Store Feeture – Pam Pam London – Ladies only!!!

By TWOTF on August 26, 2015 • ( Leave a comment )

We caught up with Bethany and Rio who started Pam Pam London, a women’s only sneaker store in hustling, bustling, buzzing Shoreditch, London City. We got a tour of their amazing space and managed to ask ’em a few questions about Pam Pam London. If you haven’t checked it out you need to and you need to place Pam Pam London firmly on your sneaker store map. And you can also purchase online in case you can’t make it down to the store. Store details at the bottom after the interview.

TWOTF: Tell us about Pam Pam.

Bethany & Rio: Pam Pam is a women’s sneaker, clothing and lifestyle store, attracting women that feel comfortable in their own choice in style, from sophisticated street, to casual, to lifestyle orientated.

TWOTF: How did Pam Pam happen?

Bethany & Rio: Having both worked in menswear separately and together in recent years, we’ve both found women looking for womens’ sizes in mens clothing and footwear. We also wanted to create a space in which we would like to shop personally, with all the great brands that women wear and love in the same beautiful, relaxed space. We find an abundance of these stores for men, or men and women, but not for women only.

Conception to opening was pretty speedy, we were very lucky that the brands understood our message and vibe right away. With the sneaker brands in particular, they’re all currently focusing a lot on the women’s side of things, and so we knew this was our opportunity to get in there first. – and were lucky enough to get top tier accounts with most of the sneaker brands where available in women’s shoes.

TWOTF: Why do we need an womens only sneaker store? Surely other retailers have that covered?

Bethany & Rio: Why not? And, for the same reason men only sneaker stores exist – why shouldn’t there be both? The retailers that do offer a womens’ selection, are often quite limited, and the overall experience doesn’t particularly cater to the needs or tastes of many women. We’ve had an amazing, supportive response from our customers, who often comment that they’ve been missing a store like Pam Pam in their lives.

TWOTF: Why now? Did you feel the time was right because of the boom in the sneaker industry?

Bethany & Rio: Definitely. Across the whole sneaker industry, but quite uniquely in women’s. With this growth for women’s sneakers internationally and especially here in the UK, all the major brands are currently expanding and perfecting their women’s ranges -which is brilliant! And, due to the high demand we see for men’s styles in women’s sizes, along with the demand for wider ranges, it’s obvious that the sneaker game had changed for women – Pam Pam is part part of that change. We’re not trend lead, our selection reflects this, and women wearing sneakers isn’t just an underground passing trend either.

TWOTF: What can people find in Pam Pam?

Bethany & Rio: We’re offering a space entirely for the woman that embrace culture, wellbeing and style, offering the best in carefully chosen, well known and independent brands from around the world, with a store space that can encourage pop-ups, hold fitness sessions such as yoga and meditation, host running and cycling groups – we’re catering for women on more than just a retail level.

TWOTF: What are your thoughts on the sneaker industry at the moment? Is there too much hype? Too much reselling? Too many releases?

Bethany & Rio: Yes, some might say so, but not within the women’s side of things – this is a really exciting time for women in the sneaker industry. Yes, there is much hype and lots of releases but not a lot of this is women specific. The few women’s only releases that we do see, are very considered and very strong. There isn’t that same saturation that you might find in the mens.

TWOTF: What do you have to say to those who might say that you guys are just a couple of women jumping on the sneaker bandwagon?

Bethany & Rio: I’d say thats quite an old fashioned response.

TWOTF: What does the future hold for Pam Pam?

Bethany & Rio: We’ll be launching (in the sneaker department) Nike, Puma and Le Coq Sportif over the next few seasons, which we’re super excited about. And now that we’ve been up and running for almost a season now, we’ll be focusing a lot more on the community aspect of pam pam, hosting events, yoga classes and such – so watch this space.