Owner of Kicks Klinic, Julian Brown. (Photos courtesy of Kicks Klinic)
When Julian Brown was growing up, he didn’t often get new sneakers.
His father taught him to appreciate what he had until he could afford more, so he started cleaning and maintaining his sneakers to make them look like new.
“It’s something I never gave up on,” said Brown, who now owns a sneaker cleaning service Kicks Clinic and will open its first store at 22 W. Broad St. by the end of the month.
Kicks Klinic cleans sneakers, bags and hats and also offers shoe shine services. Services range from “Calm Get Right,” which includes cleaning of shoes and laces inside and out and an odor neutralizer starting at $50, to “Designer Deep Clean,” which includes cleaning of shoes and laces inside and out, a 24-hour ice treatment, an odor neutralizer and an insect repellent treatment starting at $120. They also offer cleaning of children’s sneakers starting at $25.
He said a popular service is a de-yellowing service, which cleans sneakers that have a yellow tint caused by oxidation.
“It just adds to the overall aesthetic of your sneakers when they look so brand new, white and clean,” he said.
Brown turned his hobby of cleaning sneakers into a career in 2021 after he started cleaning a large bag of sneakers given to him by his cousin.
“It basically just fell into my lap,” Brown said. He originally called the company Ju Kleans Kicks, but renamed it in 2022 to distract the company name from his name.
Kick Klinic’s new store at 22 W. Broad St.
Customers currently send their shoes to Brown’s private workshop in Henrico, where Kicks Klinik is currently located. He promotes primarily through social media and said the new storefront will give the business more visibility and accessibility.
Kicks Klinik also offers its services nationwide for an additional charge.
Brown said he was attracted to the Broad Street store because it was a central location in the city, with Virginia Commonwealth University and Shockoe Bottom nearby. He said the location felt right because of its proximity to Virginia Union University, where he studied and what ultimately led him to live in Richmond.
He will also join a thriving sneaker business community with stores like Kicks Boomin, MBM Kicks, DLTR and Foot Locker along Broad Street.
Robert Brown of Sperity Real Estate Ventures brokered the deal for the store, which housed The Someday Shop before its closing in May 2022.
Kicks Klinic attracts a wide range of customers, Brown said, from high school students to seniors. He said the company takes advantage of a basic fact: Everyone wears sneakers.
“We’re here to really help the community in terms of sustainability and protecting our investments,” he said. “Sneaker prices are constantly going up, so it’s even more important these days.”
Brown said his years of practice and quality cleaning products and equipment provide a thorough clean that can’t be achieved with a homemade sneaker cleaner. Sometimes cleaning sneakers at home can damage the shoes. He uses cleaning products from NuLife Kicks, a Las Vegas-based company that also sponsors and trains Brown.
Kicks Clinic currently has a staff of Brown and one part-time employee, but Brown plans to hire additional staff this fall once the store is open and operating.
“We look forward to serving the greater Richmond community and the entire state of Virginia,” Brown said.
