A new player has entered the sneaker game in the Philippines, and sneakerheads are in for a treat.

Foot Locker, the popular shoe retailer and an oasis in the desert for many sneaker enthusiasts across 28 countries, is set to open up shop in the Philippines in December 2022.

Ayala Malls announced in their Facebook post on 8 August that the Foot Locker store will open at the Glorietta Mall in Makati City. The Manila store will reportedly be the largest in Southeast Asia.

If you're into limited and exclusive pairs or just want something to use as beaters, Foot Locker boasts a wide variety of sneakers from top brands such as Nike, Adidas, New Balance, Converse, and Puma, among others.

MAP Active Philippines, a subsidiary of PT Mitra Adiperkasa Indonesia, made the arrival of Foot Locker in the Philippines possible, according to the CEO of MAP Group, V.P Sharma.

"This new alignment allows us to bring the culture of youth active lifestyle and sneaker enthusiasts to the Philippines to the highest standard," said Sharma.

Sneaker culture or resell culture?

It is no secret how sneakerheads are weary resellers usually getting ahead of others who just wish to buy pairs of shoes for personal use.

"At this point, everyone is a reseller, but only a few are actual sneakerheads," Dave's Almocera, a follower of the sneaker culture in the Philippines said.

"It's actually sad that most of the old sneakerheads have to pay for reselling pairs with higher value most of the time," added Almocera.

However, Almocera said he is optimistic that Foot Locker would somehow rekindle the old ways of "copping a pair".

"After years of lockdown, we'll have another avenue to camp in line to get a pair and interact with other sneakerheads while we're at it."