The Sneakery, with a location already in Ballard, has opened in the West Seattle Junction at 4736 California Ave. s.w., the former site of Liberty Bell printing.

Owner Andrea Berthold was still stocking shelves and applying the store's rubber stamp to bags on Monday after officially opening the doors on Saturday.

The original location in Ballard has been there "almost five years," Berthold said. Her background prior to opening the Sneakery includes a lot of retail experience (with a stint at Easy Street Records Queen Anne location), but she grew up in the midwest, where her mother was a bookkeeper for a shop.

Her interest in shoes came about she said because, "I wear shoes every single day, and I always enjoyed getting a new pair of shoes. I like flashy, fun, old school comfortable type stuff and I walk a lot. So I was always shoe shopping with friends when I lived in L.A. and I moved up here about 8 years ago and I set out one day to do some sneaker shopping. I went around and I found a couple of shops I liked but there were a bunch of brands I was expecting to see that I didn't see. So, a while later I worked on a business plan (...) and what I liked is that in some shops you can have the boxes out on the floor and you just grab them yourself and try them on."

The store will carry 25 different brands of shoes and 15 different brands of socks (including baby socks), a range of shoelaces, tights, plus some custom heat moldable insoles for people with high arches. In the Ballard location, and likely to make an appearance in West Seattle are bags and wallets, shoe accessories like Shoe Goo, waterproofing spray, and "We're always open to suggestions from customers," Berthold said.

Her watchwords are, "Options, selection and variety," she said, " Everybody likes something different. One of the things I liked when I worked at a record store was all different kinds of people like music and there's all different kinds out there, and it turns out all different kinds of people like shoes."

The Sneakery, as the name implies, doesn't carry dress shoes but, "We will have some sneakers that are dressy enough that can be worn for business casual."

The price range for shoes is between $40 to $80 but the most expensive shoe they carry is $135 and is a new brand called Oetzi, a suede shoe with a cork footbed (like Birkenstocks) that shapes to your foot.
They will also carry flip flops for $15. "Our very best selling shoe is the Saucony Originals which range from $50 to $60 depending on the style.

Berthold is planning her grand opening, hopefully near the end of May and they will have a sale. They have a sale every February where everything is marked down, and they always have a fully stocked clearance section where things are at least 25% off.

Tuesday through Saturday they are open from 11:00 am to 7:00 pm. Sunday Noon to 6:00 pm, Monday, Noon to 5:00 pm

The manager for the West Seattle location will be Jess Brierly and she's going to hire a part time person too.