After years of collecting sneakers, I thought I pretty much
knew everything about them. Like the best places to cop them or which brands
are the coolest. Well, that’s until I stepped into Cop Capital, Pretoria’s
first & only sneaker boutique, damn I got schooled!
The lesson began with the founder of Cop Capital; a 2 meter
tall, hundred and something kilogram sneaker eater named Werner Olckers whom I
attended the nearby Pro Arte Alphen Park High School with back in the early
2000s. He’s just as cocky as he was in high school, and talks like a no BS kind
of hustler, but his business acumen and life experience gained after matric
sticks out like a scuff mark on a cream white sneaker when he starts explaining
why the streets shouldn’t sleep on Cop Capital.
“I founded CC in early 2015 after the band I was in released
the final record for our record label.
“After the music venture, I naturally decided to open a
sneaker shop in Pretoria firstly because I’ve been collecting sneakers with a
passion for over 15 years and also because I love my home city. I’m from
Pretoria, we’re SA’s capital city, and I wanted a place here where sneaker
heads can cop rare, hout couture sneakers without venturing to Joburg or Cape
Town, hence the name Cop Capital.”
He pauses to gaze around his store, pride sparkling in his
blue eyes, and continues “Everything you see in the store is handpicked by my
staff who are avid sneaker heads. We research and consult suppliers before
buying stock. We specifically cater to the individual who doesn’t want to wear
sneakers everyone else is wearing. Once a sneaker is brought here it’s gone
forever so you either cop it or drop it, you snooze you lose.”
Indeed, looking around the small shop, I don’t recognise
most of the 50 pairs on sale selling between R1000 and R3000, but surprisingly
there aren’t any Nikes or Jordans, standard brands for any sneaker head, “In
terms of the tier we’re supplying, many other competitors have the Nike market
cornered and I don’t sell my clientele what everyone else is selling because we’re
all about individual expression.”
The current stock is still very impressive though, “We have
the only pairs of Puma’s Chris Stamp collection in Pretoria. We also have the
Adidas ZX-Flux Split Packs which I haven’t seen anywhere else, most of the New
Balance stock is exclusive to PTA and we also have interesting collaboration
packs from Asics.”
As we’re talking, a couple walks into the store. Ziggy, the
dreadlocked salesperson on duty springs from his counter to assist them, he
says something to them that distracts me from Werner, “ask me about any shoe in
here and I’ll tell you about it.”
They look surprised at the challenge, so the girl points at
a random shoe, but before I can hear if Ziggy can really walk the talk, my
attention trails back to Werner, whose describing how travelling abroad really
opened his eyes to the sneaker game.
“I visited the biggest sneaker markets overseas; from Hong
Kong which arguably has the largest market in Asia, to Amsterdam and London
where sneakers are more of an alternative lifestyle than a culture and New York
which I believe is the sneaker capital of the world.”
Werner’s vision is to build a local industry comparable to
the best out there, without necessarily selling kicks that’s the same as the
rest out there. With a growing online store, it’s easy to see this vision
becoming reality, “customers can also purchase sneakers online and we’ll be
delivering free to major cities. We will also sort you out if you’re ordering
from the smaller towns.”
Exclusivity is a recurring theme during our chat, “Our kicks
are higher tier, platinum ranges which we refresh every six months.
“When you walk out of here with a pair of kicks you’ll have
a spring in your step because you’ll be confident hardly anyone is wearing your
shoes.”
After the interview, Werner slips back into his office and
the couple who came in earlier to browse thank Ziggy for his help as they exit
the boutique. They look impressed, whispering to themselves in Afrikaans, but I
catch something in English I completely agree with,
“Those guys really know their sneakers!”
Do you think Cop
Capital is South Africa’s leading sneaker boutique store?
What about sneaker
culture in South Africa, are we on a global standard?
Please share your
opinions in the comments section.
