Anjela Shoe Service

I don’t what people are expecting from their shoe repair to be so disappointed. I’ve done business with this guy for years and he’s always been delightful. I’d suggest that repairing poorly made shoes – not necessarily cheap – is a risky business. Don’t expect miracles. People need to keep things in perspective. This is the sort of old school mom and pop business that is dying and when it’s gone we’ll all be the poorer for it. Support this guy!

I don’t understand why some people don’t like this place. Andrew (the owner) does outstanding work. AND he always been very nice to my mother and me. I’ve taken shoes to be stretched to him before. I just took a pair of boots to him that he shined up and outfitted with new insoles and laces. I think a lot of the negative reviews here are nothing but thinly-​veiled snobbery. Independent businesses are a rare breed these days. Of course he wants money up front. And who’s to say ANYone could’ve fixed or cleaned your shoes? Wise up!

DO NOT GO HERE!!! THIS IS THE WORST PLACE!!! Hopefully, no one ever goes to this place again and he gets shut down. I was excited to try this place out to have one of my favorite pair of shoes resoled. It’s around the corner from where I live, and convinced myself to at least try him out. What a mistake! First, I never got my shoes fixed… I didn’t have the opportunity. The man that runs this place is an absolute rude and lacks any professionalism in dealing with customers. I walked in and asked for the sole on the heels to be replaced. The little heels, not the main part of the shoe. It’s literally glue and some rubber. He wanted to charge me $ 25, then agreed to $ 20. Then, he asked me to pay upfront for the services. I was a little taken back by that, as I don’t usually pay for services before I see the quality of the work. Also, if I pay this guy, he doesn’t have any motivation to be fast… he could take weeks! I told him nicely, that since it would be my first time using him, I am not comfortable paying upfront. And by the way, I don’t get paid upfront for my work! I work, then I get paid. His reasoning for needing the money up front, in his own words, are that he is in «financial hardship» and he’s not a «dry cleaners». My eyes just widened and I thought to myself… wow, tell me again why I am wanting to leave my favorite pair of shoes here with this guy who wants money upfront because he is in financial hardship and gives me attitude when I politely explain that I am not comfortable since I don’t know his work. I mentioned again that I am not comfortable giving him money upfront and he rudely handed me my shoes back and said, «you go take your shoes somewhere else». I must have looked like a deer in headlights, I was so stunned! No wonder you are in financial hardship when you treat people this way! Needless to say, I won’t ever go back there. I would never do business with a man that has such attitude. If you aren’t happy with the quality of your life, change it. Don’t take it out on customers. This guy is a scam to want money upfront! Awful!

I dropped off my shoes to be repaired here BEFORE I read any of the reviews. After I dropped them off I started reading and thought I was in trouble. Come to find out I was pleasantly surprised with the job. It seemed a bit pricey for what it was (hence no 5 star rating) but the job was well done and finished on time. And the guy must have to charge a little more because he’s on Abbott Kinney. He was friendly and honest. Totally recommend!!!

He charged me $ 65 to resole my boots and they were falling apart after a week! Way over priced for crappy repair.
And to boot (pun intended), he said they’d be ready Monday so I popped in on my lunch time and he meant Monday at 6pm. Unprofessional.

Reading the other reviews, I now know I’m not crazy. The guy who runs this shop is clueless about basic customer service. After I questioned his unfinished and unprofessional work with a simple fix on my boot zippers (I knew it was simple because another shoe repair shop fixed the other shoe a year ago), he started to defend himself, got upset because I was cordially holding him accountable to the professional standard anyone would expect, and he eventually told me he never wanted to see me again. I’ve never been treated like that by any store of any kind, and I don’t know how this guy stays in business with amateur work combined with talking to his customers like that. I wouldn’t shop here if I were you.

As I understand it Anjela’s is a bit of a historical site on Abbott Kinney, but that’s no excuse for running an uncompetitive business.
The unfriendly owner wanted to charge me $ 35 to repair the heels of my boots. I went to the shop on Washington x Lincoln and got the same treatment for $ 12 with a one day turnaround.
I get that it’s expensive to operate a shop on AK, but that’s just exorbitant.

I just had a horrible experience. I dropped off my shoes a week ago. Angelina’s takes cash only and requires 50% up front. The charge was to be $ 50 for rubber soles and ball of foot cushions. I only had $ 15 cash on me so I gave it to the man begins the counter.
When I went to pick up the shoes he hadn’t written down that I had already given hime $ 15 and wanted to charge me the full $ 50. Crazy. he then told me he would be unable to fix the other pair of boots I brought him. He gave me severe attitude about his mistake. I’m going to venture to say this is not good business practice. I will not be back.

Soon I fear, Anjela’s will be gentrified into Venice history and then every a-​hole on Abbot Kinney will tell you a cobbler is something you eat for dessert. The world will be poorer and probably be wearing $ 400 disposable shoes.

When I first moved to Venice a few years back and went to Anjela’s shoe repair, I was not impressed. He didn’t seem very friendly and I didn’t’ come back for years. Then when a friend who is a fancy shoe designer said he was one of the best shoe repair shops in the US, I gave it another try. The owner may not be overly friendly the first time you come in, but his work is excellent. And then as I came back the next few times, he showed me how friendly he can be. He just takes some time warming up!

Overpriced. Rude. Borderline mean. I will never set foot inside this place again.

I found this shoe repair by reading fellow Unilocalers reviews as I was trying to find a good shoe repair close to home. I laughed when I read the review that said «Anjela is the real deal. No nonsense, fair prices…». But this is absolutely the truth. I was told 5pm on Friday but showed up 30 minutes early. Anjela reminded me of his 5pm deadline and to return later. I wandered around Abbot Kinney for a bit but returned to find my boots looking like new. I had worn the heels caps off completely and scuffed the toes really badly. Anjela worked magic on my boots and for a very reasonable price. I would definitely send friends to this little shop even if it does feel a bit like a Seinfeld episode.

Efficiency of technology: a slight mishap causes my friend’s shoe sole to break off on Saturday night. Whipped out iPhones, got on Unilocal,and found nearest shoesmith to be 0.1 mile away from said mishap. Score!
Kindness of strangers: shoesmith had just closed shop since it was Saturday night but still let us in, glued the shoe sole back onto the shoe and didn’t charge us anything. Thank you kind sir!

Andy is the best!
Great quality work and materials!
We have been going there for a while, no disappointments, a very trust worthy place!

Anjela is the real deal. No nonsense, fair prices and does what he says he will do. I’ve had him fix my daughter’s shoes for several years now. His service is spot on. It’s simple. I bring in shoes that are damaged and in need of repair, and a week later I pick them up looking like new. He’s fun to talk to and a man of his word. Old fashioned European cobbler.
Nothing more to say. He knows what he’s doing and he does it. Perfectly.

I’ve been going here for many years and have had very good experience with it. The work is done well and within the time requested, and the owner is an absolute pleasure to converse with.

Before I begin here, I ask thee Unilocalers for forgiveness for dogging out a small business. Here goes: THIS MAN WILL LEND YOUR TUBE TOP TO HIS NIECE.
I kid you not. I had one of the most sketchy experiences I’ve had in my 8 years in Los Angeles at this establishment. I was recommended to go here by one of my friends to have the gold medallion embellishment on one of my tops fixed. He said he would do it for $ 12. Granted, it was strange to ask a shoe repair man to fix the weird gold doohickey on the front of my disco top, but he said yes and I trusted him. Two weeks go by. I come back in and say I’m ready to pick up the top. He asks for my ticket, and I can’t find it in my purse. ‘That’s alright’, I think to myself, because how could he forget that I had dropped off a shirt at shop meant for shoes. What is more, the top had a very memorable LARGE GOLD MEDALLION THING on the front. When I described the shirt to him, he said he had no such item in his store. I asked him if he remembered me, he said no. I again described the shirt as being dark purple with a large gold medallion on the front. I thought I was highly descriptive. He looked at me blankly. I am open minded and patient, so instead of losing my sh**, I asked him for pad and paper and proceed to DRAW the damn thing for him. STILL he acted as if he had never seen it. Here is the most obviously suspicious part, at no point did he move a muscle to even look for the thing. He didn’t look around his immediate person, nor did he look in the back for it. So, I make the most obvious request and ask him to go look in the back for it. Instead, he says, «Give me two hours to find it». I say, «can you please go look in the back for it, so that I won’t have to come back in two hours». He repeats, «Give me two hours to find it». At this point, I guess I puss out, thinking that if I can just find the damn claim ticket it will all be solved. I go home. I find the claim ticket. I call him. I ask him if he wants to have the number to the claim ticket which would surely locate the shirt. I think he would be eager to get the claim number, instead, he responds, «you can tell me the number if you want». I don’t think he even wrote it down! At this point I knew he was lying to me. No where along this process did this man say he was sorry or show any remorse for wasting my time and loosing my shirt. Finally, two hours pass. I get a phone call. He has ‘found’ the shirt. Two hours, my los angelenian friends, two hours. Let’s think about that for a moment. Two hours on a Friday afternoon in LA is just the right amount of time one needs to drive up to your niece’s apartment in LOS FELIZ and apologize to her that you’ll be needing that damn top back with the golden medallion thingie!!!

I am very sad to give such a poor review to this place, because my mom really liked it when she was out visiting and needed a pair of shoe straps fixed.
But I have to be honest… that’s what Unilocal’s all about…
First off, I thought $ 30 was way too high for a simple suede cleaning on my hot yellow suede heels. So I said so. He said $ 25, but that he needed to clean them a lot because they were so dirty (excuuuse me).
So when I came to pick them up I figured they’d be looking brand new, since he said he needed to clean them so many times to get the gruff out. They looked horrible! I almost cried (shoes are very important to me). I told him in a calm way that they didn’t look at all better and that they actually looked more «worn out.» He assured me that it was a very hard job and that they DO look better than before. EheM! I think I know my own shoes.
He offered to clean them again, but I said no way. The price was already too high and I thought he’d just rub the suede off entirely if I gave them back to him!
Tear…my hottest little pair of heels are pretty much ruined…

I have been wary about cobblers ever since I had a confrontation with a guy in San Francisco who seemed to think his job included belittling the customer about the state of her shoes, so I was pleased to discover this is not the case at Anjela, where I’ve been going for 3 years.
The cobbler there is amicable, patient and offers fair prices. I have had old shoes repaired and taken new shoes for custom adjustments, and the shoes always turn out beautifully. I am amazed that his little shop has survived the increasing rents on Abbot-​Kinney, and encourage everyone to give him your business so he can continue to do so!

Trying to save a few pairs of my favorite shoes — so I thought that I saw a review for this place on Unilocal… but I guess that I’ll write a new one.
I brought two flats with leather rubbed off on their tips and a pair of vintage boots that were missing their heels. Anjela fixed all three of them for $ 50 within 3 days. They looked as good as new! :)
It’s a little hole in the wall place where you can get your shoes fixed and polished and get some keys made. I missed it the first time I was looking for it. There is usually a small handpainted sign outside that says open with a picture of a pair of shoes, a pair of boots, and a key.
I like to keep places like this open — mom and pop places that bring you back to a time where people knew everyone in their neighborhood.