Earlier this week, Stockholm-based sneaker shop Sneakersnstuff opened their first store in NYC, prompting us to book it to the Meatpacking District for a tour of the new space. We arrived to find owners Erik Fagerlind and Pete Jansson giving the shop a once-over before it opened to the public the following day, and proceeded to chat about their brand and the significance of the new digs.

“We always had our minds set on New York City,” Jansson says. “Twenty years ago, we started coming here to go sneaker hunting, and in ’98 we started the company on a flight to New York City. We’d go back and forth every year to add flavor to the stuff we had in Stockholm.”

The latest in an expansion that also includes stores in London, Paris, and Berlin, the NYC shop owes its open layout, vaulted ceiling, and neon signage to Swedish architect Jenny Askenfors of Bofink Design Studio. The aim was to make it cool, but not intimidating.

“We’re trying to be an inclusive brand,” Fagerlind says. “We want everyone to feel welcome. That’s one thing we hated about New York fifteen years ago. Walking into some stores, if you didn’t know the secret handshake, they wouldn’t even look at you. That’s the opposite of who we are.”

Click through for a tour of the shop, some brand history, and a very impressive sneaker selection.