SOLE COLLECTOR: Sneakers

words - Nick

photography - Zac

After visiting Made To Order on Friday night in Philly and then heading back to NYC for Saturday, on Sunday Zac and I stopped by downtown Philly to check out UBIQ and grab some lunch.

Located on Walnut Street, UBIQ spans two floors and four rooms of product and footwear, each with their own unique feel and styling. The main room that you first enter is comprised of tons of casual footwear consisting of several brands. Launch Jordans and other upcoming heat are located in a glass case, and the best of adidas, Nike, Umbro by Kim Jones, Clae and several other brands can be found along the main wall’s display.

If you take a short walk down a small hallway, you’ll enter the streetwear and Dunk/Air Force 1 room. Brands like UNDR CRWN, Crooks & Castles and other streetwear staples line the walls, and the latest Dunks and Forces can be found as well. This room was decidedly impressive with its rich wooden fixtures and antique feel.

Take a walk up the staircase to the 2nd floor, and two more rooms await you. There’s seriously tons of gear and shoes at UBIQ for any tastes. Take a right and you’ll enter the Vans and Converse room. The more streamlined and clean layout is starkly different than the Air Force 1 room just below it, and the used shoes along the wall for each Vans model is a nice touch. After unsuccessfully searching all of Boston and New York for a second pair of my beloved black patent Jack Purcells, sure enough UBIQ had a 13 on hand. Sweet. I’ve worn these at least three days a week since getting them in November and my current pair is BEAT. I was definitely due for a new.

Across the hall is the newest addition to the UBIQ family, the Stussy branch, which just opened up last Thursday with quite a launch party. Stussy has been opening several joint stores in existing boutiques throughout the country, and the Walnut Street location marks the flagship partnership store for the brand. There’s tons of tees, pants, shorts and other accessories, along with the sharp Stussy DLX line. Be on the lookout for a crazy set of Blazers soon launching and tons of other great upcoming projects.

And here’s UBIQ’s main man that you’ll usually see in-store making things happen — Ron! Thanks again for the lunch suggestion, Marathon Grill was great! It was also great chatting it up with you and Davee, hopefully we can get some projects going in the near future.

After our quick stop in Philly, Zac and I hit the road with two goals in mind.

* Get as close to Atlanta as we can.

* Stop at 8:45 somewhere to watch the Lakers/Celtics game.

Sure enough — we ended up in Chester, Virginia at of course the classiest place around — Hooters. That’s right, the Chester Hooters. Insert your own joke.

I had only been once before over five years ago in San Diego and remember it being the worst restaurant experience of my life — Hooters is all sorts of terrible. It was a first for Zac, and the cheese quesadilla and aged garden salad didn’t seem like a prime selection for the discerning vegetarian. Sucks.

I’ve never actually been through the real south, having only been north of Baltimore and to the Orlando/Miami parts of Florida, so I’m not sure if this is a southern thing — but I’ve NEVER seen this before.

Look closely. This guy at the table behind us ordered a pitcher, but with a tied-up bag of ice added to the mix. I think the waitress used a garbage bag liner and just wrapped it tightly — but either way this looked disgusting. Please tell me this isn’t a southern thing, cause the entire region is taking the L for this one.

One iced pitcher and several beers later, and he thought he could run game on the adjacent mini-hoop. He was literally throwing Greg Maddux type pitches at the rim from four feet away for about an hour during every timeout or commercial break.

You sir…FAIL.