Top 50 Sneaker Stores: R.sole (#42)
Just like an art collector scouring the globe for a masterpiece, sole searching sneaker fiends will go to great lengths to find an exclusive pair of kicks. Back in Dime #25 (August 2006), we put together a list of the Top 25 Sneaker Stores when the kick game had never been bigger. But while that list was limited to mostly US spots, we decided in our 50th issue to take it worldwide.
Many factors went into our rankings – selection, build-out, atmosphere and status – as a combination of all of these aspects create the quintessential locale. Remember, this is all about the kicks, so clothing selection was immaterial. After months of traveling and research, and talking to people in all facets of the industry, we came up with our list of the Top 50 Sneaker Stores in the World.
Each day we’ll be dropping a few new spots as we count down to No. 1…
42. R.sole (MO / TN)
Without Frank Lloyd Wright, the Guggenheim would have been just be another museum in New York. Without Tobin + Parnes, R.sole would have been just another sneaker store in Missouri and Tennessee. Operating under that train of thought, it makes complete sense that R.sole spent $120,000 for the initial design fee for their two boutiques. Trying to stand out in a retail world where there is only so much variation in terms of product, the initial lure of the customer is priceless. That’s why every celebrity that comes to St. Louis or Memphis from Murphy Lee to Ted Ginn Jr. shops at R.sole, where they can cop kicks from Nike, Jordan Brand, adidas, Converse, Creative Recreation, Clae, Supra and Vans.
6662 Delmar Blvd
University City, MO 63130
314.721.7653
374 S Grove Park
Memphis, TN 38117
901.761.1230
50. Sportie LA (CA)
49. Social Study (MD)
48. Black Rainbow (France)
47. MAJOR (DC)
46. Norml (Canada)
45. Attic (CA)
44. Premium Goods (TX / NY)
43. Espionage (Australia)
-->
July 25th, 2009 at 12:08 pm
D.Head says:
Congrats and a big Shout out to all my people that work in R.Sole in the delmar loop.
April 3rd, 2010 at 6:33 pm
Paul says:
Ha R sole is a joke don’t know about the one in Tennessee but the one in Delmar loop is an embarassment to sneaker boutiques. To put it simply I could got to foot locker, champs, journeys etc. And find the same shoes. I feel bad for ppl in STL bein that this is one of the only places like this available to them. Any boutique in Chicago would laugh with an opening of the door at R Sole
April 6th, 2010 at 10:10 am
Horse says:
^^^^ where are u from. R Sole has some stuff. I agree they dont have ds kicks that people want to buy, but we do get a pretty nice selection of kicks that come out. I mean i just copped the coppers and DJ A.M.’s…… shoes our foot lockers didnt get.