Olivia Gross Photos
Daniels at work inside his new storefront business.
Custom Batman sneakers .
First, Dandre Daniels takes the laces out. He soaks them in a solution and then gets to work on the sneakers: brushing excess dirt off, spraying and scrubbing, picking all debris and rocks out from the crevices, and then, the magic moment: re-icing.
Daniels performed the operation at Sneaker Trap on Dixwell Avenue in Hamden, which he opened last Saturday. It’s a sneaker restoration and customization business paired with a clothing and shoe store, manned by his brother and cousin.
Sneaker Trap, at 1700 Dixwell.
The crew was all born and raised in New Haven.
Daniels runs the shoe restoration part of the business. He has been restoring shoes since 2015, gaining customers and a name for himself through Facebook. His former business was known as Kash Customs. Daniels also does custom designs on shoes, painting whatever customers want: colors, designer print, the Hulk, a sports team logo, etc.
“One day in 2015 I was bored and did a custom and posted it and the reaction was crazy. Then I picked up cleanings and restoration along the way,” Daniels said.
The time commitment per shoe restoration depends on the material and make of the shoe: cloth takes more time to clean, leather takes less time.
When asked why his customers don’t clean their sneakers themselves, Daniels said, “It’s like when you go out for a pizza – you can cook it yourself if you really want to. It’s mainly about convenience or people don’t know how to do this.” Some customers come into the store with up to 10 pairs of shoes at a time.
Olivia Gross Photo
Cousins Dandre Daniels and Devon Sherman at the new shop.
Daniels said he hopes to open more franchises with his cousin and partner, Devon Sherman, and eventually go global. Customers are already coming to the store from New Britain, Hartford, and Bridgeport.
Before and after cleaning.
The sneaker business is unique in that it is primarily a buyer-reseller market, with prices fluctuating on hype surrounding the product. Daniels purchases Air Jordans and Yeezys at retail prices when he can, which is difficult to do because so many people are trying to buy and resell them. He said he is open to people coming into the store and selling their own. The popular website StockX helps determine pricing per shoe.
The store is decorated in a clean, sleek fashion with a wall of framed photos of popular rappers in the front corner. The clothes, shoes, and hats are artfully arranged so that customers can see everything on display with ease. Since the store is centered on sneaker restoration, people often come in for Daniels and stay to browse the selection.
Sherman previously owned a store in Providence. He loves clothes and chooses what to put on the floor according to what is “hot right now.”
“That’s the key – stay new,” he said. “People like what they can’t have.”
Sherman only stocks one of each item of clothing. He said that people are more excited about having something unique, and when you buy the only product, you are guaranteed to not see someone else in the same one when you walk out of the store. Sherman said he also aims to keep prices low, promising customers that everything sold in-store is cheaper than what they can find online.
Wall of rappers.
Clothes curated by Sherman.
The final step in the shoe restoration process is the re-icing. Daniels coats the sneaker soles with a solution, wraps them in plastic, and places them in a box set up with a UV light. He leaves them inside for up to a week, and when he retrieves them, the previously stained yellow soles are white like new again.
Daniels' makeshift re-icing setup. He is in the process of getting a larger, wooden one built into his workroom behind the store.
“There’s not too much I can’t do,” he tells customers. “I love this because I’ve built up a lot of relationships, and I can make some money off it.”
Visit Sneaker Trap on Monday-Saturday from 11 a.m. – 7 p.m. for full shoe restorations, good conversation, and a unique item of clothing.