by Duane Watson

Dipped into my stash today. #sneakers #kicks #Nike

The Gallery @ Bata Shoe Museum. #Toronto #sneakers #kicks

Some of the kicks on display at the Bata Shoe Museum for the Out the Box exhibit. Lots to see. #sneakers #kicks

On the precipice. En route to The Bata Shoe Museum for Out the Box in my AM 95’s. #sneakers #kicks #Toronto

I wear my shoes. RIP my Air Jordan II (‘94) it will be a long walk home. #sneakers #jordans

Wow. Perhaps I should buy a lotto ticket @mssweetswatson is wearing sneakers today. #sneakers #airjordan

My man copped me a pair of Jimmy Butler’s game worn Adidas Top Ten 2000’s. #sneakers #chicagobulls #adidas

Last night I attended the launch for Foot Locker’s first House of Hoops store in Canada. Toronto has it’s fair share of sneaker boutiques and more than it’s share of sneakerheads and while I have many opinions on how the game is right now, this is going to be good for the city. I can’t forget how when I was younger with a thirst for footwear, I had to travel to get what I wanted. As in, go to New York, or Atlanta where I had family, as eBay wasn’t what it was at that point.

Personally, the fact that Foot Locker and Nike are actually stepping up to contribute to the game is great. Is there more that they can do, without question, and they will be called to task. But for a night with Young Guru on the 1’s and 2’s, a ton of familiar faces and a lot of heat in one room, it definitely felt like a gathering of like-minded ~~soles~~ souls.

I know from what I’ve seen and based on what I’ve been told, this is going to be a serious home for kicks, and I think Toronto will be very happy about that. Not taking anything away from the independent spots that have kept the community going, but they weren’t getting size runs, or colourways of basketball performance footwear. A place like this will be able to do some great things on a number of levels, which is only going to help the game… and people’s feet.

http://www.footlocker.ca/houseofhoops/