Cousins Felix and Christopher Castillo say they’ve outgrown their Westfield Avenue shop, and are ready to bring their boutique sneaker and apparel business to downtown Collingswood.
By Matt Skoufalos | June 23, 2023
In just a couple short years, Scores Sneaker Boutique — the high-end sneaker shop Felix and Chris Castillo opened in downtown Pennsauken in April 2021 — has become “filled to the brim with shoes,” they said.
Having grown their online apparel business into a booming enterprise, the cousins need more space in the form of a bigger brick-and-mortar storefront.
This summer, they’re poised to open up in downtown Collingswood, where the Castillos believe they’ll find an even bigger customer base for their inventory of items from shoe manufacturers like Nike and Adidas, clothiers like Essentials, Off-White, and Chrome Hearts, and similar products from a variety of boutique brands.
Scores cultivates a buy-sell-trade approach to the speculative market for limited-edition sneakers. Pricing is linked with demand, which operates with such a high degree of variability that the price of a shoe released in the summer can skyrocket by Christmas.
“It’s all based on the market,” Felix Castillo said; “it all varies based on style, brand, and availability.
“After The Last Dance documentary, everybody wanted to get back into sneakers,” he said. “Now, a 2015-2016 pair of the original Air Jordan [shoe]is up to $1,500.”
Sneaker culture also turns on a high degree of brand recognition and management. Collaborations with athletes, performers, and influencers can yield major profits, particularly if they help apparel manufacturers reach new segments of the market.
Adidas is finding success co-branding shoes with globally recognized Puerto Rican reggaetón artist Bad Bunny, whose sneakers have sold out almost instantaneously, and which command high prices on the secondary market.
“Superstars and celebrities, people love to follow them,” Felix Castillo said. “[Brands] collab with these artists because they’re very well-known, and they know their market will shoot to the moon.”
Scarcity and exclusivity are key ingredients to the high-end sneaker business, he said. Whether online or in person, shoppers seek out after-market boutiques like Scores because they’re looking for limited-edition goods that can’t be easily sourced given the tight controls manufacturers place on their release.
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“You can’t walk into your Foot Locker and find a Yeezy sitting on shelves; they’re going to sell out,” Felix Castillo said. “These shoes aren’t accessible to everybody. There’s a used market too; these sneakers hold a lot of value.”
Chris Castillo is not far removed from the feeling of camping out for a sneaker release; as a teenager, he got “hooked to the energy” of the community that emerged around shoe culture.
“It’s bigger than the sneakers,” he said. “You meet so many people; hang out on line. And [there’s] the thrill of getting a sneaker that not everybody else can have.”
Felix Castillo said that’s the vibe their Collingswood storefront hopes to capture for its customers: excitement and the opportunity to interact with salespeople who share their passion for high-end apparel.
“Instead of going to the mall, you can go here,” he said. “And you’ll get a better experience because we’re going to be working there all the time. We engage with our clients on a personal level.”
“A lot of people don’t like waiting for stuff,” Chris Castillo said. “You get it right here, right now. We can accommodate you. There’s a big difference between seeing something online and holding it physically.”
The cousins will work to transform the storefront at 557 Haddon Avenue into a retail space with a “modernized, industrial look,” Felix Castillo said.
“[We want to] give it that vibe so that when you walk in the store you go, ‘Oh my gosh, this is crazy.’”
“People are going to expect the culture and the vibe and the presence of being in the store,” Chris Castillo said. “They’re going to want to take something home.”
In addition to cultivating a business that they grew from the ground up with their own sweat equity, the move to Collingswood is a homecoming for Felix Castillo, who graduated from Collingswood High School in 2014.
“It’s my hometown,” he said. “We need a bigger space, a better environment; it’s perfect timing.
“We found our niche,” Felix Castillo said. “We started at the bottom and turned our passion to a business.”
Scores Sneaker Boutique is headed for an August 5 grand opening at 557 Haddon Avenue in Collingswood. For more information, visit the business on Instagram.
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