HOUSTON — After a five-year hiatus, Sneaker Con is back in H-Town this weekend.
The show at the George R. Brown Convention Center is being called “The Greatest Sneaker Show on Earth.”
There will be wheeling, dealing, kicks of all kinds and serious cash.
There is even a trading pit, where vendors and collectors rival traders on the floor of a stock exchange.
Cortez Williams, 25, is one of those vendors.
“My mother told me I had too many sneakers and she told me I couldn't spend no more money, so I started trading and selling the ones I had," Williams told us.
That was three years ago. Now Cortez has his own full-time online business called Heavenly Kicks.
For others, it's a side hustle.
The hall will be filled with thousands of sneaker influencers, sneaker heads and sneaker fanatics.
What makes footwear valuable?
“The history of the shoe, who designed it, who collaborated on it," Sneaker Con’s Jabari Lewis said. "The designer guys are now collaborating with urban fashion guys, I love that!”
Some pairs easily go for tens of thousands of dollars.
“Back to the Future shoes, which is pretty much the most expensive I’ve seen sold in person, went for $80,000," Lewis told us. "Cash transaction.”
So yes, there's security.
"If you wanna go the extra mile and get a personal security guard, that’s always more than welcome," Jabari said. "That is a real thing.”
Speaking of the real thing, I challenged Sneaker Guru Cortez to appraise my sneakers. Where did my footwear come from?
“If I’m gonna guess a store, the mall, Finish Line maybe?” he said.
Nope, Costco.
"Costco. I personally don't get any shoes from Costco," Cortez said.
It's OK, bud. We can't all be sneaker divas.
The convention runs from noon to 7 p.m. Saturday at the GRB. Tickets are $30.