Friends turn dream into reality with new shoe store
MISHAWAKA, Ind.—Two young local entrepreneurs are accomplishing a big feat, with opening their very own shoe store at University Park Mall.
About a year ago, 21-year-old Riley High School alum Dorien Bradley met 24-year-old Marquon Wilbourn through X-box. It's through the gaming system that Marquon introduced the idea of a shoe re-sell business to Dorien, since both had a love for shoes.
Dorian was hooked, and decided to put his best foot forward and begin shoe re-sell himself. It didn’t take long for the pair to run with the hobby, and flip a side-hustle, into a dream shoe store.
That dream becoming a reality this weekend, when the two finally introduce their store “Dementions” to community members visiting UP Mall.
“You’ll find the most exclusive Jordan’s, Yeezy’s, anything that you can’t find at other stores, like you have to go online to like similar to Stock-x or GOAT, most sneaker-heads in the community will know. Basically, we just offer that service in store,” Dementions Owner Dorien Bradley said. “It’s something good for the community. It will bring a lot of people together so that’s what we’re all about.”
Dementions will offer a wide-selection of shoes, and even some apparel, that sneaker lovers usually can only get online. The process to get there though, wasn’t necessarily a breezy one. It took a lot of setbacks, like purchasing, investing, traveling to different states and cities for sneaker conventions, and even some fails with authenticity of shoes on their own dime.
It also took time to get the capital needed in order to buy a space in the mall for their own store, and then build the collection. However, they reached that goal in December of 2021, and then it was just a matter of renovating the inside to make it just right.
“The store was just bad. None of the walls were up, we had to put the wall, flooring, but basically everything for the store. Get utilities on, pay the lease, deposits here and there, so just a whole bunch of stuff but I mean we took the risk, so I mean I think it’s going to work out 100%,” Bradley said. “I can’t wait to see everybody come through, trying to have 100+ people here for the grand opening.”
The pandemic has put a huge strain on the economy nationwide and here at home, and even some brick-and-mortar stores have had to shut down all-together, as more shoppers shift to online retailers. However, the “what-ifs” hardly put a damper on Dorien and Marquon’s spirits. In fact, the possible challenges may have had to face, haven’t really played a role at all. They say they believe this is actually the perfect time to kick off their venture, since so many people are itching to get out of the house, and that they’re hyped about what the future holds.
“I want to bring everyone together. Buy shoes, sell shoes, talk about shoes, really just having fun,” Bradley said. “We just kept grinding really that’s all it was. It’s a grind really. Staying consistent and grinding. Really Anything you do, if you stay consistent you grind it up, you literally do anything.”
The grand opening for “Dementions” is this weekend on Saturday starting at 11 AM. You can find the store inside of the mall as you exit JCPenney’s into the plaza, or near the main entrance into the mall by Pat’s Pets.
For more information about the store open, you can visit their Facebook page by clicking here.