This Philly Cobbler Will Save Your Soles by Mail
Coblrshop founder Emily Watts explains how mail-in shoe repair works.
Emily Watts of Coblrshop / Photograph by Theresa Regan
Fairmount’s Emily Watts is putting her best foot forward with mail-in shoe-repair startup Coblrshop. Here, she shares a look inside how the business works — and what to know if you need to get your favorite boots repaired.
On rethinking the repair-shop concept: Coblrshop is a mail-in repair business for handbags, shoes, and most leather goods. Co-founder Leslie Bateman and I want to make repair more accessible and improve the customer experience. We’ve both bought secondhand clothing and shoes for years and were frustrated with the repair-shop experience. It often can be hard to find a reputable cobbler.
On how Coblrshop works: The whole process is online. Customers submit a repair order through our website and ship the item back to us in the prepaid packaging we provide. They’ll receive regular updates on the status of their repair before items are returned to them in about two weeks.
On the connection that started it all: I come from a tech background and worked for Xfinity Mobile at Comcast before moving on to leadership roles at startups. I first connected with Leslie on the startup platform Wellfound. She reached out and said she had this idea to launch a startup to improve the repair-shop experience and asked me to oversee the product and operating side. We launched Coblrshop in March 2023.
On championing the circular economy: It’s almost a trillion-dollar economy, and you have all these businesses out there supporting it, helping brands power their own resale. But none of it’s possible without repair. Our average price is $160, but it can go up to $1,000 for handbag rebuilds. We’re trying to connect leather-goods brands with repair artisans so it’s more accessible for consumers. We want people to repair, not replace.
On lessons learned in the startup space: Investor and venture capitalist John Doerr sums this up: “Ideas are easy. Execution is everything.” The ability to turn nothing into something, build momentum, and then scale is where the tough work and personal growth happens. We’re proud to have won the Reusies Award for Most Innovative Reuse Company — Fashion & Apparel in 2024, which is a great recognition of our work.
On supporting the next generation of female founders: Surround yourself with other founders. The startup journey is tough, and having a network who understands the challenges and wins you’ll face is invaluable. If you can find females to be part of your cabal that’s even better.
On what’s next: Our main goal this year is building out our network of repair businesses so that we can connect our brand partners to them. We’re also going to be fundraising to get us to that next level, so we can focus on hiring. I’d love to have more of a presence here in Philly in terms of employees. (We have a six-person team spread around the U.S. and the globe.) There’s such a high quality of candidates here.
On her go-to repair: I have a pretty big collection of shoes, the majority of which I bought secondhand. I wear my favorite Stubbs and Wootton shoes into the ground, so I’m constantly repairing those.
Published as “Heart and Sole” in the April 2025 issue of Philadelphia magazine.
