Neil Berrett, co-founder of the excellent Oakland booterdashery Standard & Strange, is many things.
A Viberg and Wesco makeup wizard. A dutiful procurer of Japanese fashion (including John Lofgren boots). A kind-hearted soul who legitimately cares about the people who work for him and the community around him. And perhaps most importantly, someone who spent his time detained alongside John Lofgren in a Japanese police station bribing cops with whiskey and attempting to get his hands on a really cool cop hat.
In the latest Shoecast episode, Neil tells that (honestly 1000% fantastic) tale, talks about how S&S comes up with some of the best boot names in the game like the Axe Breaker and why nobody should be afraid of the wonders of engineer boots, and gets real on what retail life is like in a pandemic.
Give it a listen below! It’s a fun one.