Photos by Brenton Salo
"Make sure that boss eats the burrito. Otherwise he gets hangry."
We stopped by to talk to Ian. About sneakers. About coffee. About socks. Turns out we weren't there to talk about coffee, we were there to talk about Lebronald Palmer. Deadstock's latest beverage concoction, and damn is it good. Like, really really good. But, his employees are worried that he's not going to eat his burrito before it gets cold. Or at all. And as it turns out, they're not that far off. Sure, he took a few bites while he was showing us the art studio that serves as Deadstock's office. And maybe a few more while we walked over to Index to see the actual shoes that inspired these socks. But, maybe we're getting ahead of ourselves. However, I'm not sure that Ian finished that burrito.
If you have had no real introduction to Deadstock, there is no time like the present. Ian Williams small coffee shop pays tribute to his other passion — sneakers — in a way that hasn't been done before. "Snob Free," like his coffee. There are sneakers on the wall. Sneakers on top of the refrigerator. There are even drawings of sneakers on the counter. And if you really want to get to the heart of the matter, check out this interview on Oregon Live from last year. Or read the feature on Sneaker News about the Wet Floor Dunks that he created. You see, Ian is really into sneakers. Almost as much as he's into coffee.
Then there were the bags that Ian had made to showcase some of his coffee last year. He's roasting his own now, in case you were wondering. Anyway, the packaging looks like Jordan 7's. You know the ones. The Hare. Raptors. Thankfully, they had a couple pair over over at Index that they were kind enough to let us shoot. They were more than busy while we traipsed around their space on a sunny Friday afternoon.
Click to Buy Deadstock Socks - Hare Green!
Click to Buy Deadstock Socks - Raptor Purple!
Anyway, Ian brought the bags of coffee to the shop last year, right around the time we were making socks with Will Bryant and well, you get the picture. His passion for coffee and sneakers and all things that surround both of those is infectious to say the least.
Just try the Lebronald Palmer. You'll see.