We’ve all been there. We bought the beautifully coloured or shiny white shoes. But the colour greys out or fades. Or we accidentally step in a squelchy muddy puddle while distracted, so we end up with one coloured shoe and one distinctly brown (and a wet sock). And you wonder: will they ever return to their former glory? The answer is: yes, they can! So-called “sneaker laundries” can do wonders with trainers, heels, bags or even caps.
Phil, from Glistening Kicks in Sheffield, rolled into the business by accident. He spent a summer nagging his son to get a job. His son obtained a day of labouring work on a building site and, for reasons only he knows, decided to wear Phil’s brand new Adidas Gazelles. When he came home, they were inevitably covered in brick dust and plaster. Phil’s frustration turned into a mission: having a go at cleaning them. So he did and he got a real buzz from the ‘before’ and ‘after’. A buzz he still gets today, 5 years later.
This sparked an idea that Phil could maybe do this as a side hustle. A couple of pairs a week initially turned into ten very quickly. These ten cleans a week became 20–30 within a couple of months, after a successful marketing push on Instagram.
Then COVID hit, but it turned into an opportunity. Phil used the time to learn more about the cleaning processes and to promote his services on social media. It also gave people time to dig out their shoes to send to Glistening Kicks.
Fast-forward a year and the team found a shop that was perfect: close to home, yet on one of the busiest roads in Sheffield, at 739 Chesterfield Road. Glistening Kicks now regularly clean and restore over 250 pairs of shoes and trainers every month, sometimes even over 350. They have had celebrities and well-known sports people through their doors, all to get their trainers sparkling like new.
