Eat, drink, and shop sneakers in Hometeam Seattle.
For the Town, By the Town.” Hometeam Seattle’s motto reflects its owners’ commitment to embracing their community. In 2023, former Nike Jordan designer Ben Kirschner and sock company Arvin Goods’ co-owners Marcus Lalario and Dustin Winegardner opened Hometeam in response to the city’s lack of locally founded sneaker boutiques centered on its sports scene and community. But there’s more than just curated kicks. The Pioneer Square location, spearheaded by restaurateur and entrepreneur Lalario, includes the cafe and bar, Darkalinos.
Visitors walk into Darkalinos and discover a sneaker store on the south wall. Bleachers from a local high school and a basketball scoreboard complement the selection of handpicked styles from Clarks, Jordan, Asics, New Balance, Nike, Puma, Saucony, and Vans. On display behind the bar, Hometeam’s apparel celebrates the Emerald City through “I Heart Home” hats and T-shirts, and tees repping the mascots of local high school teams. Rooted in inclusivity, the multi-concept space allows customers to hang out and browse without the pressure of purchasing.
“We want Hometeam to be the place where people spend time, whether they buy shoes or not,” Winegardner affirms. “The more that we create a community, the more the store, restaurant, and energy will rise.”
Top-selling brands? The Nike-Jordan combo is number one in terms of interest, requests, and volume. Asics and New Balance also do well.
Best new brand added to your mix? Saucony. They’re an old brand, but in terms of this scene, they’re the most interesting “newbie” on the block. Their Jae Tips and upcoming Westside Gun collabs are entering a marketplace that’s still expanding.
What have been some of your best collabs? We’ve done a bunch with headwear brands Ebbets Field and New Era. Our Filson collab also did really well. This month, our second collab with Dickies, Grunge City, is dropping. We reimagined some basic items with artful decoration.
What’s Hometeam’s best in-store event to date? Last fall, in honor of our Filson drop, we hosted a lowrider car show. It drew a huge crowd. Events are our bread and butter going forward. Anybody can sell ecommerce. As one of the guys at Jordan told me: “We don’t need you to sell the limited-edition Travis Scott shoe. That sells itself.” He’s right. I could show up in a park with 100 pairs in the back of a truck, and they’d be gone. People have to want to spend time in our store, whether we’re selling a limited edition or general release shoe. And if local demand is high, we won’t put that shoe online because there are too many bots and resellers who ruin it for our local community that wants them.
How’s business this year? We’re growing, but we’re still pretty new. There’s nowhere to go but up. At the same time, we’re feeling the same pains as everybody else. Inventory management, purchasing, timing, and marketing are critical, no matter how big a business you are. And the trade war is making everything really complicated. Shoe companies, thankfully, have all been pretty reasonable. I think they’re stuck between a rock and a hard place, and Marcus and I can relate as owners of Arvin Goods. We import from South Korea, China, Europe, etc. and are well-versed in supply chain. The hardest part is the lack of consistency. There’s no way to understand what’s next and how to plan for it.
Any surprises—good or bad? We’ve all been involved in or around shoes, retail, and apparel, but none of us had actually run a sneaker store to this scale. The planning side is really challenging. There’s a lot more to it in terms of timing, planning, and marketing. But that also makes it exciting.
What’s the smartest business decision you’ve made recently? Even though it seemed crazy at the time, creating a space with multiple functions and revenue streams. We aren’t just dependent on what shoe works. It gives us flexibility. And while it makes things more challenging and requires more costs with staff, having the ability to draw revenue from multiple channels is a lifesaver right now.
Who is your core customer? It skewed older at first before we sold shoes. Now it skews younger. But it depends on the shoe. The crowd for the Lil Yachty x Nike Air Force 1 ‘Concrete Boys’ was significantly younger than folks seeking a retro Jordan 12. The 18- to 25-year-old range is our fastest growing segment. Meeting their needs, though, is tough. A lot is influencer-driven. The kid buying that Lil Yachty isn’t buying New Balance 1906 unless a name is attached. But they’ll rock a general release Asics 1130 and our Saucony Matrix Color Plus collab. That silhouette is a bit out of the norm, yet they love it. It’s all about figuring out which shoe resonates.
Anything unique about the Seattle sneakerhead? The Seattle consumer is very different because of our weather. Even the most fashion-forward shoppers of any age keep performance and function in mind. And even though we’re 30 years past Grunge, Filson and Pendleton-esque flannels and constructions are still prominent in the Northwest.
What do you love most about being a sneaker boutique retailer? Serving a spectrum of old, young, knuckleheads, and well-educated. They all want something specific. For example, a lot of software engineers now want the Nigel Sylvester x Air Jordan 4 ‘Brick by Brick.’ Sneaker culture is funny. There’s never a dull moment.
What are you most proud of regarding Hometeam? That we made it happen. It’s only beginning. Members of the Jordan design team had drinks here recently, and we talked shoes. We take pride in our vibe.
Greatest sneaker of all time? Nike Air Force 1. They were rocked in the ’80s and now my 15-year-old daughter wears them!
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