Useful links for
Sneaker Detectives
Check out the Sneaker BBS if you want to buy/sell sneakers Buy and sell through the Sneaker Nation BBS
On-line shopping
Eastbay
Footlocker
Footaction
Kickz.com
JD Sports
Sneakers'n'stuff (based in Sweden)
Sneaks for Really Big Feet
Check out these selected corporate sites:
Adidas International
Airwalk
Brooks
Converse
Diadora
Fila
K-Swiss
Asics
Nike
New Balance
Puma
Reebok
Saucony
Skechers
Sperry Top-Sider
Vans
To find the sneakers of your dreams you have to be as clever as me, the sneaker detective.
From the files of the sneaker detective
The case of the red suede shoes
I saw the sneakers from afar in the South Coast Plaza mall in Orange County. I saw them and I knew I had to have them. It is like a sneaker radar I have. Unfortunately the sneakers were on a person, not in the shop.
I ran across the mall and caught up with the lucky guy who had my sneakers on. They were Champion sneakers in red suede and this was in 1990, the first year Champion did sneakers and only sold them in selected outlets. I asked him where he got them. Turns out he bought them in MARYLAND. Now, South Coast Plaza is one of the biggest malls in the world. They probably have about ten athletic shoe-stores in there. But they did not have a single pair of Champions. Actually they had never heard of Champion shoes. They tried to sell me Champion t-shirts, track suits, socks, shorts but I only wanted shoes.
I was on my way to Tampa, Florida, in a big golden Chevrolet Impala. My brother was driving and he was not too happy about stopping at every mall and every sports store between L.A. and Tampa. But I wasn«t happy either because the whole car was full of old newspapers and bottles. You see, my brother was a recycle freak and he didn't have time to get to a recycling center with all this stuff before he moved out of his apartment so we had to check every little town in Kansas and Arizona and New Mexico for recycling centers. So it took us a while to get to where we were going.
We stopped in Memphis but all I could find at Graceland were shoes I wouldn«t be caught dead in.
In New Orleans my brother forced me to go with him to all the cemetaries because he has this thing about H.P. Lovecraft and I was hoping some of the dead people had died with their sneakers on but all the graves were locked up.
Finally, we got to Tampa where we were to catch a flight to Europe. I was desperate so I stole a sticker off a Champion Sweatshirt to get an 800-number for Champion (I was young, I didn't understand I could get it through information).
I called them up and asked where in Tampa I could find a pair of red suede sneakers. They gave me a list
Only a few hour before the plane took off, I found them. Sure they were a little big, but after all that trouble, I had to get them.