Atmos, a well-known Japanese sneaker retailer, is testing the waters in New York's Harlem neighborhood.
The concept, which has attracted sneaker aficionados and foreign retailers looking for the next big thing, bowed its first location in Tokyo in 1995. Founder and owner Hommyo Hidefumi, a native of Japan, launched the business after returning home from the U.S., where he graduated from Philadelphia's Temple University. At first, the Tokyo store carried between 300 and 400 styles, but Hidefumi eventually deemed that excessive and honed his vision to the current average of 150 styles.
After deciding that his Tokyo concept would work well stateside, Hidefumi returned to the U.S. in April of 2005 with the opening of a Harlem store. "I love American culture such as jazz, black music [and] 1940s and 1950s artwork, and I think Harlem was really the center of that culture," said Hidefumi, explaining why he chose the area as the site of Atmos' first U.S. flagship.
Harlem is also an ideal retail neighborhood nestled within an otherwise overcrowded Manhattan market, according to store manager Sang Yi. "We picked Harlem because there's not too much competition up here," he said. "And we pretty much feel that it's wide open. ... We're separating [ourselves] from the saturated downtown market."
Atmos' simple storefront stands out among its neighbors on the crowded stretch of West 125th Street at Seventh Avenue. In contrast to the cluttered storefronts that characterize this area of upper Manhattan, Atmos boasts a streamlined window display featuring a single well-dressed, well-shod mannequin. Inside, the narrow 1,700-sq.-foot space is pristine, with a stark white color palette. Cubby-like shelves line the entire right side of the store and house up to 150 pairs of sneakers. Among the roster of brands are heavy-hitters including Nike, Adidas, New Balance and Puma, as well as cult favorites such as Triumvir and DC Shoes. The shop also stocks a wide variety of urban apparel brands such as 10 Deep, Stussy, Reason and Pegleg, with prices ranging from to 0. Yi said he estimates that the typical customer spends anywhere from 0 to 0 per visit.
"We are the new mom-and-pop shop of our generation," Yi said. "We want customers to think of us as a neighborhood store, a place to hang out and a place to find the freshest gear from around the world."
Indeed, despite its status as a relative newcomer, Atmos' New York location is already benefiting from the strong relationships Hidefumi has cultivated during his 12 years in the shoe business in Japan. One such relationship, with Nike Japan, has led to a series of exclusive collaborations that have been heavily publicized and closely tracked by sneakerheads. According to Yi, there have been five exclusive offerings of Nike sneakers at Atmos Tokyo.
The most recent collaboration, the Nike Safari Pack, was released on Dec. 23 in Tokyo, and, for the first time, the Nike exclusive was also released at Atmos' Harlem location a week later. The collaboration consists of two pairs of sneakers detailed with faux cheetah and zebra fur, which retails from 0 to 0.
While the Tokyo store was prepared for hundreds of customers to be on hand for the launch, the Harlem location wasn't exactly sure what kind of crowd the launch would attract. "In Harlem, it [was] our first shoe with that kind of hype, so we [didn't] know what to expect," Yi said.
Ultimately, 40 to 50 people showed up for the Harlem release, according to store manager Yos Tahari, and the sneakers are still available in limited sizes. But regardless, the fact that a sneaker chain with little name recognition in the U.S. can draw even 50 people to a release during the New Year's holiday weekend speaks to another, perhaps lesser-known perk of Harlem - its thriving culture of sneaker connoisseurs. "It's refreshing to represent our brand in an environment that has a lot of history and culture. ... The whole sneaker culture basically originated in Harlem," Yi said. "Hopefully, this'll start a new direction going forward, finding different leaders in the whole game."
Hidefumi, for his part, speaks more modestly of Atmos' success. He said he chalks up his accomplishments to one guiding principle: "During the last 12 years, I have just selected shoes that I love." |
