Name of business: Hype Room 209

Type of business: Clothing and shoes

Specialty: High-end sneakers and streetwear

Location: 243 S. Golden State Blvd., Turlock

Hours: 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Sunday

History of business:

The former home of the Greyhound Bus Lines on South Golden State Boulevard in Turlock has undergone a dramatic transformation into a high-end streetwear boutique and sneaker shop.

Last week, friends Noe Reyna, 31, of Turlock and Christian Alvarez, 18, of Livingston opened the doors to Hype Room 209. Inside the renovated space are shelves full of sneakers from brands like Jordan, Nike and Adidas, racks of clothing from the likes of Supreme, Bathing Ape and Fear of God, and showcases full of accessories from Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Off-White and Chrome Hearts.

“It’s amazing to be able to turn this place around and finally open and bring a spot like this to Turlock,” Reyna said. “Especially near the downtown area where it’s predominantly women’s clothing stores, which are all wonderful, but we needed something like this.”

The business partners have each spent a handful of years in the sneaker and streetwear reselling business, whether it was online or as employees at other locally owned shops in Modesto and Riverbank. Reyna has been buying, selling and trading sneakers since he was 19 while Alvarez has been involved in the market for the past three years.

“I’ve always been into fashion, and before you know it, I just started reselling. I was winging it, to be honest,” Alvarez said with a laugh. “But it just came naturally. It was fun. It wasn't really much about the money, but it was about being able to appreciate the pieces that you see from afar and to make others happy with getting their grails.”

Reyna described opening their shop as a “leap of faith.” They did a test-run of a sneaker shop at a small space on Service Road in Ceres for nearly four months. And although they loved the city and the camaraderie of the local customers, Reyna’s end goal was to open a shop in his hometown.

“It truly was the end goal,” he said. “That space was great, but it was just about getting a feel. Especially in this economy, we weren’t sure how things would work out. But we were successful, and when I saw this space, I just jumped on it. I applied and applied, over and over. We finally got approved, and me and Christian went to work. Only took about two months to completely flip this place. We have to thank a lot of our family members, too.”

The space, which shares a building with Caddy’s Barber Shop, had been vacant for roughly a decade. But they were motivated.

Coming from small towns, the two know very well of the importance of hard work, which is evident in how they were able to renovate and design the space. They also know how certain products can be out of reach for many people.

“Me and Noe have been there,” Alvarez said. “Growing up, I always wanted the latest drops, but I didn’t have the money like that. Any chance I could, I would get Jordans or try to put (outfits) together, even if it wasn’t the latest and greatest, you know. I really couldn’t afford some of the things I wanted, so I get it. So this place can be like a museum for people. Little kids can come in here and say, ‘Oh look, these were the kicks Lil Baby was wearing the other day. I saw Drake wear this.’ It’s fun to look at what’s on the floor.”

“I never want anybody to feel obligated or pressured to buy something or spend a ton of money when they walk in here,” Reyna added. “I get it. It can be intimidating to see these pieces that you only see on social media or on celebrities, but instead of it being like that, you can come in here and appreciate the art that we showcase. I think that the culture is a lot more than just retail therapy. I definitely love seeing when the customers come in, and they're able to see the rare items that we have here.”

Among their extensive inventory are rare Yeezys, retro Jordans and seemingly endless Nike Dunk colorways. The shop tries to have multiple sizes of each shoe on their shelves. While the most common sizes produced of certain sneakers and clothing are for men, the shop also carries a handful for women and children.

Hype Room 209 is the second sneaker shop to open in Turlock since the start of the year, though the other, Shoe Palace at 1800-1810 Countryside Drive, is a national chain that only sells new releases up to a certain price point. The guys at Hype Room 209 are stocked with literally hundreds of shoes released from up to 20 years back, which can run for significant money. 

“But again, it’s not about the money. We're here to provide information and not just sell things to you. We want you to feel comfortable and know what you're looking at so that you have better knowledge, overall,” Reyna said. “I feel like every one of these item in here has a story behind it, whether it’s that Virgil Abloh or Kanye West designed it, or that this color is more rare than the other…  That's what we live for. We live for interaction and for the appreciation of this art. Because that’s what this all is, whether it's the shoes or the designer clothes or the Supreme toys, it’s art.”

Hype Room 209 can be found on Instagram at @HypeRoom209.