Street Vault in PDX sets off alarms 🔥
You get a cryptic message from a friend of a friend saying they have what you’ve been looking for. They send you the number of a guy to call. You frantically text and let them know that “so and so” referred you and you’d really like to pick up 14. You get a curt message back “hit me on signal”, you apologize, and reach out on “the untraceable app”. Once on the “secured” platform, he confirms you want 14. It's at this point that you remember you’re not buying a half-ounce of an illicit substance and you’re actually just trying to buy a size 14 Travis Scott Shoe. Why is he being so sketch? Why is he charging me so much? Why do I have to let him smoke a little of my shoe weed with me after I already paid for it? Ok, the analogy falls apart a little at the end, but this is the world of hard-to-find sneakers in Portland. Or at least it was.
The culture of shoe reselling has a ton of similarities to old-school drug dealing. The parallels run so deep that it’s really not even worth getting into. It’s about who you know, who’s your plug, and who’s your buyer. Also, like old school drug dealing you could choose to go meet a dude in a Walmart parking-lot with one suspect bag of seeds and stems, or you could walk into a dispensary with a baby grand piano in the lobby with air-conditioning and have them punch your frequent buyer's card after you pick up this seasons vintage of skunk 1. Why would you choose to live in the past? You don’t have to do that anymore. Now, there’s Street Vault.
As a person who loves shoes, I’ve always been a little offended at the idea of paying a ton for something and also being asked to wait in line and say thank you for the privilege of the markup. You don’t get that with these guys. Nate Walker and Gabe Findley have created comfortable, approachable sneaker heaven and they put it right in the heart of the Pearl District. I don’t know why I love the idea of a person leaving REI (their next-door neighbor) with a canoe and $200 headlamp and then also picking up some Jordan 1’s on their way home to their Condo just outside the city. This isn’t that crazy an idea by the way; these guys aren't in the business of marking up products to a place where no one can pay for them. They make their money, but you aren’t going to see the same products online for half the price. They stand by the fact that they’ve curated a unique palette of clothing and they want people to feel good about buying it.
If you’re in the pearl, pop in and check out the art wall and the shoes and you won’t be disappointed. Now I'm off to sell a kidney to pay for the newest YEEZY 45s—these ones are actually invisible. It's so lit.
