story

People constantly say work smarter, not harder, and I only know one way. I know how to work hard. My name is Dionte' Johnson. I'm the owner of Sole Classics in Columbus, Ohio and Kings Row in Inglewood, California.

The mentality that I want to bring into Inglewood, California is pretty much the Midwest hustle.

The biggest two things that we want to bring to LA are being community centric. Second part is the other side of community. So it's what we give back. The work that we do with teens, the work that we do through our nonprofit with Mono Hands.

We ask them for their dollar every single day. How can we pour back into that community? I invite so many people to come and see us in Columbus, Ohio, and they're like, when I get there, we'll get there.

I think we move with a sense of pride on our shoulder to where it's like, okay, well, when I get the opportunity, I'm going to show you or I'm going to make an opportunity to show you.

So my name is John Johnson from Columbus, Ohio, and I'm the Store Director and Buyer. John is probably the main person to shout out. He's going to be right here in the store when most people walk through the doors.

Working with Dionte', man, it's super fun. I feel like every day it's always something new. I think what sets us apart from other sneaker stores in LA is the people.

Super personable. We're going to talk to you. We're going to see what you're doing. We're going to give you recommendations, things like that.

Man, first, I would say come to Inglewood because the same reason why I fell in love with it many years ago, it's the people. You come to Inglewood and Sole Classics is going to be a staple to continue to tell that story. It's a very proud community.

People from Inglewood say they're from Inglewood. You don't ever hear anybody say, "I'm from LA." What keeps me in it today is the creativity. It's the culture. It's the community behind it.

Sneakers have always connected us to our heroes. The one common ground that you usually have is through the culture to come through sneakers, no matter what it is. You can always look down at somebody's footwear and there's a story to be told as to why they have it.

You can go in the store and you could feel connected to those people. That will always hold a dear spot for me while I have a love for sneaker community.

Talking Shop

Sole Classics