Mail in Cobblers for Soles, Taps and Refurbishment: Potter and Sons vs. Sunny Cobler (Metro) vs. Hanger Project vs. Others

[MarkG441]

About to invest in shoe refurbishment and mail off several pair of shoes for soles, heels and metal toe taps.

Looking for feedback form anyone who has compared end product between any of the following coblers (or others who do great work):
- Trent @ Potter & Sons
- Sunny @ Metro Cobler
- Hanger Project
- Others

I've seen photos of work, just curious for real-world testimonials.

I have used Hanger Project/Kirby Allison for refurbishing a pair of Florsheim Imperials. As noted, they outsource these to others, in my case to (Jim) McFarland's in Florida. I thought Jim did a pretty good job. That said, I've been a customer of HP/KA with some regularity. My evaluation is that Kirby is an excellent curator of goods and services relevant to gentlemen. That said, it seems to be pretty much a virtual operation. I've found their prices to be higher than, with a little legwork, you can find elsewhere -- sometimes by a lot, up to 20-30% premium. But the thing that really galls me is the shipping and handling charges. I wanted to buy some shoelaces, which are excellent. But the shipping cost was higher than the cost of several pair. As for things like Saphir products, you can normally find them either cheaper or for the same price with free shipping. Underscoring the virtualness is the customer service people who can rarely add any information of value when enquiring about a product. I've never used Potter and Sons, although my impression is that they are high quality. And their YouTube videos are not only great but suggest a high-quality approach. Frankly, the main reason I haven't tried them is their long lead times, which, I guess, underscores the demand, and the fact that I have reasonable alternatives where I live in NYC.

 

[bicycleradical]

I’ve got a pair of shoes at Bedo’s Leatherworks now. I’ll advise when they are returned. They are local for me, but they also take mail-in work. Much like Potter, Bedo’s closed for a chunk of January to catch up on volume.

I had Bedo resole a pair of my shoes and the work was great. It was just too expensive for the caliber of shoe that I had done. That being said, they still look awesome.