MEMPHIS, Tenn — The Snkrr Bar, a cleaning, customization, restoration and rehabilitation store for athletic footwear, has been open in Midtown for less than a year, but the owner, Dominique Worthen, is not only on servicing his customers, but also his community.
“I read a book that says to get everything you want in life, you’ve got to give people everything they want in life,” Worthen said.
So, he started by giving the kids here in the community jobs.
He is now helping local high school students keep some extra spending money in their pockets, while teaching them what it takes to run a successful business in the process. Something he wish he had when he was younger.
“There were adults around me teaching me how to steal, sell drugs, and uplift negativity in the same communities we were growing up in," Worthen said. "I’m just trying to show them a better way to do it by surrounding them around something they love."
Worthen gave Kamaar Chatman, a freshman at White Station High School, his first job. Chatman has been there for almost a year, and he says he now has dreams of owning his own business one day.
“It amazed me because Dominique was doing good things and I wanted to be a part of the team," Chatman said. "So I came up one day and asked if I could get a job and he said there you go. love shoes. It’s like another place in my heart."
It’s the love for shoes that’s giving these kids a different perspective that hopefully lasts a lifetime.
“You’re putting a sneaker in their hand and saying hey man you can create some revenue and keep a roof over your head by using something you already love so it doesn’t feel like work to them,” Worthen said.