The Sneakery

Very cool store, nice staff, good selection.

I am so excited to have discovered this place today! It’s like a Disney world for shoe and sock lovers.

The Sneakery has a great selection of socks for peculiar tastes of all ages and foot sizes, including dressy socks, goofy socks and 70’s style tube socks. The sock selection is my favorite thing here (they could be called The Sockery), and I dig the fact that they’re in a fun, quirky little neighborhood shopping area. Nice sales folks too.
The shoe selection is decent but they quickly run out of options for men with battleship-​sized feet.
Happy to say that they seem to wuvs the animals: they have a lot of shoes with no leather in them, and a few genuinely vegan brands too.

Quirky shoe place that rules.
It’s so refreshing to shop at a store that is not a one of those huge chain stores. This place used to be in West Seattle, blocks from my house and I went there EVERY time I wanted new shoes. Unfortunately, that location has moved but I still make the drive across town to do my shoe shopping here.
The shoes they carry are a fun and young-​looking selection, which are on the quirkier side of those that you’d find at a chain store. The staff are also fun and helpful, and much more casual and quirky than your usual retail employees. Quirky… that is a good word to describe this place.
I will only come here next time I need shoes… unless, for some reason, I need old man penny loafers or some sort of self-​inflating basketball high top.

Nordstrom-​style suggestive salespeople can be tedious and I was fine with the self service setup at this business, but what I cannot stand is hostility from a retail worker. I browsed their offerings and tried a few pairs on with no acknowledgement from the two overgrown tweens who were mawing down on some bowl of foul smelling goulash behind the register. They very well may have been eating a rotting pig wrapped in a burning tire– it smelled that bad.
Carnie Wilson (before her gastric bypass surgery) was griping to washed-​up Juliette Lewis about the many trials of going out on the Hill and her insecurities reeked almost as bad as their terrible foodstuffs. It wasn’t until another customer entered the store, presumably one more worthy of admission, that Juliette decided to check in with me. «Yeewe okaaay?» she intoned with utter disdain in her vocal fry, averting eye contact. I let her know that I was ready to check out, which seemed to displease her because I’d left three pairs of shoes out after trying them on. Hilariously, she slammed the shoes back into their respective boxes and twirled around the store in an exaggerated tizzy, burdened by her low-​effort employment, before acquiescing to ring up my purchase.
After a tense transaction, we stared into each other’s eyes, me waiting for a modicum of gratitude for dropping $ 80, and her grappling with what must be uncomfortable antipathy. «Byeeeee,» is all she had to offer. Next time, I’m headed back to Edie’s.

We came in for a shoe emergency. The sole of my son’s shoe had completely fallen off, and there were no kids’ shoe stores in Ballard. What the heck? Anyways, the sneakery came to the rescue. The lady who works there is really helpful, and they had lots of cute sneakers. Also lots of cute socks! We found what we needed in no time. We’ll be back!

Nice, easy going customer service.
I’m not exactly a size 2 or 10 & had concerns about the great graphics being stretched out on larger calves. Just keeping it real here folks. Ended up with a thick quality thigh roll ups that w/​my dimensions ended up up above my knee. Good quality ones that will not roll down. Totally worth the splurge. Am so sick of funding Amazon & paying shipping/​internet disappointments that is was worth it to pay extra to buy/​inspect in person. Thank you!!!

If you’re a huge sock fan (as I am), then you have to check out The Sneakery. Baby socks, child socks, female socks, and male socks — they have it all — and the designs are fun and appeal to almost any nerdy interest. As the name of the venue would suggest, they also sell shoes. :)
I’m a BIG fan of Sock it to Me knee-​highs, and The Sneakery definitely has some harder to find designs. But, they are a bit higher than other places I buy them (Sock Monster and Amazon) — $ 12 versus $ 9-​$ 10. I guess this is only a big deal if you buy 10 290 392 pairs like I do. That can add up.

I went to the Sneakery in search of a pair of Toms, and felt like I was shopping with a friend. The gal from Louisiana was really cool and helpful, giving her opinion when asked, and offering advice for Seattle footwear in all weather. I’ll be back to get some rainboots!

The proprietor and employee of this store are «hipsters» insofar as «hipster» can be stretched to mean antisocial people who look like they never recovered from getting beaten up by a Hot Topic in 2001. And maybe insofar as «hipster» means «surly customer service. And you’re gonna like it!» These one stars mean something. The owner of this store needs a wake up call or Ballard needs to boot this business.
This store is kind of a puffer fish. The store initially looks dazzling, but that’s just because they keep the shoe boxes stacked out on the floor, DSW style. When I was there they were out of the most common women’s sizes (7 – 8.5) in almost every style. The socks they carry are all over: Monster Art, Burnt Sugar and Sock Monster nearby, for instance. Shoes carried by the Sneakery were all cheaper at Nordstrom (some by $ 15! a lot for a $ 55 shoe). And, as I said, the hot topic shop girls are NASTY.
Business owners often complain that customers post negative Unilocal reviews before trying to solve it with the owner. I wrote out what had happened when I had bad service here. Hilariously, I got a nasty-​gram response from the owner, Drea, saying that she wasn’t going to apologize because of «the Unilocal review» and attacking me. Thing is… I never wrote a Unilocal review. It appears to be somebody else complaining about the exact same thing. I guess it’s convenient if you buy a lot of these shoes, but if you know your size, save yourself trip to this overpriced, not particularly special place. Monster Art and Clothing has awesome socks and local accessories. Sock Monster has way more socks. Throwbacks Northwest has truly stylish retro sneakers. Chucks and Saucony are much cheaper at Nordstrom. Good luck, Drea.

Great shoe selection, cheap prices. We would have bought four pairs of shoes if we hadn’t been hustled out of the store by the staff as soon as the clock struck 6. They kept removing shoes that my wife hadn’t decided on, so that I had to go back and find them again. And then it was too late. Unapologetic about being rude and pushy to someone with a mobility problem. We left without buying anything, even though we much prefer to support local businesses over online retailers. If small stores are going to treat customers with impatience and contempt, they shouldn’t be surprised when they’re used as a showroom for Zappo’s.

Great customer service and a wide array of hipster shoes. Plus AWESOME socks. I love supporting this local business! They gave me a money-​saving tip: You can buy the children’s Toms in larger sizes to match your adult size and you save $ 10+ — plus they have black soles instead of white!

I needed a new pair of shoes because much to my surprise, deck shoes are not good in the winter. I like sneakers… I think I always have… skate shoes for the kid who can’t skateboard, deck shoes for the kid who hates sailing… I like sneakers. Plus, if ever you feel the need to buy a fella or a honey a pair of socks… this place will send you home with a primo gift. Like it.

Shoot, son. The Sneakery is what’s going down in Ballard town.
T-​Rex long socks? Check. Mustache mania paraphernalia? Check. Flashing girls on patches for your whatnots? Check!
I was walking by and saw a sign outside the door that said «dogs welcome» — Niiiice — and so began my excitement about this sweet sneaker shop.
PF Flyers, The People’s Movement (aka, MOVMT), Saucony, Tom’s, Macbeth, Converse, Vans, etc., etc. I saw as the nice man was feeding my puppy treats behind the counter.
Really nice folks working there. I will be going back in to stock up on wacky socks and the only reason I’m giving the Sneakery 3 (3.5) stars out of 5 is the lack of selection in ladies kicks at the moment.
BUT!!! I was told that a lot of their stock is over at their West Seattle Sneakery for the W. Seattle Summer Fest going down this weekend (07÷12−14).
Don’t worry, Sneakery… You haven’t seen the last of me…

Biggest little kid wanted Tom’s shoes. I had no idea what size to get and I didn’t feel like dealing with a mall, so the Tom’s website pointed me to the Sneakery. Bingo! It’s close and it had a great selection!
The sales staff are so helpful! The aforementioned kiddo is between a kids’ size and a women’s size, and when I said I didn’t want to spend an arm and a leg on shoes for a 9 year old, they found me a pair of women’s shoes on the clearance rack that were cheaper than the kids’ pairs!
We’ve had success every time we’ve gone in there, from orange-​bottomed velcro Pumas for the preschooler to sweet new hot pink Saucony sneakers (yes, east coast still calls them sneakers) for that biggest little kid. Even funky shoelaces in kid or adult sizes, when we couldn’t find the right length anywhere else.
And heck, if you need bacon socks and donut slippers, they’ve got that, too.

Good selection of sneakers (and some non-​sneakers, too) at decent prices. They aren’t dirt cheap, but they have good clearance bins /​clearance sales. They carry cool accessories — angel wings you can add to your sneaker laces, cool shoelaces, leg warmers, lots and lots of knee high socks. They also have a sizable selection for men and kids.

I just got some new pirate socks and pirate shoe strings!!!
Did I mention it’s next to Molly Maguire’s so I will be drunk shopping here soon.

I had heard about this place through my house mate. I was in need of new shoes (my current ones arrived thanks to hanging out with a friend while she cleaned out her apartment. We are still not sure whose shoes they actually are…).
Enter The Sneakery.
Both of the employees were chill and able to answer questions like, «I need a shoe with good support but I also need to slide with while dancing to Motown hits.» I ended up getting two pairs simply because I liked how they felt and because I was impressed with what an awesome, independent store it is.
All I know is that I look forward to dancing in these shoes soon.

Kitch in the world of Sneakers.
I’m pretty surprised this place hasn’t gotten more coverage from Unilocal reviewers here in Seattle cause this place is AW-​SOME!
I’m not really akin to wearing sneakers, but the ones here are worth sporting. All sorts of bright colors, toms, kitchy-​kawaii socks, doc martins, glittery laces, converse, basically anything that you can pimp out your shoes with its there!
Only bummer is the sizing but for the most part they can order it for you. Props for great staff too!

Hi. My name is Dlight and I have a sneaker problem.
I’m not going to say that I am a «holic» with them, but I have issues. It dates back to my childhood in all honesty — I was the only girl my age on my street and I guess I was an early adopter of the «keeping up with the Joneses» phenom. Marlon Jones specifically — he always had the good sneaks.
There is something about the whole olfactory and visual experience of a brand new pair; the mingling of leather, rubber, maybe a little suede, a trio of stripes, a crisp whiteness, a glowing blue or fierce red. Wearing them does for me what a pair of Manolo’s probably does for the vast majority of chicks — although I doubt very much that «THESE ARE GOING TO MAKE ME GO SO MOTHER FUCKING FAST!!!» is running through their heads. I’m totally 7 years old again, all ready to chase boys and kill slugs.
The Sneakery is a beautiful place in an ugly world full of open toed, 3-​inch healed torture chambers. They stock all manner of Adidas and Saucony Originals, Golas, Converse, Fred Perry, and KANGAROOS even… among others. And a full selection of Western Chief galoshes in mama and mini-​hero sizes. Picked up a new pair of froggy boots and Chucks for the boy at 25% off.
Pure sneaker love right next door to BabaLouise — so I can go do painful lady things and then duck next door and take care of my Tom Boy on a glorious Saturday morning. WEEEEEEEE!!!
Update: PF Flyers All Americans — I love you. Welcome to my feet.