Are you aware that Nordstrom has opened up a location in Vancouver? If you’re on social media, this is something you probably know already. A few weeks after the store opened I went to check it out. It’s definitely a high-end retailer. The store is well-appointed and you can easily tell it caters to those who have a lot of money to spend. After looking at a few price tags, I felt out of place there. The one thing that I did enjoy seeing though was at the men’s shoes department.
Nordstrom Vancouver has a shoe shine service. The practice of having your shoes shined by someone seems to have fallen by the wayside. From movies and TV shows of the 40s and 50s, it appears that it was much more common back then. Before seeing the service at Nordstrom, the only time I’ve seen the service offered was at the airport.
Anyways, I recently bought a pair of leather shoes and I treat my shoes very poorly. I buy relatively cheap dress shoes for less than $100 a pair. I never get them cleaned or put on any of that stuff that is supposed to make them last. I decided maybe I should see if taking care of them will improve their durability.
On Saturday, I had to meet a friend for a quick meet up downtown. After we were done, I headed to Nordstrom to get my new dress shoes shined. There were two shoe shine dudes working that day. One of them was already busy with a customer, so I got the remaining dude. He was super friendly and offered to charge my phone while my shoes were shined. I declined but it was nice knowing you can get a bit of juice while you wait.
I was actually quite excited to get my shoes shined because it felt like I was going back in time and doing something from a bygone era. My dude was quick and efficient with the shine. First, he took a cloth and cleaned off the dirt from my shoes. It was wet and terrible outside, so there was probably bit of water and mud on them. I’m probably forgetting a few steps but I believe he added a conditioner to my shoes next. That helps the shoe leather last longer. He even applied a sole and heel dressing. That’s a nice touch that I wasn’t sure if they were going to do. Finally, he applied the polish and then buffed the shoes to a nice shine.
The cost of the shine was $2.50 which is a fantastic price. I tipped my dude just because he was so friendly. I only have one small suggestion. I get that for $2.50 I shouldn’t expect the royal treatment but he went quite fast and I would have preferred a little more time and TLC spent on all parts of my shoes. Overall though, it was a very pleasant experience and I definitely recommend taking care of your shoes this way.
When I went back outside, I noticed any water that got on my shoes was beading up. That meant that the water wasn’t being absorbed into the leather and my shoes were already benefiting from the shine.