Buy, Sell, Trade: Kala Nwachukwu Bringing ‘Kick Back Sneaker Expo’ Back To Durham
Durham, NC – The seed for Kay’s Sole’s eighth Kick Back Sneaker Expo at the Durham Armory this Sunday (June 2) sprouted from the highly anticipated 2000 Air Jordan 11 Retro Concord release.
The shoes debuted in 1995 and were a must-have for Upper Marlboro, Maryland native and Expo founder Kala Nwachukwu. 
“My cousin actually got me a pair,” said Nwachukwu, 28, and a Biomedical Science Ph. D. candidate at N.C. Central University, “but he got me the wrong size. And I was devastated. So, from that point on I was like, ‘Look! I have to get every single pair of Jordans that come out that I like.’”
Whether it was going to Footlocker and grabbing six pairs of Air Force 1s instead of two after hearing Nelly’s 2002 song or having New Balances DMV’s signature shoe, her pulsating passion for shoes led to the creation of The Expo.
“The Kickback Sneaker Expo originated back in 2014,” Nwachukwu said. “We have our eighth expo going down this Sunday. It’s really a place where people who like the latest and greatest streetwear come out and buy and trade like rare sneakers that are no longer on the market in a safe environment. So, it’s kind of a community event for those who love sneakers and the sneaker culture can come and share that same passion with other sneakerheads in the area and surrounding states.”
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEKK7DtPEmQ]
The expo is from noon to 5 pm. It’s $10 for admission and $65 dollars for a vendor booth. Top-dollar and exclusive shoes are sold at the expo. Nwachukwu recalls some pairs going for $5,000 – $6,000 and one vendor selling out of their 80 pairs of shoes in the first two hours of the show.
“We typically have around 50 vendors at the event. … And for those who just want to attend the event, they can bring up to five pairs of shoes to carry around instead of getting a vendor table and sell and trade that way as well.”
Besides the buying, selling, and trading, Nwachukwu believes the Expo is a great place like-minded to people to meet and restore the sneaker culture.
“It’s gotten really diluted with hype and things of that nature for certain types of sneakers,” Nwachukwu said about the sneaker culture. “So we still celebrate those types of things, but we also have it so we don’t really lose sight of what the sneaker culture is, … why you are a sneakerhead and things of that nature.”
Nwachukwu has seen significant strides in The Triangle sneaker culture since she first started.
“It’s definitely grown,” Nwachukwu said. “I want to say in the Durham and Raleigh areas. there’s probably about five or six local consignment sneaker stores. As when I first started it, it was literally one. So that just tells you how much the sneaker culture has grown since I first started the show in 2014.”
This year, The Expo is having a sneaker drive in conjunction with Healing Soles, Inc., a non-profit based in Washington, D.C. that provides shoes to the homeless.
“I’m really looking forward to going out in the Durham community and being able to give back,” Nwachukwu said, “because that is the ultimate goal. It is to make sure that everything I’ve gotten from the sneaker community; I can give back to my own community. So, I’m looking forward to it, looking forward to more and seeing how far this expo really grows.”
Kick Back Sneaker Expo highlights (submitted photos):
