Years ago, Chris Petroff’s son was playing baseball when a lace broke in his new glove.
Rather than throwing the glove away, Petroff brought his son to a local sporting goods store and bought replacement lace.
“I showed my son that his glove could be repaired and not replaced,” Petroff says. “Soon, my son was volunteering my services to his friends and teammates, and I quickly saw there was a need for baseball glove repair services.”
Eventually, Petroff realized that his hobby of repairing baseball gloves could be turned into a small business. He launched The Glove Lab in 2019, and now works full-time as a professional glove craftsman.
“Our services include leather reconditioning, full glove restoration, glove relacing, and repair services. We also design and sell our own line of baseball gloves,” Petroff says, adding that he has worked on several thousand gloves from across all 50 states, seven countries, and four continents.
In addition to being pleased about preventing baseball gloves from ending up in the landfill, Petroff loves learning about the gloves that customers bring in.
“I have had the chance to work with some incredible customers who share the stories of their gloves, and some of them are amazing. From being used in the World Series, or playing catch with Hall of Famer players, to family heirlooms, and childhood nostalgia, each glove tells a story.”