IT TAKES A VILLA
The Lutz family, founders of the popular SneakerVilla urban fashion chain, reinvest their time and money in city neighborhoods. Other companies are doing it, too.
By Elizabeth Wellington, Inquirer Fashion Writer

When basketball phenom LeBron James came to Philadelphia last year to push his white sneakers, he greeted fans at a SneakerVilla store.

Christopher Ries and Hanif Muhammad of the Young Gunz pop in and out, as does the rapper Freeway.

On Saturdays, SneakerVillas are packed. Workers wearing tomato-red "It's a Movement" T-shirts fill customers in on fashions from Akademiks, Rocawear, Phat Pharm, and Philadelphia-based Meezan. Even on a recent Wednesday, sale after sale rang up as Jadakiss' controversial single "Why?" blasted in the background.

It took them 15 years, but Chris and Ruth Lutz, with help from son Jason, have turned SneakerVilla into a 14-store urban-fashion empire. The company projects sales of $30 million this year.

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