Ilyau Express

They do a great job, reasonably priced and my shoes always come back looking perfect!

Just did a shine no repair. For $ 3 — ok but felt compelled to give $ 2 tip, deserved $ 1 that’s probably my challenge.

Always great service! They have always done a great job everytime and I bring all my shoes to them to get repaired and resoled. To top everything off, the prices are really reasonable.
This shop is totally out of the way for me, but I make the trip when I need something fixed.

I’m thrilled with the service at Ilyau. I’ve had my favorites re-​soled and re-​heeled multiple times. It’s a lot cheaper to maintain a quality shoe than to continually purchase cheapies. These guys have skills.

Went in to get my watch band expanded. They were slammed but I came back in an hour with a link added for only $ 5. Friendly, efficient and quite well located based on where I stay when in NY I’d definitely come back. I wish there were places like this in LA for me to patronize more often. I can wholeheartedly recommend this place and also tell you that they weren’t requesting Unilocal reviews at all which means all of those 5 stars you see are authentic… quite rare nowadays with all these stores trying to take advantage of Unilocalers (something I’m extremely against). If you’re in Gramercy and need a watch battery replace or band expanded definitely check out Ilyau Express.

Fantastic, quick, top-​notch reasonably priced service. The shoe /​watch /​luggage repair emporium I have been searching for lo these many years. Do not be fooled by his commonplace appearance. Best in town.

This place is the best! I will recommend it to all of my friends. Just brought in my favorite pair of booties to get reheeled and shined and they came out so beautifully, and insanely affordable and fast too. I can’t believe other reviews think it should be cheaper. It’s a very small price to pay to extend the life of your shoes.

I went here to replace two watch batteries and left 5 minutes later with fully working watches ($ 20) PLUS a fixed watch band. This probably could’ve been done for less elsewhere, but I’m happy to patronize a small business for quality work. Happy to return here again.

Went to the store at 3:45pm to drop off a pair of heels to have the red soles put on.
I asked if I could pick them up the same day and I was told to pick them up at 5pm. It is now 5:07pm and I have picked up my shoes!
Good job!

Friendly and fast service! Dress heels done on men’s shoes: $ 20 (see pic), and watch battery replacement $ 10 each. I would recommend and return here.

I destroyed the soles of my wedge boots this winter. This place did an amazing job fixing them and made them look brand new again. They are fast, reasonably priced and talented beyond belief.

We have been going here for the past two years and had been relatively happy with the results of shoe repair and stretching. Recently, however, my husband brought in a pair of expensive dress shoes for shining (as he’s done many times in the past) and returned to find that the sole of the shoe had been gouged almost all the way to the inner lining. The owner refused to acknowledge that this occurred while the shoes were in his shop. That is absolutely false, and it is an absurd claim — why would someone bring in shoes for shining only if the shoes were unwearable due to a giant hole in the sole? The owner offered to repair the soles for $ 40, but the work should have been free given that the need for repair arose while the shoes were in their shop. We are especially disappointed because we had been frequent and loyal customers for such a long time. No longer.

Sam — thank you thank you thank for fixing three pairs of shoes. You literally saved my favorite pair by getting out all the stains. The fact that you told me if you couldn’t fix the stains the service would be free is unhNever been to a more humble shoe shop and I will absolutely be back and will recommend.

Found myself in a situation where I needed to have the battery in my watch changed and needed it done fast. Where do I turn to for answers? Unilocal of course! And like most times, Unilocal came through in the clutch with this excellent recommendation.
I walked in here at 1pm and stated that I needed my battery changed. I handed him the watch, he took off the back cover, changed the battery, used a machine to put the back cover back on and handed me the watch. This whole process took about two minutes from start to finish. Could not be more perfect and efficient than this. The cost was 10 dollars and I was on my way. (Note: They only take cash, so come prepared)
They also repair shoes here. Judging by the quickness and preciseness of how he did my watch, I would expect that the shoe service is just as good, if not better. Well when I need that service performed, I’ll certainly be coming here to find out. Meanwhile if you have a watch in need of any kind of work, this is definitely the place to use.

Amazing — great service, quick and so well priced.
Thankfully I live only a block away and can come here every week. I get taps on my shoes every week (keeps them new) but whenever I need a shoe repaired, new soles etc. I always come here.
Had a few of my girlfriends bring their Louboutins, Chanel etc heels after I told them. They all love Ilyau. He’s such a great guy. A bargain even if he cost 25% more — seriously such a great experience.

Dropped off my watch to have the battery replaced and was in and out in no time. They were professional and quick, not to mention in-​expensive. What more could I ask for.

Came here to get my Dad’s Ferragamo dress shoes fixed. He needed new elastic on both buckles and an overall polish. Picked up the shoes about 1.5 hours later and we were fairly satisfied. The heel needed to be replaced as well but they overcharge for that. ~$ 20 is pretty ridiculous I think. They did a good job on the buckles but my dad complained that the polish didn’t amp up the appearance as much as he hoped it would.
We paid $ 12 for replacing the buckles and $ 4 for a polish, so overall, inexpensive compared to other places in the city. I guess we’ll get our heels fixed by some old chinese man in Queens for ¾ less the price.
FYI QUICK SAME DAY SERVICE
FYI CHEAP CHEAP

The service was quick and affordable, repairing the heels on two pairs of shoes for less than $ 30 within 24 hours. My three year-​old black boots were shined so well that they honestly looked brand new!
However, I was surprised that my brown leather heels were still scuffed and scratched when I got them back, even though I asked for them to be repaired and shined. The man behind the counter then said that I would have to have «the skin replaced» to fix those scratches, though he absolutely did not mention this when I originally dropped them off. I wish he would have told me upfront so I could have considered this service instead of getting the shoes back with only partial repairs and an excuse.
Unfortunately, the «repair» to the black wooden heel on my boots left even more to be desired. The paint looked good when I picked them up, but when I wore the boots today, it was only an hour before a dime-​sized piece of that paint chipped off. After only seventeen city blocks on a day with perfect weather, these shoes need to be repaired AGAIN.
tl;dr — My shoes weren’t ruined, but sadly my search for reliable shoe repairs continues, since my shoes shouldn’t peel like the paint in my pre-​war apartment.

Fast, affordable, and friendly.
I broke a strap on a new pair of leather sandals. It was fixed for a reasonable price and fast (I dropped it off at the beginning of my lunch break, came back within a half hour and it was ready to go).
Will definitely come back in the fall for boot repairs and will recommend to others.

Very cheap and fast service! I was looking for a place to quickly resize the band of my new watch. I walked in, was helped immediately, and walked out with a shortened band all in under 15 minutes. It was also extremely cheap — only $ 5 for the whole transaction.
Recommended and will return for future watch needs.