PORTLAND, Oregon — A new sneaker store is breaking ground in Portland’s oldest neighborhood: Old Town. It’s called Bridge City Soles and the owner, Angel Bibiano, hopes to help bring more people to that part of the city.
“I say downtown is back to life,” said Bibiano. “I’ll give it that.”
Bibiano is what many call a “sneakerhead.” Someone with a big passion for collecting what many consider the most important piece of your outfit, the shoes. And his love for sneakers? That goes way back.
“It started out at 13, maybe 12 years old,” said Bibiano. “Ever since then I’ve been buying, selling and trading off websites, Facebook, everything. This is it. This has been the dream.”
But now, he’s living his childhood dream by opening up his own sneaker store in Old Town — a place many Portlanders have strayed away from because of increased crime, homelessness and drug use.
“I mean they’re (homeless people) here,” said Bibiano. “They come and go. They don’t really bother people any more as (they) used to be. But other than that, I can look outside and there’s motion outside.”
According to the Chair of the Old Town Community Association, at least 28 businesses have closed since 2020, and only 12 have opened up. Angel is hoping to help change that.
“Some of the owners have also come back and told us, ‘Thank you for the foot traffic that you guys are bringing back,'” Bibiano said.
Bridge City Soles has made nearly 700 transactions in the last 17 days with nearly 2,200 pairs at the shop, selling to rappers, artists and sports players — including the Portland Timbers.
“Having a store like this is something that was missing, I would say,” said Bibiano. “So it’s helping out — it’s making it amazing.”
Angel and his team are staying optimistic and hoping for the best and living out his dream — making Old Town a place people want to visit.
“(Old Town is) definitely moving forward,” said Bibiano. “I mean, there’s help from Old Town, too. We can see the help, and I think it’s getting better.”
Angel hopes to turn the upstairs of the building into a coffee shop, a podcast studio or maybe even a barber shop. He also plans to dedicate the safe room — as the building was formally a bank — into a Kobe Bryant remembrance wall.