After 10 years of coaching basketball at Centralia College, Pe Ell graduate Jonathan McMillan decided he needed a change.
In partnership with Tenino graduate Nate Evander, the two have opened Sole and Style, a passion-driven business that has made its way to a storefront in the Capital Mall in Olympia.
“I don’t think it was a mid-life crisis,” McMillan said. “But I knew I was 39 years old and wanted to try something I’ve always loved. And I’ve always been into sneakers.”
McMillan worked at Centralia College as a men’s basketball coach for a decade before making a plan with Evander to open the shop.
Evander has been selling sneakers online with his wife, Megan, for years, and his love for sneakers has been around ever since he could remember.
“I've been into Jordan’s and other sneakers since I was 6 years old,” Evander said.
The pair talked about it for a year before opening a shop at 1025 Black Lake Blvd SW. They were at that storefront for just a few months before a place opened in the mall.
They jumped at the opportunity.
The previous occupants of Sole and Style’s new home in the mall left on May 31. McMillan and Evander were there the next day to begin renovations. Renovations didn’t take long, and the pair opened their doors on July 1.
“The reception has been amazing.” McMillan said.
The store offers a wide variety of new, used and vintage footwear, clothing and accessories.
The old dressing rooms in the back of the store have been converted into a vintage clothing gold mine that’s organized by style.
Whether it be university vintage, sports wear, Carhartt work clothes or retro music merch, Sole and Style has its customers covered.
The store operates on a buy, sell, trade system. Shoes ranging from kids to adult sizes are available, and its clothing section separate from the vintage wear includes brands such as Essentials, Supreme, Gucci and more. Louis Vuitton bags and wallets of other high-end brands and their store’s personal merchandise is also for sale.
One wall of the store holds shoes mostly sourced from McMillan’s collection of Kobe Bryant’s footwear lines.
“I’m a big Kobe fan,” McMillan said. “I like that I’m able to express myself in the space like this.”
He continued: “I wanted this place to have a barbershop feel, where it could be a safe place and a place where people could come in and spend an hour in here and never get bored. I never wanted anyone to feel like they just need to buy something and get out.”
The owners are building a community from the ground up.
“I’ve had so many good personal experiences with guys I would have never thought I’d have anything in common with because they come in and see a pair of Jordans or a pair of dunks that remind them of being in the ’90s or ’80s, and they just get it. And they keep coming back and we talk,” McMillan said.
McMillan and Evander didn’t just dream of building community, though. Their goal when opening Sole and Style was to create a store that had the same city and shoe culture connection of stores such as Sneak City in Seattle and Cool Kicks in Los Angeles.
“The goal was that when people think Olympia, they think Sole and Style,” McMillan said.
Both McMillan and Evander spoke highly of the employees they’ve had in the critical opening months, both in how they have helped to build community and allowed the owners to have time to be present in their families’ lives.
“Our employees have shocked me,” Evander said. “They’ve really stepped up, and they’re all awesome.”
In an effort to maintain a strong connection with their consumer base and continue to build community, McMillan wants customers to recognize their employees at all times. However, they will be losing a few of their staffers at the end of the summer as they move away for college.
So they’ll be looking for new employees at the end of August.
Among the other difficulties of opening a new business — completing renovations and finding solid employees — leaving his job as a basketball coach was one of the hardest parts of building the business for Mcmillan.
Breanna McMillan, Jonathan’s wife, is a nurse and has constantly supported Mcmillan in his move from his previous job as a coach into what he’s been dreaming of.
“There’s no way I could have done this if she didn’t have my back,” he said.
McMillan and Evander aren't done setting goals, though. Both owners mulled over the possibility of bringing another Sole and Style further south into the Vancouver area.
“We’re looking forward to giving back to the community with the possibility of clothing and shoe drives in the future,” Evander said. “Once we catch our breath.”
Sole and Style can be found at 625 Black Lake Blvd. SW, suite K5, in Olympia. Sole and Style has a social media presence under its name on Facebook and Instagram.
Visit https://soleandstyle.store/ to learn more and see merchandise.
