If you own beautifully crafted shoes (i.e. expensive shoes), having a cobbler in your contacts is a non-negotiable. After setting up an atelier in Greenwich Village this summer, getting to know our neighbors was the next order of business. Dry cleaner, framer, hardware store, etc. A cobbler was next.

Hector’s Shoe Repair is situated right around the corner at 11 Greenwich Avenue and has been since 1985. Nineteen. Eighty. Five. He's been doing something right. In New York, if you're not good—you're gone.

We dropped off a pair of seven-year-old Goodyear welted cordovan penny loafers for resoling. John (his brother’s name is Hector and runs the other shop uptown) and I got to know each other quickly and then got down to business.

Resoled with a double leather J.R. Rendenbach oak bark sole and metal toe taps to prolong and protect the toe.

We’d do double leather J.R. Rendenbach soles (the best leather soles available) and install metal toe taps to prolong the (already long) life of the German soles even longer. The total cost was $170. This major surgery comes to about 20% of what the shoes could be purchased for today. We like those numbers. And what’s more? He completed the entire resole within 24 hours.

Unless you live/work in Manhattan, odds are that you won't be visiting Hector's for your next repair (unless you opt to ship your shoes to him, which we think he'd be open to). But a cobbler shop akin to Hector's likely does exist in your city. It just may take a little digging to find them. If they have a Goodyear welting machine and stock J.R. Rendenbach leather soles, you're off to a good start.

Hector's Shoe Repair
11 Greenwich Ave.
New York, NY 10014
212-727-1237
@hectors_shoe_repair