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Beehive Shoe Works
Rating Details »
- Nearest Transit:
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Washington/Wells (Orange, Brown, Purple Express, Pink)
Washington (Blue, Red)
Clark/Lake (Pink, Brown, Green, Blue, Purple Express, Orange)
- Hours:
Mon-Fri. 7:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Sat. 9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
23 reviews for Beehive Shoe Works
Uh, I don't remember if it cost me $22 to get shoes fixed in the past, but it did this time around. I brought in a pair of shoes where one heel came off. The owner took one look at it and said it would be a breeze to fix.
Breeze for $22? Maybe not. Breeze as in quick service? Yes. I came back in 4 days to pick up my shoes. They took time to fix the other heel to match the other one and even cleaned my shoes, making them look all nice, shiny, and pretty. These shoes are part of my everyday work shoes, and I'm first to admit they needed a good buff when I took them in. Much appreciation goes out for makin' them look new again.
Note 1: For any shoe emergency or needs, this place has shoe pads, shoe laces, water repellent sprays, shoe cleaners, etc.
Note 2: There are about 4 or 5 seats for those who want to get their shoes shined during lunch. It's seems pretty popular around lunchtime. I've seen the wait.
Note 3: If you can't get here during the week, they are open on Saturdays until 3. That is, if you want to trek down to the loop on the weekends.
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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8/10/2007
I had two pairs of shoes fixed here awhile back and thought they did a great job. Last week I… Read more »
My dog ate my shoelace so I went over to this place to simply buy a new shoelace and some shoe shine. The lady behind the desk recommended a pair of laces and so I purchased them for 3 dollars. Along with a sponge shine which was 7 dollars my total was 10 dollars. I opened the shoelace package and pulled out the cheapest excuse for a shoelace that I have ever seen. It was more like a wire. I returned it and the lady told me that they do not accept returns. I was very disappointed with this place because I went across the street to Walgreens and purchased an excellent pair of shoelaces for 2.59, and I noticed they had nice spray for 2.59 as well. This place has very poor customer service even though the lady is very pretty.
Beehive did an amazing job making my beat up abused shoes look better than brand new. The leather is nice and stiff again, the heel tips have been replaced, everything is shiny, and they even de-salted shoes that seemed to be permanently stained white.
The woman with whom I left my shoes was incredibly nice and even recommended that I use the other location in Willis Tower (closer to my office) for drop off and pick up. The man from whom I picked my shoes up showed me the work they did on each shoe, thanked me for my business AND said he appreciated my business (extra points for variety!) and that he hoped I would come back in the future. I definitely will.
I got a pair of shoes fixed here recently - the button came off of one of them, so they had to tear open the seam and re-sew the button in. Good work, and decently quick service. $18 for this kind of work seems a bit pricey to me, but you can't beat the convenience of having a downtown location to do this sort of work.
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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5/20/2009
I had keys cut here (4 copies of a key, mind you), which took all of ten minutes. At which time… Read more »
This review is based on the Beehive outlet in the Sears Tower lower level, although I have also dealt with their main store on Wells.
I get my shoes shined at the Sears Tower outlet on a regular basis, and it's always a tiptop job. Leo is the regular shine guy, and I'll be damned if I can't see my reflection when he's finished. He will also be able to answer any questions you have on proper care for your shoes. Be sure to take care of him, though. Tipping your shine guy a buck for a $4 shine is like leaving a waiter a buck on a $20 bill. You'd be surprised at how many guys wearing $400 shoes do this. Shines and conditioning are essential in keeping leather shoes in good shape. Leo takes his time and does the job right, so don't leave him hanging.
I've had some sole work done here as well, and I was very happy with the results. Sam, the manager, does a solid job explaining what work needs to be done. If you meet him once, he'll remember your name every time from there on.
The shoes make the man. And gentlemen, women DO judge you by your shoes, at least to some degree. This is a good place to keep them in shape.
Highway robbery. I was quoted $16 and a week's wait for a small repair, decided to take my business elsewhere. The guy in my neighborhood charged me $5 for the same repair, it was done overnight.
I did have them fix the sole on a broken boot, but it cost me as much as the boots themselves cost me. They did good work but it's just too expensive and too long a wait. I'll stick with Theodore's.
Great place! I took my beloved patent leather peep-toe pumps here to fix the heel (got it caught in the sidewalk and the nail was completely exposed). I thought I would have to leave them and come back in a week or two, but NO - the awesome guy behind the counter said he'd do it while I waited. Literally five minutes and only $12 later, I had my shoes back looking like new. Great customer service too. I have several pairs of shoes that have been in need of repair for quite some time, but I've been avoiding the task because I thought it would be a time-consuming pain in the ass. Not so! I will be making another trip to Beehive tomorrow with lots of shoes in hand!
Oh it all started normally enough. I look for a shoe repair shop in the neighborhood, and I head to Beehive. The place is superb. Quality work, fair prices, incredibly friendly staff, helpful suggestions, the works.
But then I notice it's quite eerily superb, like a Twilight Zone episode where you tell everyone about this magical shoe repair shop you visited and eventually drag them out by their ears to see it. With all of their broken shoes trailing behind them, they follow you down Wells St. and when you arrive, it's just an empty storefront holding no sign that the magical shoe repair shop ever existed at all.
Fortunately, this has not happened to Beehive. There are at least two generations under one roof running the Rod Serling of shoe repair shops. I say this 'cos neither could possibly be more talented or charming.
Imagine. Brand new Giuseppe Zanotti patent black leather pumps strutting about the Loop en route to some such important lunch meeting. Now imagine these brand new pumps getting butchered--BUTCHERED!--by those relentless steel grates that line Chicago's streets. Insert expletive, expletive, expletive. Woe is me, will they ever be able to restore these heels???
Yes, Bee Hive will. True story.
I took six pairs of shoes there recently; all were tragic cases that I thought were hopeless. Sure, my bill was over $150 at the end of the day (some of them had full body makeovers), but you don't understand--they looked brand new! Besides, a hundred is hardly anything to flinch at when one pair of these shoes originally cost three times as much. So for all your scuffs and scrapes and grate-eaten heels, take your shoes--if you have a heart at all--to Bee Hive. They will coddle them and make them strong and pretty again!
I wasn't even particularly looking for shoe repair, I quite literally fell upon this place. I was walking west on Randolph to work, which I was (not surprisingly) already late for, when the bottom of my heel broke off of my right boot. Then, as if I was in a bad movie, it started to rain. I grabbed my iphone and tapped on the Yelp application (THANK GOD FOR TECHNOLOGY AND YELP!) and quickly found a shoe repair place two blocks away. I walked in soaking wet and told the guy at the desk what happened. Normally, he said, we have to keep the shoes for a few days...but for you, I'll have someone work on them now. SCORE! For the quick, friendly service I received, the $10 I paid was a deal.
Beehive is solid.
Getting my shoes shined reminds me why I like being a man. It's old school. It's cheap. My shoes need it.
And since I never learned how to do it myself, I need these guys to know what they're doing. In 10 minutes, they cleaned, roughed, lathered, stained, buffed and shined these babies more than I'd ever know how.
I'll be coming back for my other three pair next week. Thanks Fellas.
It took over a month, partly because the expensive Spanish faux riding boots that I brought in to repair after three years of unrelenting hard wear had to be massively reconstructed, and then stretched for a few days back at the shop when the tech reduced them from a 9.5 to a 9 during the reconstruction process. But the said boots are now restored to virginal perfection, fit perfectly, and are currently the best thing, besides my cat, in a generally rich and satisfying existence. I suspect there's a time machine back there in the storage area that they use to reverse the aging process for the shoes we bring them; if so I wonder whether it has other applications, like restoring lost youth or undoing the consequences of the past decade of US foreign policy.
One day, not too long ago, I was just casually strolling along, enjoying the lovely summer afternoon, when suddenly (!) my black leather stiletto slingback got stuck in one of those pesky sidewalk grates. I'd never walked over one in heels, but I figured that whomever designed them must have accounted for female pedestrains in sexy shoes, right?
Wrong. My heel was so stuck that I had to step out of my shoe and pry it out with two hands. (This was only after being trampled by the people walking behind me.) Not good.
As you can only imagine, the leather on the heel was completely gouged; also, the strap had suffered a bit of trauma during this tragic incident.
Though these shoes were relatively cheap ($100 on sale), they were only two weeks old. While my boss suggested I sue the city (not a bad idea, really), another co-worker suggested I take the shoes across the street to Bee Hive.
I am so glad I did! Not only was the service friendly, but the work is impeccable. My shoes look perfect; you would never know that I had a run-in with a sidewalk grate.
I've brought several other pairs of shoes in since (mostly just to have the caps on heels replaced..... I seem to lose or wear them down a LOT), and I'm beyond pleased. This place is fabulous! It's like a day spa for my footwear.
Now, instead of replacing shoes when they look kind of worn, I can have a few things fixed AND still afford to buy a new pair too, which means I can have a gargantuan shoe collection. Which makes me very, very happy.
I'd recommend Bee Hive to anyone!
Last time I had a similar shoe problem fixed it was $6 and two years ago. This time it was $13! I guess the cost of shoe fixing supplies have really gone up, or the cobblers unionized or something. The shoes I bought in were not hyper expensive (around $120) but definitely worth the repair. Last time I used them I got my heels fixed and shoes polished free of charge;l this time I just got the heels fixed but I am not taking off stars for not handing out freebies; I am taking off stars because I was not especially impressed with the work. It was adequate, and sufficient but not great AND they ground off some of the heel: I have the same pair of shoes in two different colors and the fixed heel pair is definitely a little tiny bit shorter than the original condition pair.
Decent work, worth the price, but nothing about which I would rave. Really nice staff though!
I will preface this review by mentioning that when I shell out for serious heels- not the steve maddens or nine wests that fall apart in one season and that I happily discard when the trend is over- I expect them to be taken care of. Keeping in mind my prada habit (these heels seem to fall apart more than others, for some reason) the shoe repair shop is a lifeline. I'm reviewing the location in the Intercontinental Hotel on Michigan, since this is where I took my shoes and doesn't seem to be listed within yelp's pages. In short, don't let the facade fool you. I expected this to be much quicker and more professional given its location. The day I gave them my shoes (a pair of black, kitten heel sacco boots and one pair of prada dark brown alligator stilletos that have been through hell and back) I should have listened to my impulse to grab them back from the guy who was sleeping (err.. manning the shop) and hightail it out of there. First off, I had to put down a deposit (?) of $20, then I was issued a pink ticket (what is this, a movie-house). After a week's wait, I stop by to pick them up. Again, the guy (different one, this time) manning the place is sleeping, prompting me to ask myself what it is with this location and narcolepsy. I inspect the shoes, on which the place did a credible, though not wow-ing job, and was then told to pony up an additional $28 for the actual repair work. The fact that I had put down a deposit seemed lost. After all of this, I am happy to have my beloved heels back (yay for stilletos) but unimpressed by the service and still looking for a shoe repair shop, to rescue some of my heels that are on their last legs (just realized that I'm being punny). Recommendations, anyone?
A shoe shine is $4 and takes like $10 minutes. Do it, guys, your shoes need it.
Their repairs are top notch. If you have a great pair of shoes that's worn, don't toss them. Get them fixed.
The people at Bee Hive are very helpful and talented. Marilyn runs this location. She is so chatty and nice. Unfortunately, my dog has decided to snack on some of my shoes. The folks here really did a great job fixing up my cheetah kitten heels. I have gone back several times just for some tune ups on other shoes.
I work one block away from this shop and it has been around for several years. I have a pair of leather boots that i wanted to treat with something to keep them from cracking in the winter weather. I go in and ask the inattentive guy behind the counter what i can use on leather to keep it from cracking. He looks confused , then points to something on the counter. Spray shoe cleaner. I look at him like he's stoned or retarded and go home to research what i can use on leather. Lexol. Thats what you use on leather. The dumbasses sell it at beehive as well. I returned the next day to buy it. This past week , I returned for the shoe cleaner which i ran out of. I say hello to all as I walk in. No one acknowledges me. I get the shoe cleaner off the counter and wait. Wait. Wait for the dumbass thats standing right in front of me to turn around and take my hard earned money for the shoe cleaner. He charges me 8 dollars . I look at the can that has a sticker on it that says 4.99 . I ask him how the hell is it 8 when the can says 4.99??? He looks at me like im retarded and maybe I am for even giving these dumbasses a 2nd chance. To his credit, he charged me 5.00 . He told me that was the wrong price. Even though it was on the can for God and everyone else to see. DUMBASSES !!!!
I have worked with these guys in the past. We were trying to get an account going with them for our company. Needless to say they blew us off about 3 times. Very pleasant any time you could get them on the phone, but then they would never call to cancel appointments and would basically leave us hanging.
A miracle worker - that's what they are - they salvaged my favorite pair of heels that cost me $100 by fixing the heel that was starting to get worn down for only $12. They had it done within a day and the job was such quality that you can not tell that these heels are three years old - they shined them up and fixed up the heels so they look brand new again.
I've been going to Beehive for about 5 years now. It is a great family ran, old school shoe shop. They run a very honest, high quality and affordable business that centers around customer service. Everybody from the owners of the store to the shining crew is knowledgeable friendly and courteous.
Aside from my regular shines, I get my shoes tuned up and repaired when necessary. I've been talked out of spending more money on some shoe repairs because the staff felt like it wasn't a worthy investment given how old and worn some of my shoes have become over the years.
I've also learned a great deal about how to actually take care of my shoes. Just by taking some preventative steps, I've actually gotten a lot more mileage out of my newer pairs.
I'm reviewing the key making services of Beehive Shoe Works. Apparently, the lock to SUA is so ancient that making a copy for our other devoted volunteers has been worse than pulling teeth. We've brought the key to assorted Home Depots and Ace Hardwares and they don't have the blank and are never very helpful whatsoever. They just shrug their shoulders and they're done. So, on a whim I decided to see if this place right next to my beloved Tokyo Lunchbox on Wells could duplicate the key. I went in last week, and while it took awhile, I talked to him today and Samir had gone to a warehouse and found the blank that we so needed, so I'm bringing the key in on Monday and he'll be able to cut it! It's $2 for a key to be cut here which is a bit pricier than Home Depot, but this is a little gem in the city.
what a great little place! they fixed my favorite shoes for a reasonable price and are super friendly. i'm going back for a shoe shine! i'm kidding...who gets their shoes shined?
