The ladies shoe stretcher is a worth while investment, because the day will come when you need to stretch some shoes.  Taking them to a shoe repair place is fine, but of course you will be charged for the service.  I think I paid AUD$10 or something for this one.  It is only a single stretcher, but can be used for both left and right shoe.

I purchased it from one of those home shopping catalogs.

One of my clients complained that her shoes were too tight.  I showed her my shoe stretcher, and she ended up leaving them with me to stretch.  I am also altering her bridesmaid dress.

This particular model also has a plastic knob that can be inserted at the side and it stretches the big toe area.