Does anybody know a good place to get authentic Air Jordans? I’ve been to a lot of Nike stores around the Ximending area and they mostly carry the same things. I just got back from Tainan and there was a Nike Factory Store (Outlet) in a Carrefour. Unfortunately they didn’t have my size 
. From the forums I heard there was another one in a Carrefour in Xindian and I will be heading over there some time soon. If anybody could give me the locations of other Nike outlets that would be cool too. Thanks!
the Shilin night market is the best place in TW to buy sneakers, there are several stores called ‘momentum’ with the biggest ones being on JiHe Rd (I think that is the street name, anyways it is across the street from the night market on the west side in a multi-store building, it is big and hard to miss) and the other big one is near the temple on a corner deep inside the night market. These stores can call other outlets to see if your size is available, anything under an 11 is readily available in TW in all models.
If those fail try the Nike store on Minsheng dong lu between Fuxing and jianguo, selection there changes daily.
Your idea of going to hypermarts to shop at outlets is a bad idea, they only get overflow stock and are just there to draw in the people going to get groceries etc…not to have a great selection.
authenticity isn’t an issue as long as you aren’t buying from some lubiantan or temporary-ish looking shop.
Thanks! I only thought about going to outlets because the one in Tainan had models that I haven’t seen in Taiwan before.
Well, if they got the shoe you want go get it, but there are better places with much more selection. Taipei actually has an excellent sneaker culture and there are a lot of choices here, if you know where to go.
Are the stores around Shilin open during the day? The momentum ones?
Firing this thread back up. Good to see some folks here appreciating sneakers.
Are any these shops mentioned good for finding deadstock vintage stuff? Anything comparable to the mega NIke nirvanas in Tokyo?
I’m looking for a pair of Concord Retro 11s (the ones that sparked riots in the States recently) and a pair of Military Blue Retro 4s to replace ones I screwed up during New Years.
Is this possible, or am I just going to have to suck it up and mule them in?
Also will they do iD of things like Air Max 90s, 95s and Dunks to TW?
One last q: do any of these shops buy/trade and/or do consignments? I have an extra pair of OG Fire Red 4s near dead stock in the box that don’t fit me and I’d like to swap for a maybe several Retros since I’d rather wear the Retros than have a pair of untouchable OGs that just sit in a box.
Today, I went to a few of the Momentum stores, to the Nike store mentioned here, to the Xinyi Nike Store and to a bunch of the fufu boutique looking places in Zhongxiao Dunhua. The Momentum store had a good selection of colorways for current popular models like Air Force 1, Air Max 1, Air Max 90s, but they didn’t have any Air Jordans, and couldn’t recommend a place to get them. The Nike stores were disappointing. The boutiques were totally useless.
Anyone have a favorite niche sneaker shop in Taipei to get the harder-to-find vintage stuff?
I’m size 11.5 for most Nikes. I really like Retro Air Max 90s, 95s, 97s and Retro Air Jordan 1s, 4s, 11s, 14s, 21s and, although it’s not technically an AJ, the Spizike mashup. I like to actually wear them day to day as you know, shoes, so they get worn out in time, and I’ve been here long enough without buying new pairs that my stuff is starting to get worn. Should I just give up on trying to find them here and plan a shopping spree back Stateside?
I also found that Nike will not do iD stuff to Taiwan. Nearest is to Hong Kong. Bleh.
Why do ‘modern’ people say colorway instead of just color (or colour)?
Bikesnob NYC has a good take on this.
Just a thought.
Perhaps it’s because sneakers (and bikes) are typically not monotone… and colorway is the word for that?
Just a thought.
I guess I’ll have to admit defeat in the face of the wheeling out of the ever-victorious and omniscient Webster’s dictionary. 
Mind you, the word sure did spend a long time languishing on the sidelines, waiting to be relieved of orange-distribution duties before it actually managed to touch the ball and perhaps even score a touchdown.
Silly manufactured word. I bet some asinine advertising copy writer came up with it on an off day.
See, you can still say “what colours does this shoe come in?” and that covers all bases (to keep the American sports imagery going).
It was probably invented by post war fashion snobs. Turns out we sneaker and bike snobs are just the modern fashion snobs.
High Snobiety definitely has a lot to say about this:
highsnobiety.com
On that note, since around early 2010 I’m starting to see a lot more fixies around Taipei. Legit fixies too. Hard to imagine there’s no easy Air Jordan source in this town if skinny guys are rolling around with all sorts of Hypebeast gear on Cervelos in all sorts of colorways.
you are not likely to find retro kicks here in Taiwan. People don’t want something old or used and see no real value in it. I remember in the 90s (when Japanese and Koreans thought it was trendy to wear oversized sneakers) you could get over $2000 for a pair of used AJ 1s (if you were black and provided a picture of yourself and the history of your shoe…wore it in games etc…) the price would go up even more. Japanese are very unique in this regard. No such niche is on offer in TW.
Taiwan does get a large variety of shoes because of Taipei’s sneaker culture, in this city with school uniforms, people hanging from subway hooks, and scooter riders showing off your kicks is the easiest way to get noticed.
If you don’t like the selection, go back in a couple of weeks, you’ll see more.
I have seen a few of those re-issued AJ 11s around but they were on the feet of local dudes I know who get free shit from Nike, they likely sold out before they ever hit the shelves.
Thanks! Yeah it’s a bit discouraging. The insight into school uniforms making people differentiate their style through sneakers is interesting.
I did a bit of searching around Gongguan today and ran into a number of stores that had basically the same things:
Retro AJ 3s in black/cement and grey/cement
AJ 2011s in black patent leather
These are both readily available.
There is also a shop on Roosevelt just southwest of the southern MRT stop called “Nike Basketball”. Upstairs they have a few retros, even some grey suede AJ 14s.
I had to go to a number of places before I found size 11.5s, although guys who wear 9s seem to have a full selection.
I figure the guys who are getting the just issued stuff are probably either getting them brought over, or pre-bought them. I’ll need to improved my Chinese reading skills to get in on that. Good motivation to learn more I guess.
[quote=“urodacus”]Why do ‘modern’ people say colorway instead of just color (or colour)?
Bikesnob NYC has a good take on this.
Just a thought.[/quote]
goddamnit - he doesn’t start blogging till tomorrow. its like the third time I’ve had to look at his “Gone Fishing” announcement 
There’s a Jordan brand store-in-store on the 4th floor of Xinyi Shin Kong Mitsukoshi A11. They have mostly Jordan brand stuff like Melos and CP3s but also a few retro Air Jordans and the current model Air Jordans.
Up to what size?
I got a few pairs at 11.5. Don’t know if they have bigger but he didn’t flinch when I asked for 11.5 so they may have bigger also.
I also found an eBay reseller with lots of good ratings (ie: it’s legit stuff) that has some hard to find stuff selling at inflated, but competitive prices (eg: Concord Retro AJ11s @ $400USD) and who is located in Taipei. I sent a question asking if they had a physical location for pickup. Will wait to hear back and will post here what I find out.
I’m looking for US 13 mostly. Near impossible in Taiwan.
But I could do with some NB and Nikes in US 10 that have not been released in Europe.
[quote=“rosarot”]I’m looking for US 13 mostly. Near impossible in Taiwan.
[/quote]
They are around, just not in the wide range of selection, should be able to find some in the big Momentum store next to the Shilin night market and at the Nike Staff Store on Minsheng.
Thanks, I’m gonna check them out sometime soon.