Walking among Montreal’s sneakerhead kings at Felix Boutique

Francesco Abbruzzo of the Old Montreal sneaker shop and espresso bar Felix has been buying, selling, and trading steez for 15 years now.

“When I was 13, I started collecting,” he says. “It became more of a passion than a job, waiting outside somewhere three days to get an exclusive drop. I had another job before this, but sneakers? They were always there.”

The first pair he ever sold were Jordan Spiz'ikes, a release in 2006 that commemorated Michael Jordan and Spike Lee's relationship, following Lee’s character Mars Blackmon in She's Gotta Have It becoming a pitchman for Air Jordans commercials.

“My first pair of Jordans were given to me by a friend who played ball. He said, ‘I think you’ll like these,’ and ever since that day, it was a game-changer. I have over 600, 700 pairs now.”

"In high school... my friend and I slept in my mom’s truck for two days to get a pair of Jordan Breds."

What was it about that first pair?

“It was definitely the look of them. I started listening to hip-hop and watching old documentaries, seeing people wearing this stuff and the history behind people wearing Nike Dunks in New York, and it was insane to see how many people followed it… Then it went to this whole other level.”

“I remember in high school, I missed one of my midterm exams because my friend and I slept in my mom’s truck for two days to get a pair of Jordan Breds. They retailed at $230, and the next day sold for $1,500,” he says.

In the following years, Francesco ended up becoming the de facto guy growing up to get pairs for sourcing and advice.

That 13-year-old kid with a pair of Jordan Spiz'ikes turned into a 28-year-old Francesco stacking boxes in closets, running out of room until the collection would demand a room of its own—and insuring the collection, of course.

As for whether it’s tough to stack boxes like that at home when, say, you’re in a relationship?

“Oh yeah, she’d say ‘enough is enough’, but it’s never enough.”

“In Montreal, the sneaker community’s family-oriented, everyone’s looking out for one another. Here’s this drop, that drop, do you need your size—if you join groups, you’ll see how powerful the community is in this city.”

The game & leveling up

“The sneaker game is only just becoming a game now, but for the real sneakerheads, it’s been like this since the 90s. It never really stopped,” Francesco says.

“People aren’t even wearing dress shoes to go to work or weddings, they're wearing sneakers. It’s become a whole different game… and the fashion and streetwear aspect—compared to comfort—has helped drive the culture.”

Running the independent online shop Sneaker Supply MTL for years, Francesco’s time spent meeting people—the hustle of going to events, buying, selling, trading—kept him going from early on.

“I started out with joining groups, asking people what they wore, what they copped, and it became a whole family,” he explains.

“In Montreal, the sneaker community’s family-oriented, everyone’s looking out for one another. Here’s this drop, that drop, do you need your size—if you join groups, you’ll see how powerful the community is in this city.”

Francesco ran a lot of events including pop-ups at Café GotSoul from JoJo and Toddy Flores—the latter of whom Francesco concedes is the GOAT of sneaker collections in Montreal with his 2,000-3,000 pairs.

GotSoul was a progenitor of combining coffee and sneakers in one space with hip-hop and music and DJ booths, but it spurred ideas for the new spot.

Partnering up with restaurateur and friend Thomas Vernis to start Felix in August 2023 with an official launch the following month, the hospitality-meets-retail concept began.

Originally slated to be called C.R.E.A.M. because of the façade outside, the shop’s name comes from the space’s former resident, Félix Abenaim, who ran the fashion boutique Méli-Mélo for 25 years selling furniture and women’s clothing and shoes until he passed last year.

Paying homage to the shop owner that came before, “we thought ‘Felix’ would be cool because he was a very humble and stand-out guy. Everyone on the street knew him, so we thought it would be the perfect name for a boutique than a sneaker store.”

“Basically, we’re trying to elevate this street, elevate the city. We don’t really have many sneaker boutiques like this in Montreal, and we elevate it with the coffee and experience.”

First and foremost a consignment shop for sneakers for men, women and kids with shots pulled from a Rancilio Italian espresso machine, the goal here’s to launch a clothing collection and bringing in local designers alongside pairs and pairs of Nike, Jordan, Adidas, New Balance, Yeezy, Vans—you name it.

Everything in the shop is for sale, though: While we’re talking in the boutique, dressed carefully in everything tchotchkes and décor that goes from art books and skateboard decks to Bearbricks and vintage Louis Vuitton luggage, every generation seems to walk through, signaling just how mainstream things have become.

“I come into work trying on the stuff that I love, talking about the stuff that I love, and I don’t even feel like this is work.”

Being a part of something 

So what’s key to being a part of the community he respects?

“Be friendly, have a good reputation on the streets, be open. There are a lot of shops that just want to make that sale, but that’s what amazing at Felix. It’s having conversations. It’s being there with people,” he says.

“I come into work trying on the stuff that I love, talking about the stuff that I love, and I don’t even feel like this is work.”

The challenging part, Francesco says, is getting the sneakers and building the stock. Waking up a seven in the morning to sell every day, he says he’s basically working 24 hours a day to do what he does.

It’s about getting lucky as well, so it’s a mix of knowing people and being a part of something just as much as it is being in the right place at the right time.

While the shop’s only begun, a lot of new changes are coming to Felix, like an online website and collabs with people in the city, a lot of pop-ups, a lot of events—including a Montreal Bagel Dunk event on October 28 and 29 with St-Viateur Bagel.

Felix is located at 205 rue Saint-Paul Ouest in Old Montreal.

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