Restock's Closing Is A Loss for Cleveland’s Sneaker Culture

There’s a Jumpman-sized hole in Cleveland’s sneaker culture heart this week.

In an Instagram post, The Restock Cleveland — the downtown sneaker and streetwear resale shop opened by former Cleveland Browns cornerback Joe Haden and David Van Gieson — announced it had closed its doors.

Restock opened on Prospect Avenue in 2014, a year that saw big moves for hypebeasts and sneakerheads in the city — LeBron James (and NBA relevancy) came back to the Cavs and Xhibition opened in Ohio City.

Whether browsing through the store’s collection of rare kicks that included some from Haden’s collection, or thumbing through the latest street wear heat from the likes of Kith, Supreme or Anti Social Social Club, shopping at Restock was a lesson in what’s cool.

“We’re easing people into a culture they might not be used to,” Van Gieson told us in his October 2016 Best Of Cleveland interview. “We can bring Cleveland a little bit of street culture like other cities have.”



Restock held pop-up shops for brands such as Glen Infante’s Ilthy and was a major magnet for NBA players. Cavs guards Jordan Clarkson and Collin Sexton shopped the store, and visiting players would regularly stop in to find Yeezy Boosts, Air Jordans or Nike x Off-White shoes.

For former Cavs guard Isaiah Thomas’ first media day with the team in 2017, he was rocking Air Zoom Generations (LeBron’s first shoe) that he bought from Restock. The culture Restock brought with it helped us feel comfortable wearing chunky designer sneakers or shoes that looked like they were deconstructed and haphazardly put back together, and it provided a space to hang out and talk kicks and style. And if you were feeling lucky, you jammed a five in the Key Master Arcade for a chance at winning some of the shop’s most desired pieces.

With the store’s closing due to “circumstances out of our control (including construction in our area downtown that will directly effect the store),” according to the Instagram post, Cleveland has lost more than just a place to shop.

It's lost a tastemaker.