3 On Your Side: Recrafting - Making What's Old, New Again
By Jim Donovan
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Do you have shoes, coats, shirts, even purses or wallets that are showing signs of wear and tear, but you can't bear to throw them out? Well you may not have to! As 3 On Your Side Consumer Reporter Jim Donovan finds, a growing number of retailers are offering to make items look new again. Sometimes even for free!
John Calvert's favorite pair of shoes appear shiny and new now, but just a few months ago, they looked worn and scuffed up. According to Calvert, "My wife said, 'You know honey when you kneel down in church the people in the pew behind you can see that your shoes have worn through.'"
Then he was told about "recrafting". "I said, 'recrafting'? I don't even know what that word is.' All Calvert had to do was go online, fill out a shipping label and mail his 10-year old shoes back to the Allen Edmonds' factory. It was there that workers "recraft"- or rebuild shoes from the inside out: new footbeds, soles and heels.
In fact the number of retailers offering "fix it" services is increasing. Mark Johnson with the Loyalty Marketers Association says, "This is a way to keep them in the brand, keep them loyal, and not potentially lose them to another brand if they go out and look for a replacement product."
True Religion will fix "wear and tear" on its jeans for free. Customers just pay for shipping.
If something from Brooks Brothers needs fixing, just bring the item to a store. Costs depend on the repair.
Kate Spade has a repair shop for its bags and shoes. Just mail in the item and you'll get a quote for the touch up.
"Reduce, Reuse and Resole" is LL Bean's mantra. the company offers repairs for its popular "Bean boots."
And Patagonia recently launched a national campaign saying "if it's broke, fix it." Offering recrafting and even a guide for do-it-yourself repairs to encourage customers to make their clothes last a lifetime.
As for John Calvert, it even made financial sense to have cherished shoes refurbished. He says, "They looked like a brand new pair of shoes and they're about one third of the price. And i'm not having to throw away a beautiful pair of shoes that can be rebuilt." Allen Edmonds' standard recrafting package is $125. With a couple of touch-up's some shoes end up lasting 40 years.
Experts say if you have something you love that could use a little TLC, call or stop into the store and see if they offer recrafting or repair options.
For more information visit:
Allen Edmonds: http://www.allenedmonds.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/RecraftingView?catalogId=40000000001&langId=-1&storeId=1
Kate Spade: https://www.katespade.com/Warranties-and-Repair/warranties-repair,en_US,pg.html
Patagonia: http://www.patagonia.com/us/worn-wear-repairs
LL Bean http://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/510654?page=null