Bristol sneaker 'geek' makes old trainers look new

Ronnie Arathoon can spend four or five days creating customised shoes for a client

A trainer lover who specialises making people's much-loved sneakers look 'box fresh' says his job is all about "putting a smile on people's faces".

Ronnie Arathoon founded Sneek Geek in Bristol in 2020 and is now selling shoes around the world.

As well as returning restoring his customers' sports shoes to their former glory, he also customises pairs.

Mr Arathoon says the satisfaction his job gives is "worth way more than any money could give me".

He now has something of a celebrity following, with the likes of singer Chris Brown, rapper Tion Wayne and dancehall star Popcaan ordering shoes from him.

All this demand has already seen him open another shop in Edinburgh, and there are further plans afoot to create a franchise.

Sneek Geek is starting to build up a celebrity following

Speaking to BBC West, the 27-year-old said: "People can spend £2,000 on a pair of shoes - that's watch money, that's car money.

"You service your car, you service your watch, so why not service your shoes?"

He said he only realised his skill at customising shoes during lockdown.

"I started to customise (trainers) - just little cartoon sort of things, just simple art really, then it just spiralled into me just watching loads and loads of YouTube, just learning how to do it," he explained.

"If you want to learn something you are going to learn it, if you put 100% energy in, (then) you are going to learn it properly so that's what I did.

"I think with anything in life, your job satisfaction, your passion, it's got to be 100% in it - I love this job and I wake up every morning and I'm happy.

"I don't care about the money, I love what I do and I love being able to bring people's shoes back, that satisfaction is way more than any money could give me."

'I wake up every morning and I'm happy'

Mr Arathoon said one of the hardest parts of the jobs is telling people their beloved trainers are too far gone to be saved.

"The job is just putting a smile on people's faces, being able to help them out with their shoe situation" he said.

"Getting people from all different places in the world sending their shoes to me. That's also really rewarding."

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