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Sneakersnstuff’s Berlin Store Shows Some Sneakers Are Worth Queueing For

By Philip Eggersgluess . December 19, 2016

When White Trash occupied this building, it was queues of leather-clad rock fans who blocked the die-hard radlers on Schönhauser Allee’s Fahrrad-Autobahn. Now there’s a different line snaking from that famous door, and they’re not queuing for American food and tattoos. It’s sneakers they’re after. They’re the Sneakerheads, and Sneakersnstuff has a new release they can’t live without.

We sat down with Erik Fagerlind, one of the founders of Sneakersnstuff, to talk sneakers, Berlin and their new Schönhauser Allee store.

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Erik, first of all welcome to Berlin! You have stores in Stockholm, Malmö, London and Paris. When and why did you decide to open up shop in Berlin?

Thank you. We decided to take Sneakersnstuff global around four years ago. London was the first step in 2014, Paris followed in 2015, and, when it comes to world renowed cities in Europe, Berlin felt like a very natural next step.

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When will we be seeing the first Sneakerheads camping in huge lines along Schönhauser Allee?

The first people actually started camping yesterday.

Are there any exciting releases you have lined up for 2017?

Of course. Releases are now a weekly thing. But there are of course some that are bigger than others. We have some great projects lined up with Adidas, Reebok, Puma and so on…

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Looking at Europe, would you say there is a certain type of sneaker that speaks for each city?

There are some local trends for sure. But today big cities around the world all follow the same overall trends.

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Where is the sneaker trend going? After Stan Smith, Superstar etc. will new brands come up? Will people wear old fashioned leather shoes again? Or are we still just at the beginning the Athleisure trend?

For us, sneakers have always been the thing. I can’t really see that coming to an end. I am sure people wear other shoes as well – and trends will come and go and followers will follow. But we like to consider ourselves more as leaders in these trends, so we are not too concerned with that.

Berlin is constantly changing, this is what makes Berlin Berlin – you’ve received hateful comments from people saying you foster gentrification by taking over the old White Trash club building. However, it seems like you will be keeping the spirit alive by having some parties there, right?

Oh – I was not aware of the negative coments around that. Funny. I’m not sure when White Trash moved out. It was an institution for sure, and we have had a lot of fun there.

When we started looking for locations in Berlin, the former White Trash was already empty and we felt it would be a great location for us. We love locations with a lot of history to them. And there is nothing generic about us. All of our stores are different from each other and reflects the location they are in. In time, I hope people will see that.

And yes – we kept the club and will do our best to honor the tradition.

What’s your take on Berlin so far?

Berlin is, as you pointed out, always changing. It is in that aspect the most exciting city in Europe. I hope we can be a part of changing it.

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Do you have a message for the BERLIN LOVES YOU readers?

Well, I would like to welcome everybody to the store. We put a lot of effort into creating something unique and fitting for Berlin. Sure, we will have great products and big releases. But at the end of the day it is the experience that will bring people back or not. And we will try very hard to show Berlin that we want to offer a little more personal touch rather than a massmarket mall store. And I am confident that store manager Raphael Duffner and his team will excel in this.

Tack så mycket Erik, thanks for the interview.

Sneakersnstuff. BERLIN LOVES YOU.

Sneakersnstuff Berlin
Schönhauser Allee 6-7
10119 Berlin
www.sneakersnstuff.com

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