Sneakerhead University — Attraction in Chicago

I really wanted to love this place, but it didn't live up to the hype. Sneakerhead University offers a ticketed experience which gives you 3 hours to do the following: sketch a custom sneaker, pick laces, collect paint and fabrics, create the custom sneaker, dry the sneaker, and submit the finished design to Sneakerhead University staff so they can drill holes if you selected large laces then seal and waterproof it. While they drill, seal and waterproof you head upstairs to see the museum exhibit. You are advised to bring a new or gently worn pair of all white canvas or leather sneakers for customization. Upon reading this, I chose to bring a new pair of Nike Air Huarache's. I arrived as requested 15 minutes early, checked in using my ticket which was smooth and swift. I was then ushered into the studio and told where to sit. A few minutes later the studio staff encouraged me to browse the fabrics and laces for inspiration. When I returned with some camo fabric, studio staff was unable to provide me a Huarache stencil. He immediately recognized the shoe and it's name and came back with a sketch stencil for a different Nike. I spent 5 minutes sketching out my idea which required 2 paint colors and 1 piece of camo fabric. When I showed it to the studio staff, they returned with 1 paint color so after I finished I had to ask and wait for the second color. Half an hour into the experience we were told if our designs were ambitious there wouldn't be enough time to finish them. Most people in the class were still sketching our browsing fabric's but half an hour in I was already executing the design. If I had known this I would have gladly paid for 2 sessions since they are back to back to ensure I left after fully executing my idea. I ended up having to cut the fabric and the paint drip or they would not have sealed the shoe which would have rendered it unwearable. Since there's only enough time to do something simple like add glitter, change laces or paint 1-2 colors, this should be announced in the ticket sale description or at the very least when you check in. The museum was engaging, interactive and have several exhibits with good lighting. Although I enjoyed the museum experience, I left confused as to why there was so much emphasis on New York. So much NY sneaker culture, NY train stations, etc. I get it's focused on sneaker culture in general, but this is Chicago so they could have at least went all in for the Michael Jordan exhibit, a couple pairs of Jordans and Michael Jordan reel didn't do it for me. If you've never customized shoes before you won't have high expectations but since I have, this place really let me down. The studio staff spent most of their time executing designs for people who either came super late or couldn't stay off their phones long enough to focus. If you have a steady hand, don't need taping and don't hesitate to get started you get neglected and end up wasting time waiting on them to deliver the supplies you need to execute. If I could rate them separately, the museum would get 4 stars and the custom sneaker class would get 2 stars. Since I can't rate them separately, I average them and...

I don’t often get too excited, but when my niece surprised me with a visit to a sneakerhead university, I was thrilled. However, the excitement was short-lived.

When we started customizing the shoes, I asked for a specific type of shoelace, but the staff member just grabbed whatever he wanted to give me instead. I later noticed that same guy, along with his coworker, went above and beyond to assist the other guests, but not once did they check on my progress. Even when I asked for help, I felt dismissed and was rushed to complete the task. As a result, I had to leave with an incomplete shoe and finish it at home.

One thing I do appreciate about this experience is that it taught me I could have done this at home the whole time without wasting money and traveling to another state.

In response to the vendor’s comments, I’d like to clarify that I was not trying to add any specialty items to my shoes; I only requested wide flat laces at the length my shoes require, which didn’t involve any drilling. Additionally, it's clear that the staff primarily attended to female guests and Caucasian attendees without needing to be called upon, while I often had to track someone down for assistance and still didn’t receive...

Wish I could give 0 stars. I purchased tickets for 6pm on a Sunday. We arrived at 6:03 and the door was locked and there was no one at the front desk. We start to knock on the door with no one coming to the door to answer. We even knocked on the window (ridiculous at this point!). THREE workers inside the museum saw us knocking at the window and turned their back and still didn’t acknowledge us. They didn’t come to the door or even have the decency to explain to us why we weren’t being let in. If we were too late, understandable.. but to completely ignore a customer and leave them outside banging on the door is ridiculous. Just super unprofessional and disappointing. We also sent them emails trying to AT LEAST get our tickets changed to another date/time and still have gotten no response. We were really excited about this museum but if you’re looking for professionalism this isn’t the place to go. TERRIBLE experience so purchase your tickets with caution. Also the Journeys next door said a lot of people come into Journeys wondering why they can’t get into the museum so I’m not the first to have this experience....