Brighton Leather & Instant Shoe Repair

My shoes are in the trash now. I had a small spot on my otherwise perfect condition favorite pair of leather shoes. I asked for a cleaning only, and only if it seemed possible. I received a messily scratched and hastily lacquered mess with my laces stained because he didn’t bother to take them out before destroying the rest of the shoe. So disappointed. I paid him and hadn’t taken change.

I had a very good experience with this business.
The owner was friendly and repaired my dress shoes in less than two hours.
The cost of the repair was only $ 10.00, a significant difference from the $ 55.00 quote that was given to me by another business.

Can you get your soles and heels replaced here? Sure. Is your shoe going look better after? No. It’s clear that there’s no pride in workmanship here. Sigh. My search for a decent cobbler continues.

I dropped off my beloved Clark’s desert treks to be resoled. On the upside, they were done within a couple days, but that does little to offset the downside.
They look terrible. And they feel as if they’ve each shrunk a size. I can’t wear them for more than an hour. It feels as if someone is standing on my toes. How am I to concentrate on work when I can’t stop thinking about how much my feet hurt?
I figured, at $ 55, it was a heck of a lot cheaper than shelling out north of $ 100 for a new pair, but now I’m out the money and the shoes. Avoid at all costs.
And speaking of money: cash or check only, because this is the 1970’s.

I’m thrilled with the way my shoes came back to me! They were brand new Ugg brown leather shoes that I wore last February on a trip to Canada. I was touring a college campus with my daughter and the salt on the streets and sidewalks ate through the leather. I tried cleaning them, but they still looked white on the sides. The owner from Brighton leather and shoe repair made them look brand new! I highly recommend this shop!

If I could do 2.5 stars, I would.
I’ve been to this guy to re-​heel shoes a bunch of times and he does a decent job. He also repaired an insole and a small bezel on a backpack. I’m a little wary of any «cash only» business that regularly charges not-​insignificant amounts of money but hey you gotta do what you gotta do.
On my last trip though I was very disappointed. I thought I had asked for something simple– either repair some bezels/​holes in a worn handbag strap or just replace the strap all together. The repair job was not at all as aesthetically ameliorating as I had hoped, so I asked him to just replace the entire strap using the same material he had already used on part of it. He said he could not do this because he did not have enough material and would have to wait till he got more. I said I was willing to wait as long as necessary and he said it still could not be done. I was unaware that ordering a strip of cheap, black, pleathery material was so difficult for someone IN THE BUSINESS OF SHOE AND LEATHER REPAIR (Also makes one wonder– where exactly is he getting his materials from?)
In short– I will return for shoe re-​heelings and simple jobs, but clearly handbags are not his expertise.

I was near tears when I found out my favorite pair of black riding boots were on their death bed. Two and a half years we had spent together, a staple in my wardrobe. We even braced the frozen grip of ‘Nemo ‘13’ together, side-​by-​side.
Our favorite thing to do on a Saturday night was to position ourselves at a window seat, beer-​in-​hand, at a bar in Faneuil Hall, so we could get a good laugh at the tourists and college girls in their ‘sexy’ 5 inch heals falling at the mercy of Boston’s cobblestone streets.
My black riding boots had been hurt before… broken straps mended together with safety pins, an occasional scuff here or there…
It was a rainy night in December. I was walking back home from the Green Briar, when suddenly I could feel my feet dampening as I stepped in a puddle.
I checked the bottom of my shoes, and two piercing bullet-​like holes were to be found in EACH shoe.
My roommates could hear the screams of terror.
«DONT GIVE UP ON THEM!», I heard. My roommate slapped me for almost pulling the plug (She had found them in my garbage bin).
«Take them to a cobbler!» she said.
What? Is that still a profession? Isn’t that something from the 1930’s?
Brighton Leather & Instant Shoe Repair was the first ‘Shoe Repair’ shop I have ever been to. I was greeted by an older gentleman with a Middle-​Eastern/​Russian accent. It is cash only, but by the look and feel of the repair shop, I would assume ‘Gold Shillings’ or Live Animal Stock would be an acceptable currency as well.
I was quoted $ 35 Dollars.
Anyway, I brought my wounded boots to Brighton Leather & Instant Shoe Repair and they will see sunlight again! I was pleasantly surprised at the quick turn around time (just one day) and quality of the job.
I have to doc one star, because there seems to be a little bump at the ball of my right foot that would torture anyone with OCD, but overall the place was great.

I’ve used this place a couple times now– twice to repair shoes and once to repair a backpack. The guy has done a great job every time. I have wide feet and sometimes bust through the sides of my shoes. He sewed up two pairs of shoes for me, probably saving me $ 200 and sewed a backpack strap back on that my dog chewed throw which probably saved me another $ 75. Very happy with the service her and quick 24 hour turnaround.

Good job reattaching a heel to a pair of boots. He did it in one day as quoted. Only takes cash, would’ve helped to know up front but there’s an ATM next door.

A good decent old fashioned shoe cobbler. I relly liked this guy, he did a rather simple repair for me: reglued the front sole of a dress shoe for me. The work was done on time and very cheap! I think I spent $ 5 or $ 10, a steal compared to the cost of the pair of shoes. This guy does good work!
The sign is confusing as it says ‘Instant Shoe Repair’ but this is the right place.

STAY FAR AWAY. I brought my brand new (*very* expensive) boots in to be zip soled prior to wearing them.
I picked them up Saturday morning only to discover that the cobbler had left streaks of glue close to the sole and scratched the leather. Now, minor scratches I can understand given that he had to work either them, but this guy left a GOUGE on one of my beautiful boots. It looks like he scraped it with a serrated knife! I now have to bring my boots to yet another cobbler to fix them. :-/​
I should have listened to my instincts on this one: his shop is disorganized and FILTHY, as are his hands. He doesn’t speak much English (on its own this is no great sin, but when, as a customer, I am trying to communicate my wishes it’s disconcerting) and, after looking at my boots he set one down on his counter, which was covered with sharp tools.
I will never give this guy another nickle.
YES– he is fast, but fast plus shoddy workmanship is no great deal.

I have been a loyal customer for Mikes for a long time. Every time I bring in my shoes I get them back in tip top shape. They are always shiny and new looking. I had many different types of work done. I had heels replaced and resurfaced. I had stretched uncomfortable shoes and boots to fit me better. I had sippers replaced. All the things he restored for me came out great. I highly recommend Mike’s work to all of my friends and whoever goes says thanks to me for recommending him. He really does wonderful work and he is cheaper then any other guys in brookline. I called and checked pricing. Give him a try. You wont regret it,

I took two pairs of men’s dress shoes to him for resoleing. The first pair was a rubber sole, the second, leather. If anyone has worn a pair of leather soled shoes in Boston, you realize this is a bad idea in the winter, so I asked about switching the leather soles with rubber soles. He claimed it was impossible. This is not true. Many cobblers do it regularly. Strike one.
He charged me $ 50 for replacing the rubber soles. Seems steep, but he has good reviews, I decided to give him a shot.
As for the leather soles, he said he could add a rubber bottom cover. FOR $ 40. For $ 40 he put on a big sticker… He told me that also includes a rework of the heel, and he would fix a couple of other problems (the insole was not glued down, and was bunching up in the shoe).
His high prices were strike two.
When I got the shoes back, I was disappointed. On my black wing-​tips, he put the equivalent of an army-​boot sole. We’re talking deep, aggressive treads. This is now a hiking boot… How is this a good idea? He also totally botched the job. There are all sorts of glue streaks around the bottom of the shoe, scratches, and the shoe is already pulling off the sole near the ball, and the heel is separating off the sole. I’ve worn them ONCE.
On the leather soles, he basically applied the sticker. The inner sole he sort of pushed back into place, and that’s it. $ 40 for a sticker on the bottom of my shoes.
Poor workmanship, Strike 3. I’d be ok with this level of workmenship if I paid $ 10… not $ 90.
Cash only??! Strike 4.

I went here after reading the reviews on Unilocal.I completely agree with them all!
I brought in a fairly new pair of wedges/​espadrilles that were starting to tear around the ankle strap.
The owner/​shoe repair man was friendly but not very talkative. He looked at the shoes, told me I could come back the next night to pick them up and that it would cost $ 10!
I was unable to get back there for about 2 nights, but when I went in, he immediately took my ticket, found the shoes and showed me them. Perfect! And he let me pay when I picked up, instead of making me pay up front.
Hopefully I won’t have any more shoe repair needs, but if I do, I’m coming here!

Me: «The zipper pull on my boots came off one side, can you fix it?»
Russian dude: «Zipper broken, need to fully be replaced, see here» (points to pull in zipper I had already been aware of before this)
Me: «Ah yes, I see, can you fix it?»
Russian dude: «Yes I fix. 25 dollars. When you need it?»
Me: «Well I’m leaving in a few days, so…»
Russian dude: «Come tomorrow in afternoon.»
~next day, pick up finished boot with new zipper as promised~
The main reason I came in was because my zipper pull came off so I couldn’t even zip it up, but prior to that I was still unable to zip it all the way down because there was some kind of snag/​tear half way down. Post-​repair, the zipper’s pull is definitely back on both sides (he replaced one side of the zipper teeth), and the zipper does zip down the entire way, but there’s still a bit of a hesitation in the place it previously was broken– it sort of buckles/​bends in that spot even with the new zipper, so it takes a bit more effort/​delicacy to zip it all the way up now. Definitely better than it was before, but not quite good-​as-​new.
Overall, the price and timing was definitely right, and technically the boot was fixed adequately so as to be functional– just not quite perfectly, so keep that in mind.

Like so many other women Unilocalers, I had a pair of beloved heels which had been completely destroyed by the Boston sidewalks. The owner is a quiet Russian man, who will look at your shoes, tell you a price and say they’ll be ready tomorrow. He re-​heeled my heels for $ 8 and polished them for free. I brought in a pair of my boyfriends shoes to be re-​heeled as well and polished and it was only $ 18 for a brand new sole, polished like they were new and he threw in a nice pair of shoelaces because the old ones were torn up. This guy is awesome, he definitely went above and beyond.

In my quest to have a pair of shoes re-​heeled I have: been quoted $ 30– yeah right!; called about having them repaired only to drop them off later in the day and be told «Oh yeah, we can get to them next week” — see ya!; and been outright refused. Finally, I walked into Brighton Leather & Instant Shoe Repair, shoes in one hand a twenty in the other, vowing that if anything else was necessary the shoes were meeting their untimely demise via trash can.
The shoes live.
While not particularly outgoing, the man is efficient and does great work. I asked for them within a week, he quoted me a few days. I wasn’t asked to pay on the spot, but I did. $ 8. Total. Amazing. A few days later, my shoes were re-​heeled and shined up. I will definitely be back with an armful of Boston-​battered shoes.

For ten dollars, I had the heels on my boots replaces, polished boots, and scuffs removed, allowing the boots to look almost new. I think for 10 dollars and less than 24 hr service, this place roxs. It’s a steal, the gentleman who works here is very quiet, but he seemed to appreciate how impressed I was. Enjoy! It’s a great place and he will soon be given about 3 more pairs of shoes to fix (Boston streets hate heels…)
Warning though, it only takes cash! But there is about 4 atm’s within 3 minutes walking.

After reading about Brighton Leather & Instant Shoe Repair here previously, and having a pair of BADLY scuffed Enforcer Police Style boots that I really need repaired, I decided I had to go down and see how things would go. This is the first boot/​shoe/​leather repair shop I had ever gone to and I was very pleasantly surprised.
I couldn’t possibly have been happier with the service at this place. It was absolutely perfect. There is parking behind the place and it is located conveniently right near Washington Sq, near the intersection of Washington and Beacon. He has a seat if you want to come in and get your boots fixed and sit down and wait, and he also has candy dish out which is always a nice touch to any place you go to utilize a service (like a bank.)
The guy who does the repairs is great. He isn’t extremely talkative (he doesn’t talk a ton, but I’m not asking for a therapy appointment with my shoe repair, so that’s not a problem) but he is extremely efficient. I called him on the phone and asked him if he could repair the scuffs on my boots, which are 2 years old and fairly badly scuffed. The leather didn’t look black and shiny; it was light gray and in fairly bad condition. I brought them in and he asked if I minded waiting, so I ran to the ATM. Within 3 minutes, he had patched a hole in my boot and had completely removed any trace of the scuffs. They look brand new, other than the few nicks and small gashes that I didn’t ask to have repaired.
The service was so quick; I thought I was going to have to drop them off and come back the next day, especially based on the amount of other shoes he was working on and the amount he had in the outgoing (already repaired) area. I waited literally about 3 minutes for perfection; you can’t get much better than that.
Another great part about the shoe repair was that to make my books like almost brand new, it cost me 5 $ total. Yes, 5 $ total, for the repair of both boots. That’s 2.50 $ each, which is MORE than reasonable. I was thinking it was going to be like 20 $ or something, but it wasn’t. This guy is great.
That brings me to my last point. The guy who was working when I was there was pretty much the man. He’s a nice older guy with an Eastern European/​Russian sounding accent. I thought he was wearing a grill at first but he has a bunch of gold teeth, which was pretty fuckin awesome. He seemed like he really knew what he was doing, worked really quickly and efficiently, and he had some sick ass bling in his mouth to go with it.
In sum, if you want to make your boots look like new, go by Instant Shoe Repair and meet my man with the bling. He’ll take care of you; quick, easy, cheap, and overall, perfect.

A man of very few words is Mark Shakaryan, the owner of Brighton Leather & Instant Shoe Repair, but he knows what he is doing and charges you a fair price. Why it is called Brighton Shoe Repair when it is in Brookline is beyond me. No matter.
I had a very nice and expensive pair of shoes that I wore so often that the heel wore down all the way to the leather. I was dismayed and thought the shoes were doomed to die. I was mistaken when I showed up at this little shop full of strange shoe repairing machines. Mr. Shakaryan didn’t have much to say at all other then the price ($ 8 to replace both of the ends of the heels in the shoes) and when I could pick them up. Fine by me. I had my shoes back the SAME day, perfect once more! About as «instant» as one can get.
I know I’ll be back.