VINTAGE SNEAKER VAULT UNCOVERED!

The staff of this popular local footwear specialist are possibly some of the most obliging and knowledgeable in the game right now. If there’s a shoe they don’t know, they’ll dig hard for it, they may take a while, [there are thousands of boxes here remember] but they’ll check for it. As they admit themselves, it may take a while cos’ they still use a number of paper files with dog-eared pages for inventory [this is true school], but every single pair is listed, so hope is kept alive. If they do unearth one of the gems you might have in mind, it’s a guarantee you’ll pay a fair price for ‘em, they have been on ice for some years remember.

The location of this remarkable family run shop is in a gritty area of South London, a sleepy parochial neighbourhood at times, but certainly a far cry from the pretentious re-issue wearing and no history having wanna-bees or the hustle and tustle of the central business district.

There maybe a tad bit of mean-muggin’ goin’ on but it’s expected round these parts. The majority of kids that shop here are from Brixton and Streatham [areas of some social and economic deprivation], with some travelling from further afield for this truly original retail experience ‘We used to get the Japanese kids coming in every few months, but they’ve found something else to spend their money on’. The amount of times people have queued at this store overnight for a ‘quick-strike’ you could count on no fingers!

The guys here do things at their own pace, they rush for no man. ‘Junior’ is bright, friendly, sharp and savvy for a 21 year old. Despite his tender years, the store owner’s ‘progressive youngster’ son could school more than most on his specialized subject. Between my pals and Junior, I didn’t know whether I was in the basement of a sports store, on the boundary line of a ‘Knicks’ game or a fly on the wall at a marketing meeting in Oregon circa 1990!!