About
EXTRA BUTTER x SNEAKER FREAKER INTERVIEW
Published: Jul 4th, 2008
A Tribe Called Quest said it best on their hit If The Paper Comes, “Hot butter on what, say what, the popcorn”. Now a gang of well-educated sneaker heads have taken the term we used to describe how fresh our kicks were, and applied it to their movie inspired store Extra Butter. These guys don’t do anything by halves. Thirty minutes from the hype of New York City, these Long Island cats are killing it with only the finest in street apparel and ‘extra buttery’ kicks! Having just had the honours of scooping their own Bo Jackson inspired Nike Tee, we find out why Butter Knows!
How buttery is life in Long Island these days? Long Island is straight gorgeous in the summer and life by us is very smooth. Our town has been growing with more shops and places to go out and eat, making Rockville Centre an even more buttery place to be.
Just how different is it operating a store in suburban New York, when you are 30 minutes away from the city? Is there any competition?
Well the city way seems to be about staying on the grind, but it’s no different out by us, we’re relentless and passionate about what we do. That “never not working” mentality couldn’t possibly apply to us more, but we wouldn’t want it any other way. As far as competition, Long Island is less congested, but competition is inevitable but we don’t worry about that. We thoroughly enjoy what we’re doing and just stay focused on that.
Where did the name of the store arise from?
Haha I usually enjoy listening to people’s own theories on our name, or watching that feeling of gratification they get when they piece things together and it starts to make sense. But essentially, it comes from our culture itself. “Butter” was always an adjective used to describe the very best of things, particularly in regards to style.
You guys are obviously influenced by movie culture with the fit-out complimenting the store name. Whose idea was it to come up with this concept and how did you foresee your customer base being drawn to the idea?
I believe that going to the movies is both very exciting and medicinal for people, and growing up I developed an enjoyable dependency on that, which even lead me to give birth to my b-boy name, “Cinematic”. The same could be said about going to get new sneakers, or even resurrecting an old pair, which evokes a similar feeling to seeing a great film for the first time or watching a classic film you haven’t seen in a while. The connection between the two is the other component that adds to the duality of the name “Extra Butter”.
Tell us a bit about the crew that run Extra Butter. Is it true that there is a long line of sneaker business knowledge and expertise in the team?
The crew is comprised of the absolute smoothest individuals that I’m endlessly thankful to for forming like Voltron on everything we do. We all got our start working for a “mom and pop” shop that has been around for 25 years. We learned from pros about providing reliable, neighbourhood customer service, catering to the athletic needs customers had, as well as the business ends involved in operating an independent sneaker shop. The invaluable experience gained helped advance our knowledge way beyond simply pining for retros and limited editions. We each stand for and offer far more than our latest buys or boastful collections, and we’ve developed an undying passion for the footwear business and are soulfully scientific with our involvement with the culture overall.
How did you choose what brands to rep for the store that would excite your customer base and how important was it to lace the ladies as well?
Well I’m not one to ignore the ladies in general, but how could you these days?? There are so many females doing big things for our culture….designing sneakers, running and representing streetwear brands, DJ-ing… (Hi Mafia!), it’d be an injustice not to fairly cater to the female needs in our community. When choosing brands I tend to look for companies whose style, personality and message compliment our own. I think the buttery treatment we put forth when we debut these brand’s new lines, makes our connection to them evident.
You guys recently had the honours of receiving your own Butter Knows tee exclusive from Nike for the crew. The You tube posted on your blog is hilarious, how many “wow’s” can one man say? Was it really a complete surprise or had Nike chatted to you guys prior to the shirts coming out?
Hahaha, since then the “wow’s” have become even more rampant and part of the standard conversation that takes place between us and our clientele. It’s also been enjoyable to exchange stories or teach people about the legacy of Bo Jackson, which the program pays homage to. I’m thankful to have been working with Tony Forte of Nike since Butter’s beginning and he let me in on the secret of this campaign. I decided to surprise the fam with it’s unveiling because we’ve worked so hard as a relatively new shop on the block, and I knew how much they’d appreciate that level of recognition.
Will you have the opportunity to work with Nike on a shoe collab? Are you looking to hook up with brands to expand the Extra Butter name?
That would be blockbuster, but only time will tell. We’d like to spread butter as much as possible, but our approach remains to let things grow organically and foster natural connections with the companies we work with.
Tell us about some of the dope events you have had poppin’ off in store. Extra Butter seems to know how to hold a dope launch man!
They’ve become staple to our store culture. A personal favorite of mine was my birthday party. Everyone who came through dressed up as a character from a movie, something I’m hoping now becomes tradition. The film screenings/parties we’ve done with VLNY have also been fresh with the party theme and films directly connecting back to the line. Our grand opening party was a precursor to all of this when we first rolled out our red carpet and the shop was packed and partying from wall to wall.
What’s Extra Butter on the scene right now as far as footwear is concerned?
We love the recent rollouts by Puma . Their classics have prompted us to do photo shoots, gather around lacing up in a million different ways, and even throw dance parties and give breakdance lessons to the kids in our community. We’re also big fans of the brilliant Blaze of Glory you Sneaker Freakers designed! Air Jordan also looks to have a strong rest of the year with heavy hitting countdown packs and the much anticipated “6 rings” still up ahead. There’s also other buttery treats that we’re excited about….coming soon!
Where do you see the store progressing? Will you expand to online sales and also open a store in the city, or are you guys content on where you are at right now?
We insist on growing on many levels, online sales being one of them. Even within a short amount of time we’ve developed a global customer base that we need to keep feeding. Shouts to everyone over at Sneaker Freaker, and those who’ve been supporting and a part of the Butter family thus far. We believe the “Extra Butter” experience is a special one, so if you can’t make it to the show, it’s only a matter of time before we come through to a theatre near you.
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ya killin us ..Good Luck.. the staff of MERRELL- HUNTINGTON VILLAGE
YO I WENT TO THE SHOP TODAY….THIS IS WHAT LONG ISLAND NEEDS….ITS LIKE SOHO ON THE ISLAND….KEEP IT UP
Hi Jay, it’s me Sam. I somehow stumbled onto your site and I’m really impressed. Good job
haha and it’s also good to see Maurice in some of the pictures. Send me an email! We can keep in touch through it.. take care!
Thanks for representing Long Island correctly! There are many fakers on LI but ya’ll come with true Flava!! Keep it strong on the I!!!
What aree the store hoursss???
Ni hao! This is a cool site and the shoes are fabulous!!! Do you have anything for Frank Sinatra fans, a.k.a. “old farts”? Maybe Nikes 60′s style? And, of course 60′s prices. If you have those, you’ll give Walmart a run for their money. Good luck.
Ken Fonitsua
Qingdao, China
Just stopped at the store….must say I’m impressed….to get an Undefeated contract is no easy feat and you had some pretty cool Quickstrike T’s….hope you guys do well in the years to come.
p.s. I don’t think the Jordan brand clothes in your store is a good idea its pretty lame. Good luck guys
Now I dont have to cab it throughout SoHo looking for t-shirts. Thanks for catering to the streetwear connoisseurs. Hopefully we can get more brands to grace the ExtraButter walls for years to come. Best of Luck.
very interesting.
i’m adding in RSS Reader
haven’t been to the store yet but did call and spoke to Jay…..def looking forward to something like this on LI, finally!!!!!!! heading over there this weekend!
Yo! you’ll got it going on. picked up my All Star 23′s last weekend and coming thru for the stealths this weekend. Wish you guys sold them early though. That jackass in Hempstead sells early, but i hate that spot.
[...] stopped by a shop by my crib in Long Island that opened up a few months ago called Extra Butter. This is a real good look for LI for the simple fact that aside from skate shops, we barely have [...]
working at another spot on LI, just wanted to let you know that fila is making a comeback and have a new shoe coming out called the “full strap”-it’s a classy shoe that can be rocked with any outfit for any event-get that ish in brown or black-also want to know if there are any job openings at the your place-write back and let me know-peace
im feelin your clothes….can you pleaz e-mail me back if you get new jordan products? thank you
yo you guys have the best store ever we ain’t got nothing like this down in florida keep it up.from all the skaters down in new port richey FL
WHATUPP, I JUST HEARD ABOUT THIS PLACE.. LOOKS DOPE, HOPEFULLY WE CAN DO BIZNIS TOGETHER.
- CHEKMINUS.COM
urrr, wass g0od, wah time yall close da store?? ima prob pass buy 2m0rrw 2 cop da 1s, aight, werdd, tryda email me baq wen yall get newkicks, 1
your store is sick.. sweet kicks .. only store like this on long island thanx for bringin this out here don’t have to go to the city to cop a new pair or sneakers.. any job openings??
[...] CA FTWRK – Richmond, VA Revive – Birmingham, MI The Attic – Cambridge, MA Premier – San Jose, CA Extra Butter – Rockville Centre, [...]
[...] CA FTWRK – Richmond, VA Revive – Birmingham, MI The Attic – Cambridge, MA Premier – San Jose, CA Extra Butter – Rockville Centre, [...]
these shoes are mad freshhh
can we order online or by a phone??
Love the site, store and vibe…….props to everyone involved! You guys the only store that had the “BX Knows” Yanks tees for back in late June? I was tryin to find one foreva….holla!
im sorry but you guys dont even have exclusives your like any other store on the ave ionno you guys have a good store dont get it twisted but damn a little bit too overhyped
wadup jay, idk if u remember but i was one of youre break dance students when u used to teach it down at the YDA in East Northport…. anyways ur shop is fresh as hell i might just stop by and pik up some dunks….
I haven’t walked in the store yet but i’m on the N4 and noticed the nike logo on the glass and remember seeing the words butter..so i quickly googled on my phone and found the website..sounds like a spot i will def hit up soon.
Just left the store 30 mins ago, got some nice stuff, I’ll be back.
Hai guys Good job , i like the way you present your product over here. keep it up
Yo Extra Butter,
How you doing? We are Carrot Clothing http://www.carrotclothing.net. Please find 2 minutes to take a look at Spring / Summer 2009 catalog: http://www.carrotclothing.net/Carrot-Spring-Summer-2009.pdf
Your shop is really cool, and I want to bring Carrot Clothing in. We have cool prices and our products have quality and moves fast. Please email me for order form or anything else you need to know.
Many thanks in advance!
Best Regards,
Alexander Gligorich
e: info@carrotclothing.net
p: 00381 62 622 110
yo are yall hiring? hit me up please
hey jay,
good job on your store. remember when you teached breakdancing at the Stars of Tomorrow Dance Academy? Well sure enough, I was one of your students. Good Job! I hope to see you soon!
Hi Extra Butter,
How are things going?
I’m a sales rep based in Canada working with brands like Acropolis Apparel, Alador & Smith, BloodBath, Fully Laced, GoodWood NYC, Subconscious Threads, and more. If your interested in seeing any of my brands linesheets, press kits, look books, etc. feel free to send me an e-mail to peter@thegoodiebag.ca. Thank you for your time and consideration with this. Peace.
Russ,
Awesome sneakers you helped me pick out. I was looking fashionable for the Mrs (especially since you know I dont have any style). Glad to see the store is doing awesome. It looks like everyones hard work is paying off. Keep it up and looking forward to coming back soon to get more shoes!