HOKA has long been a big name in running, and for good reason (just ask the Dazed Clubbers who completed a 5K with GorpGirls last year). But the brand hasn’t become so ubiquitous that you can just pick up a pair of its trainers in your local corner shop... until now.
This week (January 17), the performance footwear and apparel brand launches Run Stop Corner Shop, an east London convenience store stocking all of your running essentials. From perfectly padded shoes, to snacks, and even scratch cards, avid athletes can snap up everything they need, using tokens – or ‘Hokens’ – from a working ATM at the store on Bethnal Green Road.
Launched to celebrate the world of running and its crossroads with cutting-edge culture, Run Stop also has some secrets up its sleeve. At the back of the store, visitors can access a hidden space via a blue-lit neon walkway, entering HOKA’s innovative FlyLab. Here, they’ll find the newly launched version of the Bondi 9, an ultra-cushioned icon that first launched in 2011.
If that’s not enough, FlyLab will also host Hoka activities and, of course, regular runs in collaboration with some of London’s most-loved communities.
Get a taste of the action in Hoka’s accompanying film, starring the British musician and DJ Scratcha, whose own running journey has put him on course for an upcoming marathon. Watch above.