Sneakerheads unite: New shop in Bluffton sells hard-to-find athletic shoes
Corey Pennington spends his days teaching law at Bluffton’s May River High School. He spends his evenings buying and selling high-end sneakers.
Now, he and wife Sabrina have turned that hobby into a business with the opening of Pennykix in Berkeley Place on Buckwalter Parkway. The shop sells and consigns rare sneakers such as special edition Jordans and Yeezys.
“This is, I guess, what they call ‘moonlighting,’” Pennington said with a chuckle.
In a corner shop near the movie theater on the second level of the shopping center, rows of colorful shoes are perched on floor-to-ceiling shelves and rest in glass-fronted cases.
Pennykix isn’t the kind of shoe store where a customer goes in and tries on multiple pairs in different sizes, walking back and forth across the floor to find the best fit. These sneakers are mostly collectibles, costing hundreds of dollars, and ones that have never been laced or even had a foot in them — known as “deadstock” — are the most valuable.
Each pair is imbued with nostalgia. Pennington’s current favorite, pristine black and red Nike Jordan 11s, take him back in his mind to the shoes he coveted as a 10-year-old, Jordan 11s worn by Michael Jordan in the movie “SpaceJam.”
Pennington said he decided to open the store because “sneakerheads” like him don’t have places nearby to buy the shoes they are passionate about. Instead, they have to use online sites such as StockX.com and Goat.com, where prices are higher and fees add up.
“It’s harder to find around here. Not even in Savannah,” he said. “Most people are like me and have to drive to Atlanta, Orlando, maybe ... Columbia.”
The Penningtons — Sabrina also is a teacher — expect to hire some help as the business grows. Right now, they are building their inventory through sources they’ve developed as collectors and online resellers. Their shop also has a small inventory of skateboard decks and Supreme apparel.
“None of this is what you can just to go a store and get,” Corey Pennington said. “It’s a really exciting game to play because there are a lot more sneakerheads than people realize. If you go to the mall on a Saturday, on a release day, you’ll see people in line with their raffle tickets to pick up the released shoes. ... There’s only so many made, and people scoop them up fast.”
Pennington is from Orlando but spent eight years in the Marines, with a short stint in Beaufort County. When he got out of the military, he knew he wanted to come back to Bluffton.
Opening the store, he said, is a chance for him to help local collectors connect.
Said Pennington: “I just felt I could bring something to the community that I have a passion about and I know a lot of other people have a passion for.”
If you go
What: Pennykix
Where: 108 Buckwalter Parkway, on the second floor of Berkeley Place near Cinemark
Hours: 5:30 to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 3 to 9 p.m. Saturday
Online: pennykix.com and www.instagram.com/pennykix
Contact: 843-540-8392
