Cape Town - Established in 1935, Jack Lemkus's ongoing partnerships with the best brands in sneakers and apparel have made them one of the most trusted retailers in the South African sneaker industry.
The family-owned business is the first company in South Africa to build relationships with brands such as Nike, adidas, Vans and Asics to name a few, which they continue to grow and maintain.
These long-standing relationships have allowed them to expertly select the best in sports, fashion and street wear from across the planet for their customers.
The store started out selling sporting equipment, hobbies, toys etc - the price of a pair of shoes around that time was selling for about less than R10. It wasn't really as popular as it is now because back then, people used the shoes for sport and not fashion.
Brands that were available at Jack Lemkus between 1935 to the late 60s were brands like Bata shoes which was very popular, Converse, Wrangler and Dunlop.
Brands like adidas and Asics came to Jack Lemkus in the 70s. By then, a good pair of tennis shoes would cost around R29 - R60.
Nike arrived in the late 70s/early 80s with Air Jordan following around 1988. When Air Max was first available at Jack Lemkus they were retailing at R199. Today's retro versions of that same shoe costs R2099.
The Jack Lemkus store has been at their current location on St George's Mall in Cape Town since the very beginning and has become a landmark in the city centre.
And while unassuming from the outside, inside it is sneakerhead heaven.
Those who can't get to the store to see the on-trend displays, can visit the
The company recently teamed up with the hottest rapper in the city right now, YoungstaCPT, for the TAKKIES music video.
"When YoungstaCPT dropped Takkies in early 2016 it was about the same time Jack Lemkus started rebranding the store and we were looking for someone to represent the store that was all Cape Town," says Jack Lemkus Head of Media/Marketing, Calhoun Matthews.
"When I heard the song for the first time I could immediately relate to it and I'm sure many of our customers related to it too. That's when I knew we had to work with him to do the music video. Youngsta being a sneakerhead and a rapper from Cape Town and Jack Lemkus being Cape Town's/Africa's oldest sneaker store it had to be done."