How it all started for you? Were you geek about the sport shoes from beggining, or was it for you to look fresh and have the freshest kicks around?

I think it all started in school time. Long, long time ago...something over 20 years now.
Who does not remember the times of Kid N Play, LL Cool J, Kurtis Blow, Run DMC, Beastie Boys, NWA, 2LiveCrew, Heavy D, EPMD, etc.
We wanted the Look of them! And at this time, there were only white trainers in good old Germany, so the task was to get nice and fresh kicks from overseas.

You are known for your non Nike store policy. How is it possible you are so successful without the brand others think they cannot survive?

We learned not to be dependant too much on one company. This is the main reason why many shops out there maybe think that this brand is so important. It is not. You become a slave of a company if you focus only on one. All brands are making good shoes. As a shop you can generate a demand for every brand. This is our job. And we love to work not only with one brand, because we love all of them. They are all part of the history and the market. Competition is the motor for this industry!

You are considered for a big New Balance advocate and honestly you single handedly put them up map. You made it more than boring running shoes, you made NB cool. Do you agree?

Interesting view. I have never seen it like this. I Like your view. Haha.

At the end the customers are making the decision if something is good or not. We are only the catalyst ; )
I sadly never met Mr. Davies personally, but I give my full respect to him and his wife for their great work over the years and keeping the spirit of the brand alive.

Seocnd part of that question, quite controversial. New Balance like most of the running shoes from other brands (be it AM series, or Adidas ZX) are shoes of choice for football hooligans, right wing supporters something you definitely stay away from. Acually you have Turkish roots and lived most of your life in Berlin. You even dediacted one pair of NB1500 to your heirtage (Nazar Eye and a pair of Vans Old Schools). Did you take it as personal goal to change the bad image behind runners?

Most important for me is here, to give narrow minded people out there not the possibility to identify thereselfs with any products. So for example you think brand X is used by Skins, then wear it too. Trainer Y are hools shoes, wear them.
So you take the products' negative meaning away from them. And as you mentioned, sure a cultural turkish approach on a New Balance shoe was on purpose. It is fun for me to communicate a bit of me and my origin and see so called hools or right wing supporters in "my" shoes. A really right thinking person would not buy these... Respect is all which counts!

Despite all the success with all the brands, Adidas, Asics, Puma, New Balance, Saucony, Reebok, Vans or Lacoste you are still very humble person. You still have respect for your customers and are not too cool for school. How do you keep the balance?

I am nothing else then everybody is. Same guy, same habits. I am sure out there are many, many people who can do the same things I did. I have been lucky enough to be able to make the right thing at the right time. It is an honor for me to serve my customers. Without them there is no Solebox.

With many stores closing down, what is your advice to survive the crisis and be on top of the game?

I think the biggest problem here is, that too many shops openend in the last years. Too many doing the same things. Limited shoes are becoming more available then general releases. Niche market is mainstream market and the mainstream market is becoming niche market.

Try to listen to the market. Try to buy in, what your local customers demanding. Local acting becomes more and more interesting. We are focusing on our instore sales.

Did you change your approach for the business part since 'the bad economy' started?

Yes, we did. We are buying in more strong general releases.

After all these years how do you still stay passionate about the sneakers?

My passion will survive any recession. I have the big luck to work on own shoes, this is the best motor.

Let's make it straight - the recent Solebox NB 1500 aka The Finals you released were really your last shoe with that company, or last pair of 1500?

Sadly we have so many opportunities to work on shoes at the wrong time. Therefore we decided to go a step back and reduce our output quantity wise. The most we did with NB in the past and the Global SMU (Special Make Up - limited colorway, material choice) output from NB in the next future will be massive. So we decided to give it an end from our side. We have done really nice collabs with NB and we want to leave them where they are now: In good memory. Even if we can make easy money every year.

With many brands developing new technologies and changing the design process, lasts, materials etc. is it still possible to make retro version of the older shoe an exact copy? Brands always bring that subject, but you as an insider maybe have different opinion?

There are so many factors why retros sometimes are brilliant and sometimes not really worth the production. Sometimes it is the lack of knowledge, sometimes it is the cost factor, sometimes it is the missing molds, sometimes it is on purpose. But be sure, everything is possible...and in the past we saw lots of good retros. I am willing to pay more for a good quality product and this is what we all have to learn. Pay the full price!

You mostly concentrate on running models, are you active runner? or just the shoes appeal to you the most?

If you see me, you know i am not a runner physically. Maybe in my mind ; ) I like running shoes, because they are light and comfy. I also grew up with running shoes but i like all kind of trainers.

The recent collaboration with Saucony was based on new technology running sneakers. Are you trying to open eyes to average sneakerhead for new things?

This is really what I try has nothing to do with average sneakerhead. It is my wish to get this market moving. We need new products. We need new ideas. Saucony is making nice performance shoes. And I like to see technology and future in our products. Not everybody is understanding this, which is no surprise for me, but I see it as an investment for future products. By the way, the Adidas Zeitfrei we did with Hypebeast together is a performance shoe too. And it seems the Adidas Zeitfrei inline colors are very well adopted now.

For many you are considered a sneaker guru, but I have to admit I have seen you wearin (God Forbid) Sperry Top Siders, a classic boatshoes. Is sneaker universe collapsing? :)

Nah, I am only getting old. And i am sometimes too lazy to wear socks and lace my trainers, so I slip the Sperry's on. Plus my mom loves to see me in these ; )

Many of us trainer lovers remember the school times with boat shoes, or?!

Solebox is not only a sneaker and clothing store, there are also customers and people behind it. Can you introduce team Solebox and their role in your kingdom?

Solebox is mainly a family business. Many people know me already, but my older brother Suekret is the man behind the scenes.The one responsible for organisation and administration. I am a funny head but too unorganized sometimes. So we are a pretty good team. Everybody has theirs strengths and fields to work. Our younger brother Mehmet is part of the inner circle. He is our handsome sales force and upcoming CEO if we are too old!
Thank you to our Solebox team members:
Houssam aka Bum Bum (Kanye West learned from his style),
Jonas I. aka Junus (Underrated lady killer),
Jonas II. aka Zwei (our unbeatable goal keeper and party master),
Essa aka Issa (singing ladys love, you will see him some day on a big stage) and
Toyah aka Rakete (Rakete = Rocket you know what this means)

And our biggest team members are our friends and supporters out there: our customers!

With the cult following of Solebox, are you planning on developing a clothing range? There were already toothbrushes, tees, socks, jacket etc. What's next?

A footwear range is more in our focus. Our passion is footwear. Clothing we do simple. Maybe some more simple and timeless pieces with Solebox branding for the future. More interesting would be other things, for example a Solebox Condom range.

Any plans of expansion? Different cities, maybe Solebox in Poland?

We had already plans, but we put them on ice. It was wrong timing for expansion at this time in our eyes. But you are always welcome to make an offer for a Solebox in Poland. Or somewhere else on this planet.

What do you know about our country? Tenisufki etc?

I do not know if it counts, but i had a girlfriend with polish origin. You have nice girls ; ) And I know some words: Dzień dobry; Smacznego! Some other words which would be not nice to mention here ; ) I like to listen on my way to work and from work to classic music. And Chopin is from Poland and not from France as maybe people think

Do you think the sneaker releases are getting a bit oversaturated? There is too many limited edition shoes? Do you think the shoes need 'stories', the good design is not enough?

We need less products. We have many, many good and quality releases out there, but at the wrong time. We all need to step back for a while and give the market the time to refresh.

Comparing to most of the competition your releases are killing the majority of sneakers out there, so you don't really have to worry about it. Speaking of limited editions and collabos what's next in the pipeline for Solebox? Can we get any sneak peek?

I am giving all products we are working on the necessary honor and love. Every project is something special for me. It is pure love. Maybe it sounds strange but I feel like an actor in his role. I am having the product the whole day with me. I am doing my daily work in front of the product which i am working on, even my private life is dominated then by the project. I am trying to feel the product 100%. If i am in, then it is easy thing to finish.

On the 17th of October we will release our Adidas Berlin shoe. It is part of the City project from Adidas Consortium. The idea: To work on the original shoe and add one color to the existing colorway.

What I love on the Berlin shoe is the fact, that I am born in this city.
And it is a honor for me to work on this shoe as being a Berliner.
I hope you will like the detail I came up with:
The inside of the shoe, is the original colorway of the shoe.
So the inside is the OG Adidas Berlin and the outside the new Adidas Berlin.
It is the old Berlin and the new Berlin combined.
It is the blue day and the black night of Berlin.
I am driving to work at daylight (blue) and coming back at night (black).
For some people is the opposite, the go out at night and going home at daylight ;)
Nightlife in Berlin is something you should always do on your Berlin visit. (outside)
But not to forget the daily cultural living in Berlin (inside)

Hope this gives a bit insight of my idea behind the shoes. Except that they look good ;)

The last question - your top 5 sneakers of all time

This is becoming more and more difficult to be true. I had many shoes that I loved and which inspired me.

But I love my output. Therefore my personal top 5 based on the meaning for me in my personal history:

1. NB 1500 GGB
2. Puma Clyde
3. Adidas Zeitfrei
4. Asics Gel Lyte III
5. Reebok The Pump (more info soon)

Photos & interview by TENISUFKI.EU