Size Up Sneakers is not just another shoe store, not even your standard shop for running shoes. Size Up Sneakers in Olde Ridge Village features specialty and collectible sneakers.
Chris Thorp and his wife own the shop that’s in one-half of the location where Special Teas used to be. But what are collectible and specialty sneakers?
“It can be about a specific model of shoe, of paying homage, like when they came out with the model that Michael Jordan wore, or sometimes just retro styles when they temporarily bring back an older style,” Thorp said.
Some of those shoes can be expensive because of demand.
“There’s hype built around them because Jordan actually wore that exact color, that exact shoe back when he played,” Thorp said.
There are major brand sneakers from companies such as Nike and Adidas that come out with shoes for celebrities such as Kanye West and Travis Scott, as well as athletes, Thorp said. And some of those models are discontinued after a year or so, then the prices go up.
Some of the shoes can sell for more than $1,000, and Thorp said he sells sneakers that can go for that much or more. But some do sell for less, far less. Thorp said some of the shoes sell for only about $40.
Thorp said there are knockoffs, counterfeit shoes that are cheaply made replicas of the original. One way to determine the authenticity is to shine a black light on them. He said very often the knockoffs have marks that the genuine shoes don’t have, marks that only show up under a black light.
“There are also third-party apps. You can send them pictures and they’ll let you know within five minutes whether a shoe is real or not. They check the stitching, the tags, and the box. There are telltale signs,” he said.
There’s another way, too. The smell. “A lot of fakes have a strong chemical, glue smell,” he added.
Size Up Sneakers, in suite 38 at Olde Ridge Village, is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday, and closed Sunday and Monday. For questions, call 610-466-5663, visit the website, or send an email to [email protected].
About Rich Schwartzman
Rich Schwartzman has been reporting on events in the greater Chadds Ford area since September 2001 when he became the founding editor of The Chadds Ford Post. In April 2009 he became managing editor of ChaddsFordLive. He is also an award-winning photographer.
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