LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — Sneakerheads gathered at the Lexington Ice Center for the SNKR BST Sneaker Convention on Sunday.
Tyler Foley, a co-founder of SNKR BST, started the traveling convention two and a half years ago in Louisville to spread sneaker love around Kentucky. The convention has grown since.
“Our first event I think we had maybe 15 vendor tables, a handful of people show up,” Foley said. “Now, I mean we have hundreds of people attend every show. 50 to 100 tables every single show. I mean we've traveled as far south as Atlanta, Georgia, as far north as Indiana, and everywhere in between. We're super lucky and super blessed to provide this environment for people to come and share the love of sneakers."
These include vendors like James Coulter, who has been selling sneakers as a side hobby for 12 years.
“It started in 2012 when I was in Fayette Mall," Coulter said. “I [saw] a lot of money change hands with people, and I said ‘you know what’ I said, ‘let me see if I can kind of figure out what they got going on and it turned out to be lucrative.”
Coulter spends his weekdays as a teacher in the Fayette County district.
“The way I tie selling shoes into the school system,” Coulter explained, “I give shoes away for free in the school system for good behavior and for kids that might be going through things and need positive reinforcement to try and help them get back on the right road.”
“If God has blessed me to have a good clientele and to stay busy, then the least that I could do is help somebody out in need.”
While SNKR BST will be out of state for a few months, the convention returns to the Commonwealth in Louisville on June 9. Foley said they are working on making another visit to Lexington near the end of the summer.
To keep up with the SNKR BST convention, you can find their page on Instagram and Facebook.
