Grand Rapids’ All City Kicks kickin’ its heels over new name, new location, new sleek look

All City Kicks has sold some of the coolest urban apparel and athletic shoes in Grand Rapids for the past five years, making a name as one of the visionary businesses in the redevelopment of what was once a desolate and decaying South Division Avenue. And now, owners Edwin Viceroy and Jason Stewart are kickin’ it up a notch with a chic new brand and name – ACK – and a move to Eastown. ACK opens October 18 in the LEED-certified Phoenix Building, 1500 Wealthy SE. The Phoenix replaced a building leveled by a gas explosion in 2008. “This being a brand new building, we felt like the feel needed to be different, to be more chic,” says Stewart. “We drew a lot of inspiration from airports – moving forward, traveling, being fast-forward. I think it will be a real shocker for customers who came into the old store because the look is going to be vastly different.”Stewart hired interior designer Julie Jensen and says she was an integral part of creating the store’s signature design piece – the visual work Stewart calls “the number one secret in the store,” the…the…thing that is still a secret. Stewart says folks will need to stop by to see how ACK used the airport motif and different time zones to “make note of Grand Rapids as being an important place within this world.”The store will still carry its high-end, eye-catching shoes and streetwear by Nike, Adidas, Creative Recreation, Crooks & Castles and 10Deep plus some new lines – Converse, Pro/Keds and Generic Surplus. “When I think about our store, I like to think of it as a lifestyle and a culture,” Stewart says. “It’s more than a customer coming in and looking for a particular product. We look at it as camaraderie; people come in and watch a game and talk music or art or sports. It’s a place to be a part of, within the culture of all those things.”Source: Jason Stewart, ACKWriter: Deborah Johnson Wood, Development News EditorRelated ArticlesGrand Rapids mixed-use development brings new life to Eastown lot left vacant after explosion