How Sneaker Storeowner Eric ‘Shake’ James is Uplifting an Underserved Milwaukee Community With Help From Adidas
Long before opening his first sneaker store, Clicks, in 2014, Eric “Shake” James has worked with Adidas to improve his Milwaukee community.
For the past 15 years, James has hosted an annual charitable event benefitting families in Milwaukee’s underserved north side.
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The latest event was held in August at James’ Black Market sneaker shop, presented by J.A.Y. Academy, the nonprofit organization he founded in 2022. And as always, it was done in partnership with Adidas.
“They’ve been beautiful [partners over the years,” said James. “I didn’t know it was going to snowball into this. It’s easy to work with a partner when they listen and your visions align.”
For the 2023 event, James told FN he set out to distribute 1,001 shoes and backpacks to area kids — a number that he quickly eclipsed.
“The total was 1,400 pairs of shoes and 1,300 backpacks,” he said. “There was a shipping delay, and I was nervous the shoes were not going to make it in time. I pulled 400 pairs from my inventory, and I was going to buy the rest. By the grace of God, they arrived in time.”
Here, James talks about the need to invest in the community and reveals his plans to further uplift Milwaukee.
What resources are available to kids in the Milwaukee area?
“There are very limited resources. Most clubs closed in neighborhoods and moved inside high schools, which I think is a miss. The scales are so unbalanced, especially where Black Market is. For me, with Black Market, it started with the George Floyd situation. I felt like I had to do more. I don’t want to be someone who comes into an impoverished neighborhood and takes the money I got from that neighborhood to the suburbs and not reinvest it where I got it from. I wanted to be an ally and put the resources back into that community.”
You opened Black Market with a study section. How has that impacted the community?
“Kids come in and work on their studies. We’ve got Chromebooks, and they come in for tutoring. Some kids come in to be around sneakers to try to understand the business of it. It’s been beautiful. When I opened Black Market, some friends asked me, ‘Why are you making a store that looks that nice over there?’ I was like, ‘Why can’t they have something nice, too?’ The neighborhood has embraced it. No break ins, no windows busted. I pull up and sometimes I’ll see kids picking up paper around the store. It’s a part of the community, so that store has got to always stay there.
Where do you get the drive to help?
“My drive is [Jam Master] Jay, trying to share with the world the things I’ve learned from him about the importance of giving back and helping people when possible. I can make an impact that can change the trajectory of these kids’ lives. And through J.A.Y. Academy, we can help raise more doctors, lawyers and CEOs. All these kids need is a chance.”
You’ve discussed plans for a physical J.A.Y. Academy. What is the status of the facility?
“There will be a physical J.A.Y. Academy in 2024. It will be on the north side. These kids don’t have proper guidance anymore. There are a lot of car thefts on the north side, kids are riding around stealing cars. They don’t have anywhere to go, there’s nothing to do. The Boys and Girls Club was big for me, but Boys and Girls Clubs and the YMCA are pricing the people out who need to be there. I was a member of a club for three years. Everybody knew each other. We had the U10 basketball team, pool teams, foosball teams, swim teams, dance contests. I want to bring that community feeling back.”
What philanthropic plans do you have for the rest of 2023?
“I have two Adidas shoes coming out on Nov. 11. They’re called ‘Day One.’ I’m trying to bring that friendship feeling to these kids. We’re going to have a sneaker fair on Nov. 10 at a local Boys and Girls Club. I’m going to have a YouTuber, a customizer and more introduce kids to the sneaker world. They don’t realize that when they get ready for school and say, ‘I can wear that shirt with those shoes,’ that that’s a stylist. At the fair, I’m giving kids 110 pairs of my shoes. And then Saturday, the actual launch of the shoe, there’s going to be a QR code inside the box. When you purchase the ‘Day One,’ you’re going to be able to give your ‘day one’ a different pair of shoes for free.”
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