Shoe service plus in nyc

[Lomezz]

I just picked up my C&J handgardes from SSP after a full sole treatment. What prompted me to use SSP, besides recommendations on this board and a referal from Barney's, was the fact that they have a Rendenbach educational display in their window (I never knew there were so many 'flavors' of shoe soles - oak bark, chestnut, mimosa, etc.) and a display of proper shoe trees.

The full sole replacement with what they call a "R.G." sole (should be J.R. for Joh. Rendenbach) was $100, plus $2.5 for metal taps, but why be petty.

I wasn't expecting them to bevel the waist or to apply a fiddle back, and sure enough they didn't. And the fit has changed somewhat - the front portion feels a tad narrower than before. The JR sole is also thicker than the original, somewhat spoiling the refined look of the shoe.

But otherwise, and considering the alternative is to have the shoes sent for repair by C&J UK for the ungodly sum of $300 including postage, they seemed to have done an okay job. next time I'll give Allen Edmonds a try.

 

[jcusey]

I just picked up my C&J handgardes from SSP after a full sole treatment. What prompted me to use SSP, besides recommendations on this board and a referal from Barney's, was the fact that they have a Rendenbach educational display in their window (I never knew there were so many 'flavors' of shoe soles - oak bark, chestnut, mimosa, etc.) and a display of proper shoe trees.

Not that I want to hijack your thread, but did the Rendenbach educational display explain why a tannery would choose to use chestnut or mimosa rather than oak bark to tan their sole leather?

 

[Steve B.]

I have used SSP several times, and been satisfied each time.

 

[Lomezz]

Well, the display did not say much besides showing samples of the different types of tannage. Your question made me curious about it and I did a little search, but could not find any meaningful explanation, not even on the Rendenbach website. Does anybody else know anything?

 

[Lomezz]

Jcusey- here's description of different tanning materials I googled Tanning

 

[Leo Jay]

The JR sole is also thicker than the original, somewhat spoiling the refined look of the shoe.

I'm surprised you found this acceptable. To me, altering the thickness of the sole changes the shoe on such a fundamental aesthetic level, and I certainly wouldn't want to continue wearing the shoes if I felt that the alteration "spoiled" the look of them.

 

[dah328]

I've had SSP do a couple different things for me:

- Resole a pair of higher-end Bally oxfords.  The fit of the shoes was different afterward and the nails in the heel protruded enough to make the shoes very slippery.  I was not especially impressed.

- Clean a pair of mid-grade Cole Haan oxfords in dark brown that had some weird spots on them.  I think they said that they "steam cleaned" the shoes, but they came back in pretty good condition.  After a couple applications of polish and cream, there are no traces of the spots.

- Stretch the above pair of Cole Haans.  They were a little narrow across the ball of my foot.  After stretching, they fit much better.

- Fix a gouge I got in the same pair of Cole Haans.  They filled the gouge with some sort of filler that looks fine after it's been covered with some cream and polish.

- Clean some spots off a pair of Grenson-made Poulsen Skones in dark brown suede.  To be fair, they told me ahead of time that the cleaning might lighten the color of the shoe and could make the suede coarser.  It did both.  I haven't had a chance to wear the shoes much since then, so I don't know how much those changes will affect the wearability of the shoes.  Hopefully, the effect will be minimal, but I don't recommend that kind of cleaning for suede shoes unless you've exhausted all other options.

Based on the experiences above, I'm hesitant to have SSP do any more resoling work for me.  They seem to do acceptable work on small repairs, though.

dan

 

[RIDER]

By reputation, SSP is stronger with ladies shoes than mens. Their niche is working uppers (colorations/spots/etc.) and stacked heels for just about every high-end ladies retailer in NYC. I recently sent them a pair of custom made men's deerskin jodphur boots in bone (very retro knid of guy) to have cuban heels pu on and touch up the color and they did great work.

 

[AlanC]

Has anyone ever tried Resole America?