Huh, I would have never thought to ask about most mass produced shoes. I guess my redwing boots are fairly mass produced, and ive gotten those resolved, but even my merril boots I dont think of as being repairable.

I used to work as a bike mechanic in my teens, and it was pretty standard for shops to have a ‘no department store’ policy for repairs. We’d chance a tube, but trying true a wheel, or properly set breaks and gear on those soft metal, low presicision components just wasnt worth it.