Get Schooled: Nice Kicks Makes the Block

Matt Halfhill's new store, Nice Kicks, which exploded into the Drag's retail rat race with a jammed grand opening last weekend, sits in a prime new location, just steps from campus. Spend a few minutes talking to Matt about his wall of sneakers, and you realize that this guy should be, is, teaching a cultural studies seminar

on American athletic shoes right here in the shadow of UT. Halfhill is a scholar of sneakers.

Long known as the online authority for shoe enthusiasts, Nice Kicks began as a way to bring some standard of authority (and writing) to sneaker news, and to unify the community, since the only available news at that time was buzz via message boards and the rumor mill. The availability of new releases was hardly democratic either, with hot new shoes selling out at once. This year Halfhill felt that it was time to bring the online spirit of Nice Kicks into a physical space where people can come to experience the shoes, and well, browse Halfhill's sneaker library. The difference is that here when you check them out, you don't have to bring them back.

For many, the day's sneaker choice is the look, and everything else, from shirt to hat to pants are chosen from the ground up. So go in and browse, get geeky on sneakys, because Matt's got the Kevin Durant Nike Collection. If you care about sneakers, you know that Oklahoma City Thunder forward Durant is a former UT basketball star who's been wearing Nikes since eighth grade. Nice Kicks wrote about the KD1 when it launched in 2008. Now you can go in and pet one for reals. Old school or new school, you'll find Nike, Supra, adidas, Converse, and New Balance here, and if you're looking for a workout shoe, they've got you shod.