Meet Andy Velopulos

Today we’d like to introduce you to Andy Velopulos.

Hi Andy, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
In June 2018, I did the unthinkable. I started a Streetwear/Sneaker store. At 40 years old, I had started 3 other businesses, the last that I was able to sell, which helped my family move to Colorado in 2016. But in a completely different industry. You see, my first career is electrical contracting. I’ve gotten a Master’s Electrical license in Florida, Maryland, and here in Colorado and had business’ in all three.

I started when I was 21 and had my first business at 31. I would say I did pretty well, but after selling my Maryland business, I wasn’t quite satisfied to continue here in Colorado. I knew I could duplicate if not do better than what I did in Maryland, but at 40 years old, life was a lot shorter. I kept asking myself, is this what I want to do for the rest of my life?

After moving to Colorado in 2016, I became a stay-at-home dad, to contemplate my next move. Then I saw a documentary called Sneakerheadz on Netflix. My teenage nephew at the time was a little sneakerhead always pointing out sneakers when we’d go out, but I didn’t understand the hype. This documentary was fascinating to me. It introduced me to the collector’s side of sneakers, good and bad, but it looked intriguing. I told my nephew that I’d watched it, and what the next big sneaker drop was going to be. The Jordan 1 Reverse Shattered Backboards.

That following Saturday, I copped 4 pairs, one online, and 3 in-store after sneaking into the Aurora Mall. I was immediately hooked. The hunt was so satisfying, and selling them for $350 after paying $180 out the door, was so fun! But there’s a problem when you get hooked like this. You become obsessed. Every weekend I was trying. Jordans, Yeezy’s, Off-whites, you name it. But I couldn’t beat the bots. Like Ticketmaster, bots have taken over sneaker buying. It’s very frustrating. I racked up $50,000 in credit card debt.

I almost quit after a year, but one thing that I still enjoyed was the community. I thought I dressed ok before this, but now I was putting outfits together with my new sneakers, and the number of compliments I would receive daily was esteem-boosting. I loved it. The sneakerhead/streetwear community can be hit or miss. There wasn’t a strong spot for us here in Denver. Sure there were a few stores, and events every year, but nothing cohesive. I thought we needed more.

So how did I come to start a store? Well, first I was pursued by another store to partner with them, I was cosigning thousands of dollars in sneakers with this store, and being a businessman, they asked for me to come on board. Never in a million years would I have thought Id start a retail store. Are you kidding me, retail is the hardest.

After a few months of really thinking about it, hanging out at the store, and meeting all kinds of cool people, the deal fell through. But the vision was created. I was left hanging for an ownership meeting on a Wednesday morning, and 2 hours later, in frustration and I can do this attitude, I was agreeing to lease a 5ooo square foot space in Northfield with no product or business plan…

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It’s been very hard. I’ve had hundreds of thousands of dollars in product stolen from me, through the middle of the night smash-ins, to runners, to employees. With what we sell, many on the shifty side of society can sell our products on the streets very quickly. Today, my store is locked down and even requires you to call in if you want to shop, due to keeping the doors locked at all times.

Running a retail store is so much different than running a contracting business. I’ve struggled with my story going from a contractor to a retail store owner, not feeling like I deserved to be here. But then I discovered the Gap origination story. They were a couple of realtors that couldn’t find Levis in the store back in the 60s. Gap started to supply Levis’s and other hard-to-find brands in 1969.

Today they only sell Gap products. Well, my story is similar. The availability to buy/sell/trade sneakers were lacking. So, I’m encouraged that I’m not alone in why I started the store, and who knows, we might be more in parallel with the gap when we started building our brand, and intend on making it a bigger and bigger part of our store.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
With my upbringing, I wasn’t given a lot of chances in the creative realm. I wouldn’t have even considered myself a creative. But after almost 5 years of running this store, I not only discovered my creativity but discovered how enriching being creative is. After selling so many creative brands, we’re now looking to get creative with our brand.

I can’t take all the credit of course. I put it all together, but we now have in-house graphic design, screen print, and embroidery. The team is taking the vision and making it their own as well. It’s exciting looking at what we’ve made so far and what’s coming. We’re even participating in the Denver Fashion Show this year.

How can people work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
We are looking to ramp up our collaborations. We already offer other Colorado streetwear brands and would like to add more. With our in-house screen print and embroidery, we’ve even considered starting a brand incubator, helping with design, production, and selling in-store.

Contact Info:

• Website: culturestreet.shop
• Instagram: @culturestreet.shop