I happened to be in Los Angeles the weeks before the opening of Niketown, a long while back. At the time, this was my first visit to Nike Town and boy was I excited! Everywhere I looked were giant billboards and ads boasting about this brilliant superstore (20 000 square feet) opening in Beverly Hills. Naturally I went to check it out. Parking is very difficult in this area where most people have chauffeurs so I had to go for the readily available valet parking (if you don't want the parking people to look at you funny, try to drive a Ford Explorer/BMW convertible or a brand new Mercedes to Niketown). My friend was wearing only Fila from head to toe but she was still met with a friendly smile by the security guards. Good for them. Now, I don't know why you need huge security guards in front of a shoe store but they were anyway the best part because they looked cool and talked funny and posed for the camera (trying to look hard). Then I went inside. I mean, how can you not be disappointed. Nike TOWN. Sneaker CITY. Sneakerpolis. I guess you expect wonders, a never ending maze of great stuff. But 20 000 square feet is, although big, only 20 000 square feet. Two floors. It sort of reminds me of when I was a kid and lived in the suburbs and didn't get around much because my mother didn't have a car. My brother and I heard about this amazing party novelty store in town. It was called Buttericks and the way we imagined it it was like an amusement park with rides and tons of unimaginable gadgets. We begged to go but no one would take us and years later I passed this store by chance and went inside and it was just a regular shop where they sold sneezing powder and false beards. Life! Isn't it just a string of disappointments. Going to Niketown is a bit like that. It is very nice. They have Agassi on video walls and grey matte computors and see-through tubes transporting sneakers and clothing through the store and a great little elevator. The staff all wear the new Air Max and are very helpful and not too pushy. They have a good sneaker selection naturally, I mean, they have pretty much everything. At the time (August 1996), rich sneaker freaks from Tokyo had raided all Footlockers in LA, buying every single pair of the new Air Max, but they had them here (they also had a large number of Japanese customers in there so I wouldn't bet that they have any left now). So it's all good and everything is neatly and nicely displayed and I think that's part of the problem - you see everything too fast and I want it to be a little bet messier so I can keep that feeling of there being something really unique hidden under a pile of shirts or sneakers that no one else has found. But how can I when what you see is all you get? So, if you are looking for that one particular Nike sneaker, Nike Town might be your best bet, but don't expect it to blow your mind. NIKE TOWN UP-DATE My most recent visit to Niketown in LA was in July 1998. The security guards were gone, maybe they were on coffee break but if not, I am disappointed. I was driving a very nice rental car so the valet parking people treated me like I was somebody, until they saw the ALAMO-key ring, my mistake. Not much had changed on the inside, the staff are still very nice and helpful. But maybe a bit too good looking, It's kind of depressing to be surrounded by all these tall, beyond-belief-beautiful beings in their shiny tracksuits. I am sure they can drive up to the valet parking in any old wreck and still get treated like stars, because they look the part. Maybe you are supposed to feel like, "hey, if I buy these new expensive sneakers I can be just like them." But I tried it and it didn't work. Surprise. Back to Sneaker Shopping