Check out Kelowna’s latest designer shoe store

ABco, a retailer specializing in reselling high end shoes and sneakers, saw a valuable business opportunity by opening its second Canadian location in Kelowna.

The goal was to open during the summer rush, but like many construction projects in the Okanagan, the completion was delayed.

But recently, the doors opened for the city's newest designer shoe retailer.

“It just made sense to come here rather than, say, Vancouver where there’s 15 of these stores already,” Nate Reinhart, president and founder told Kelowna10.

“Why don’t we slide into a market that is rapidly growing. It just makes sense I think.”

Reinhart started the company when he was 18, feeling like his hometown of St. Albert, Alberta, and much of the country, lacked a store selling these particular products.

“There’s lots of stores like this in L.A. when we started in 2018. So, it was something that I saw was a need for the city and we just started growing from there,” he said.

The original location started modestly with just five pairs and some clothes, but eventually moved to West Edmonton Mall.

The new Kelowna location sports a bright blue, wavy floor meant to resemble ‘walking on water’ amidst white walls and shelving.

Visitors are first greeted by a Supreme painting, another high-end brand. Below that sits a stylized print of NBA legend, Michael Jordan. ABco stocks his products, and like all the display shoes, they’re wrapped in plastic to preserve the quality.

High end sneakers come in a variety of price ranges. Many customers buy them as a fashion statement, others as an investment.

During the extended waiting period before the store could open, a pair of Military Black AJ4 Jordan’s sat in storage. In those few months Reinhart said, they increased in value from around $400 to nearly $600 and are still rising.

Having just opened, ABco Kelowna has a more limited selection than the flagship store with shoes ranging in price from the $200 to the $600 range, a far cry from some deluxe shoes at their Alberta location costing over $13,000.

“I find there’s a bit of a gap here for the people that are looking for this kind of stuff,” Reinhart said.

Not Kelowna’s only high-end shoe retailer, Reinhart thinks the landscape for these products is changing and growing in popularity.

“The [demand] is ever growing. It’s a lot more well known then it used to be,” he said. “When I was in St. Albert, it was a lot more explaining to people…and now it’s more so people come in and know that those are the Yeezys, or the Nikes or whatever shoe they’re looking for. I think there’s a lot more common knowledge across the whole landscape.”