Barracks Row has had its share of empty storefronts over the years, but the new tenant at one formerly vacant spot– which last housed the Verizon store some years ago– is a welcome addition to the neighborhood and to the city at large: Sole Wash.
The Barracks Row store, located at 427 8th Street SE and which opened the weekend of May 22 this year, is the second store in the Sole Wash family (the first store is in Laurel) and the first sneaker laundry in DC. You can drop off your shoes and get them looking spiffy and ready to go, and you can browse beautiful sneakers, many of which are limited edition, hard to find or artist-embellished and therefore unique. You can also enjoy beautiful ceramic sneakers from Porcelain Sneakerhead by artist London James, who explores cultural themes and tropes in her art.
Owner Nichole Verdejo has an alter ego. She is known by her kids’ friends and acquaintances as “Sneaker Mom.” As a young Afro-Latina mom eager to connect with her teenage son, she found common ground in the wonderful, varied and intense world of sneakers. She first opened Footage Society, a sneaker boutique in Laurel, back in 2015. The shoe wash and repair business followed, partially inspired by the need to keep your sometimes one-of-a-kind, collector’s item sneakers looking good no matter what. A standout part of Black culture thanks in large part to basketball and hip hop, sneaker culture has been a typically male-dominated business, but Nichole is changing that, one store at a time.
Nichole likes the idea of not just offering new sneakers and repairing older ones, but of giving back to the community as well. To this end, she has been holding sneaker giveaway events on 8th Street and she encourages neighbors to donate shoes to this cause. (If you want to do sneaker swaps, you can go to the Laurel location). She is also looking to bring neighbors into her store in different ways. Perhaps the most exciting one for me is a salsa-dancing evening where you can show off your sweet moves as you show off your sweet kicks. Stay tuned for that!
Noting that this particular block of 8th Street has some unhoused neighbors who are often under the influence of drugs, I ask Nichole if she’s had any particular trouble with them. She just smiles and tells me, “One of them told me, ‘We may be on drugs, but we are so proud of you. You are a Queen.'”
