Finding Philly

Sneakerheads untie!

I have to say that, for its size, Philly has a varied and well-stocked set of sneaker stores. I’ve rounded up a selection of my favorites, along with a map and some commentary on each. Hit the link below for the goods.

[flickr matt.ohara 72157605452514947]

The first stop is South Street. There’s a lot of footwear goodness to be had here. There are two places that will airbrush Biggie or Bob Marley or Elmo onto your sneakers. There’s bunches of clothing stores that sell sneakers. And there are plenty of exclusive sneaker stores.

Between 5th and 6th you’ll find Samsun, Olympia, Afficial and The Adidas Store. Samsun is a nice shop and all about sneakers. You will find sneakers and only sneakers there. The help is not extremely helpful but the sneakers are displayed on the walls by brand and I’ve found Lavers here for 40$ so there are some good finds. Olympia is practically right next door and they’ve got some great deals too. There’s always some deal going on where you get two pairs for about 70 bucks, so look for the ones with the round stickers on them. They get a lot of the Adidas Originals a month after the official store has them and Olympia’s prices are always much better. They also have a nice selection of branded clothing. These are both serious shops where you can find some great deals.

Afficial is on 5th between South and Bainbridge. It’s a tiny little hole in the wall that stocks almost exclusively Nike and BAPE, so it’s not really my thing but I dig it nonetheless. You will get your Nike exclusive rocks off here and if you’re into patent leather then you’ll love the BAPEs (I only like patent leather when it’s on my Adidas). They also stock some laces and some clothing. So hip it’s almost a knee.
LINK to MySpace page (sorry, can’t find an official site) LINK to article

The official Adidas store on a weird little block right between Passyunk and 5th. Cool little building. Rather than going off on a long rant about how despite being an official store they never seem to have the exclusive stuff they say they’re supposed to (always the one pair I’m looking for that they never have) and how it’s lame that you’re not allowed to take photos in the store, I’ll just let the photos spell it out. It’s a fun store and the staff is very helpful. They once had to order a pair from the NYC store for me. DJs play on the weekends as well. I love seeing the exclusive and new goods and I’ve bought a lot there, but like I said most of the stuff can be found in Olympia a bit later.
LINK to crappy, slow-loading flash site

There are a couple of other shops in the area that have sneakers but I’m going to skip up to WTHN. This is really a shop that you would expect to find in NYC so it’s fresh to have it letting it all hang out in Philly. They have vinyl toys, books, clothing and sneaks. It’s street fashion with design sensibility and a playstation by the front window. I would hang out here if I lived up in Olde City. Owned and operated by a dude who used to work at UBIQ. I will try to get back in here for more pics.
LINK to official site LINK to article

Speaking of UBIQ, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention it. It’s in the ritzy shopping area that’s Walnut Street west of Broad. It’s another hip joint mostly filled with Nikes but has also a whole floor filled with Vans. Again not my thing but Respect Due. Just a couple of doors down from the Puma shop too (Adi Dassler’s brother’s brand). Check out the cool displays, the mini-sneakers and the giant pair of vans in the pictures above.

I’m sure there are a couple of hot spots that I missed so if anybody has any recommendations please leave them in the comments. Oh and there are two other Samsuns. One’s on 17th and Chestnut and one’s on 12 and Chestnut. 12th and Chestnut also has some sneaker-hunting. Check out the MAP!

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