Succezz: Chicago’s Black-Owned Sneaker Boutique That’s Been Holding Down Michigan Avenue Since 2008

Succezz — Chicago’s Black-owned sneaker and streetwear boutique on South Michigan Avenue — was built by a man who promised God he’d become something if he survived. He survived. And he became something.

LaVelle Sykes grew up in the Robert Taylor Homes on Chicago’s South Side. He started working at Tony’s Sports in 1994 — a job that became his life raft, his education, and eventually his destiny. For 12 years, he learned the sneaker business from the stockroom up. By 2001 he was running Tony’s for him. He watched, listened, and recognized what nobody else in Chicago had yet built: a minority-owned sneaker boutique that put culture first. In 2005 he opened Self-Conscious, his first store. Then EnCore — the only high-end sneaker consignment store in the country at the time. Then in 2008, teaming with former DePaul and NBA forward Bobby Simmons, he opened Succezz on South Michigan Avenue, just off Roosevelt Road. “Two z’s because we don’t sleep,” says ‘Velle.

Over the next decade and a half, Succezz became one of the most prominent Black-owned retail spaces in the nation. Nike. Jordan. Adidas. Mitchell & Ness. A curated mix of exclusive drops, hard-to-find colorways, and streetwear for men, women, and kids — all under one roof at 2214 S. Michigan Ave., the only Black-owned sneaker boutique on Chicago’s Michigan Avenue corridor. The store earned a Jordan Brand account, a Nike collaboration, and a reputation built not just on inventory but on knowledge, community, and culture. Chicago rapper G Herbo has filmed music videos here. Sneakerheads from across the country make it a must-stop when they’re in the city. Regulars have been coming back for years.

In August 2020, the neighborhood Sykes had spent his life serving turned on him during the civil unrest that followed the Uprising. He watched from across the street as 16 years of his life’s work was looted. A police officer sat and watched too. What ‘Velle said afterward said everything about who he is: “I was able to get past it because I saw that they needed it more than I needed it. I know, because I was that kid that was hurting from something. And I cannot judge them without judging myself.” He rebuilt. He kept going. Succezz is still here.

“Being a minority in this game, we get overlooked a lot — collaborations, funding, accounts, getting respect,” Sykes has said. “Yeah, I have a brand, I have a store, but they’ve never acknowledged what I’ve done for this culture. I built this thing here in Chicago. I’ve never left it.”

That’s the thing about Succezz. It’s not just a sneaker store. It’s a way of life environment. It’s a South Side kid’s 30-year promise to himself, to his city, and to a culture he helped build before the rest of the world caught up. Come for the Jordans. Stay for the legacy.

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