was working and they were at the old location. The repairs were about 75% cheaper and the service was excellent. Honestly, I think my family started going here because of the Italian owner (I’m a quarter Calabrese myself), but I won’t ever go back.
Results: After applying a leather cleaning solution and using a leather shoe brush/​eraser, some of the marks are up but the rest appear to be permanent. This is after 4 hours of scrubbing. Ugh. Pictures are posted of the damage for your viewing pleasure.

Now I wasn’t going in to get a shoe repaired. What attracted me to this store was all the Steeler gear in the window. They had just about everything, jerseys, t-​shirts, hats and more.
I was going to my first ever Pittsburgh Steeler game and I needed to look good. I had ran out of time to order a hat online and I so desperately needed something both functional and stylish to wear to the game and Ullrich’s came to my rescue. I found thee cutest, warmest most perfect black and yellow knit mohawk hat and the owner sold it to me for $ 10.00. I am happy with my purchase and happy with Ullrich’s for being there when I needed them. The hat looked great and was the perfect black and gold accessory!

Dropped off three pairs of shoes for soles and heels.
In a few days they were done. Each of the shoes looked better than when they were brand new. They were all 10 – 15 years old.
What’s the message here? If you have good shoes and want to keep them, get your repairs done at Ullrich Shoe Repair.
How did I learn about Ullrich? Larrimors and Johnson & Murphy both recommended the shop to me many years ago. Ullrich is the only shop I go to for shoe repairs.
They are friendly, fast, accurate and reasonable for the exceptional quality of work performed.
Note: the current shop’s windows and shelves are filled with «non-​shoe» merchandise. The counter is toward the rear of the store. Do not make a hasty judgement because of the window displays. I almost thought the shoe repair business had closed. Wrong!
Visit. Your feet will love you.

Good spot to come in to get shoes serviced or get a shine. I’ve had taps/​plates put on my dress shoes a couple times. Each time, he’s done it while I waited. $ 6 per pair. They also have a huge selection of shoe care products — brushes, polish, cedar tree shoes inserts. All at reasonable prices.

Fast, friendly, great prices, but more importantly great work. I have a pair of heels that no one seemed to be able to fix. Well this place got the job done and done right.

So I don’t ever go Downtown because well Downtown is kind of icky. Eh, whatever I guess that’s really besides the point. Anywho, After getting my eyebrows done at Princess Nails from Michelle (EYEBROW FAIRY!) I needed to cut a new set of keys because apparently holding onto keys is lost on me. I doubt my landlord wants to be woken up at 2:00am to let me in again either. After calling 7 349 651 474 locksmiths that wouldn’t duplicate keys because they’re stooopid someone from the Office Depot sent me to Ulrichs Shoe Repair. Yes, Shoe Repair. Fix your shoe, make a key. Upon entering Ulrichs (I think it was the owner) was super friendly and I’ll give him credit for being somewhat funny. Gave him my keys and in literally 30 seconds flat both keys were made AND they both worked. Usually going to somewhere like Home Depot you have to go back like 3 times for the key to work properly. Not in this case. Overall customer service amazing. Quality of service amazing. Plus super cheap too! $ 2 bucks a key. Um that’s a deal if I ever saw one.

Miracle worker. Genius. The guy here is amazing. This may be the best place on earth. I only recently discovered the fabulousness of having your shoes repaired instead of throwing them out. I walked in there with heels on that were so beat I was walking on metal rods (don’t judge). He fixed them in about 10 minutes and they looked brand new.
Yesterday I took my most favorite pair of boots, a unique pair of Steve Madden cognac leathers with rawhide ties up the backs, in with the hopes they could be salvaged. The boot heals were slowly breaking down. Not only did he completely replace the heels to look like the day I bought them, but he shined them all up all pretty and suggested a cream to put on them to make them last forever. He said they’d last 40 years. I said ‘you, me and these boots are gonna be lifelong friends’.
Best cobbler ever!!!

Needed the heel on my work shoe repaired. I walked in and they fixed it right there and then. Quick and sufficient! Definitely recommend this place to the locals.

Hey, they linked to my review on their website! Just click on News & Links and then on Customer Review
Like Steve Martin in «The Jerk» when he finds his name in the phone book, I guess I’m somebody now!
All kidding aside, Ullrich’s came in handy last week. I broke a heel and they did a great job repairing it. They’ve resoled Rick’s shoes, repaired a tear in his leather jacket, and repaired one of my purses. We’ve always been happy with their work.