Louisana may not be known for its fashion or street wear culture, but you’re sleepin’ if you haven’t heard of Sneaker Politics, one of the hottest sneakerhead franchises in the country.
Streetwear boutique Sneaker Politics New Orleans is one of three locations in this Louisiana based franchise. The New Orleans spot is a two-man operation run by buyer Jonathon Humphrey Jr. and owner Patrick Bowden. Together the two have made a conscious effort to cultivate and step-up the sneaker and streetwear game in the New Orleans area. The store features classic brands like Nike, New Balance and Vans to NOLA orignal brands like Beignet Boys. The three various locations have been featured on Complex, Highsnobiety and Hypebeast and are gradually continuing to grow in size and popularity. We caught up with the guys from Sneaker Politics NOLA to find out how they each got involved in the sneaker game and what it takes to run a sneaker spot in the south.
[slideshow post_id=”16003″ exclude=”featured image, “]My Name is Jonathon Humphrey Jr. I’m the buyer and brand manager for Sneaker Politics New Orleans.
Can you tell us about the store?
This was actually the first franchised store and it was franchised by my partner Patrick Bowden about 6 years ago and we were at a different location, we’ve been here at this new location on 17th street for about 2 years now. Patrick owns this location and Derek Curry originally started Sneaker Politics back in 2006 and he owns the Lafayette and the Baton Rouge store.
How many locations are there total?
There are three: Lafayette, Baton Rouge and here.
How long have you been a part of Sneaker Politics?
I wanna say going on four-and-a-half years now.
How’d you get involved?
Originally I’ve been a barber my whole life, I’m a licensed barber and did that since I moved here from L.A. I used to just go in the store and we had some mutual friends and guys that we know and I kinda would just come in the store and I was always talking about shoes and clothes, it’s always been what I’ve been into and one day Pat was just like ‘you wanna take like a part-time? Like I could use you’ and I was like, ‘yeah that could be cool. ‘
Can you talk about the buying process?
Usually it’s a two man process. When we do it we go back and forth, Pat’s the money man and I help pick things out and we go back and forth like that and chop things down once we figure out what we’re gonna get and kinda go from there, like what we need, what we don’t need.
What’re some of the criteria you use when buying?
For me personally I kinda see what’s going on east coast, west coast-and then the south, by being kinda slow and late on a lot of things, we literally have to strip it down to what’s going to work for our customers as far as like what they’re asking for and what they’re coming in here for. Without really giving up a sense of who we are, it’s not always about what we like, it’s about what’s going to sell.
What’s your favorite sneaker from Politic NOLA’s current selection?
My favorite is probably the yellow old school vans, the scotchgard vans. I’m a huge fan of vans so that’s definitely one of my favorites in the store right now.
My name is Patrick Bowden and I’m the owner of Sneaker Politics New Orleans and we’ve been open for 6 years in April.
What prompted you to open up another branch of Sneaker Politics?
I’m good friends with Derek Curry who owns the Lafayette and Baton Rouge branches. Actually Lafayette was the first store and Baton Rouge branch didn’t exist until after we opened. Just went back and forth with Derek about opening up a new location and it took us a year or so to get it to where it needed to be and finally opened it up in 2010 and here we are, but what go me into it was Dj-ing and music. I Dj and produce some music as well and then kind of along those lines were fashion and sneakers and that was just a part of my life and so I decided to try and do something with it and make money off os something that I love doing it kinda just went from there.
What’s your DJ/producer name?
My DJ name back then was DJ Chemistry now I go under the moniker Money P a lot.
Why the Metairie area?
Honestly it was kind of a logistical thing with some of the brands. They wouldn’t give us an account if we were in the New Orleans area at the time. I grew up in the suburbs so I kinda understand the area a little bit. The main thing was the accounts, we had to get the accounts to have a store that, in my opinion would be successful and could make it here.
What’s been the hardest part about running the store?
The hardest part has been finding good help and finding people that you trust and people that you get along with and mesh well with other people you have involved with it. The actual product itself is the fun part. New Orleans isn’t the most progressive city, we’re progressive in some things, but I would say fashion is one of the things that is probably on the slower side. For us it’s about staying on the progressive side while still being relevant here because New orleans is it’s own world basically.
What’re some of your favorite street wear shops in NOLA?
I gotta shout out Philly over at Humidity that’s my homie right there. The Refresh dudes are awesome Cody and Wayne and I guess the guys over at LIVE are good dudes, they’re kinda more higher fashion trends than us and they’ve got an awesome store.
What’s your favorite sneaker from Politic NOLA’s current selection?
That’s such a tough question for a sneakerhead to answer. I would say the New Balance 998’s are in my top right now at this moment.
