"2017-11-02T00:00:00"^^ . . . "Is this guy going to be the winner in a charm contest? No. Do I feel that he was helpful, well informed, made a recommendations in my best interests and handled my items with care? Absolutely. Also, in chatting with him, I found out this has been a family owned business for the past 20 years. How did I learn this? I simply asked him, since he actually does seem to be a super nice guy (just a bit gruff), and he told me :) \n\nTip: If you don't want to wait, when picking up your stuff, just call him before you go to the store and let him know you're coming... he's running a one man show at the store and it allows him to get your stuff ready. \n\nI had a pair of $350 designer leather knee boots that I got on deep sale for $100. The catch was that they were 1 inch too small for my calf size. I went to the store and he advised me of all my options... He advised me against anything that would rip the leather or strain the zipper. He had to sew an entire piece of leather over the zipper to get an even stretch on the calf which took 10 days. \n\nAt the end of the day, he charged me $40 and I got great results. So, I got $350 boots for $140. These are of a classic design and will last me for the next 5+ years. \n\nAre these still tight? Yes. His method just allows me to comfortably zip them so I can wear them enough to get them stretched to my specifications. He got almost a full inch with the boot not looking worse for wear. That said, there are holes where he sewed in the leather next to the existing zipper... which I'm fine with and he advised me would happen. My message? Have a realistic expectations people. You're getting an item repaired... he can't craft you a better than new item. \n\nThe funny part though, bless his heart is when I zipped the boots over my skinny jeans he said \"you're wearing them over the jeans?!?\" I don't think he had seen that before."^^ . "5"^^ . . "2"^^ . "0"^^ . "1"^^ .