Often a forgotten art, shoe cobbling — more commonly known as shoe repair — is one of the world’s oldest crafts, persevering through many hardships since human-beings fashioned the very first pair of shoes.
Today, the master cobblers at Cobblestone Shoe Hospital carry on the time-honored tradition by providing high-quality repairs on shoes, boots, handbags, and luggage to the Fort Worth community.
“It’s a very special service with magic and beauty behind it,” says professional cobbler Carroll Kelly, who owns the locations in Fort Worth.
Born from the renowned Shoe Hospital family of shoe repair companies — which launched its first store in Houston atop a horse-drawn carriage in 1906 — Cobblestone Shoe Hospital opened its first Fort Worth location in 1988.
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Behind the scenes, shoe repair requires an intensive team effort between many workers, each who specialize in a single function, such as stitching or resoling, allowing them to be the master of their craft.
“We probably have the best high heel-repair guy in the world, because that’s what he’s done every single day for the last 30 years,” Kelly says.
Kelly also says that unlike many smaller shoe repair shops, they are able to repair shoes using the same processes and tools the shoe brands themselves use when they originally manufacture their shoes and boots. This helps to ensure that repaired shoes look like-new, as if they were never damaged at all.
“There’s no easy way or fancy way to fix shoes, it’s an art, and we take great pride in our work,” Kelly says.
Cobblestone Shoe Hospital also hand-grades its own leather and works directly with their tanneries to ensure all leather and rubber materials are of the best quality, helping each repaired shoe or boot to look fresh out of the box.
This is only part of what makes the work at Cobblestone Shoe Hospital so exceptional.
“Everyone here is a lifelong craftsman who loves their work, because it’s an art,” Kelly added.
The team’s expertise, paired with high-quality materials used for all shoe, boot, and handbag repair, creates an unparalleled service offered by Cobblestone Shoe Hospital.
Kelly says there are many benefits to repairing personal items.
One of the biggest, he says, is its impact on the environment because it preserves more leather and keeps shoes out of the landfill.
It also allows people to hold on to items they have personal and emotional attachments to — whether it’s a vintage handbag they love, a perfectly broken-in pair of boots they’ve had since college, or a memento from a passed loved one.
“Shoe repair is personal, and we understand and accommodate that,” Kelly says.
Their greatest interest is for repair of high-end men’s and women’s dress shoes and western boots, but Cobblestone Shoe Hospital can also repair everything from handbags, belts, and luggage, to jackets and saddles.
The stores also offer same-day shoe shining, custom orthopedic buildups and leather dyeing.
For any of the repair or alteration services, long-distance customers can access the Shoe Hospitals world-class craftsmanship using their online mail-order shoe repair service, Cobbler Direct.
