5 Questions with Erik “Shake” James, owner of Clicks in Shorewood

Erik “Shake” James is a Milwaukee native, entrepreneur, sneaker culture pioneer, and owner of Clicks in Shorewood and on Milwaukee’s east side. In 2015, he partnered with Darryl McDaniels to open Clicks, a boutique that quickly became a destination for sneaker enthusiasts throughout the region. He has worked extensively with Adidas. Beyond retail, James is widely recognized for his commitment to community engagement and youth empowerment. Through shoe giveaways, mentorship initiatives, educational programs, and collaborations with local organizations, he has consistently used his platform to create opportunities for young people across Milwaukee.

He has a valuable partnership with Visit Milwaukee. One of the most visible outcomes of the partnership has been a series of Milwaukee-inspired Adidas sneaker releases created by James in collaboration with Visit Milwaukee and Summerfest. The 2026 “View Finder” Adidas Samba featured a map of Milwaukee neighborhoods and was accompanied by a Visit Milwaukee digital visitor experience highlighting attractions, restaurants, and cultural destinations throughout the city. Each shoe purchase also included access to Summerfest, connecting tourism, music, and local pride. 

Q: How did you become a sneakerhead? And how have sneakers changed your life?

James: “I just always liked sneakers. Growing up, my mother worked at this store called Woolworth. She saved money and took me to the store to get me a brand-new pair of sneakers. She told me to go grab the shoes I wanted. And I went past the shoes that they thought I was going to touch, and I grabbed a pair of Adidas. It was the greatest thing ever. I just fell in love with shoes from that point on.”

“Sneakers helped me to do more in the community to help more people and to show kids a different way. When I'm giving them a sneaker, they think they’re just getting a free pair of shoes, but they don't know that I'm just using the sneaker as a vessel to start the conversation. It has been really rewarding for me to impact people in a good way. I'm happy about it.”

Q: You aspired to be a rapper, but your journey has led you here. How did you get into the sneaker business and why?

James: “I got into the sneaker business by accident. A good friend of mine told me I only wanted a sneaker store to get free sneakers, like I didn’t want to turn it into a business. But he said to me, ‘I think you should open up a sneaker store.’ But that seemed so hard and far-fetched to me. He told me to come to Portland and sit down with him and talk about it. So, I did. And I ended up sitting down with Adidas because they’re my number one brand. They were pitching me all these different ideas about where my store could be. One was saying it could be in New York, while another was trying to get me to open it on the West Coast. But my friend said, ‘Why aren’t you saying anything?’ and I said, ’Cause it’s not going to be in either of those places. It’s going to be in Milwaukee.” The room got quiet. Then someone asked, ‘Why Milwaukee?’ and I responded, ‘Why not?’”

“I felt that Milwaukee was dope and so underrated. We are cooler than other cities. We just don’t have a big national spotlight on us. And the thing to do at the time was work during the week, and then when the weekend comes, you drive down to Chicago to spend your money there. So that’s why I decided we needed to have the store here. The people here are so supportive. That’s how Clicks came to be.”

Q: Why is the city of Milwaukee the perfect place for your sneaker stores?

James: “I just feel like the city is so underrated. People here like good shoes. They like limited stuff. And I think those types of things would do well here. And it has been going well. I’ve been here for almost 12 years now. It just goes back to the fact that Milwaukee is a dope city. Milwaukee is considered a C market. And that means not a lot of big businesses are here. I just don’t know why companies don’t see what I see. But they are starting to see it because we got the (Milwaukee) Bucks winning the championship. We got a new area. So, it’s starting to catch on, and people are like, ‘Hmm, wait a minute. Maybe it’s something,’ and I’m like, ‘I’ve been telling y’all.’”

Q: You say that every sneaker has a story. Why is having the story such an important part of a sneaker? And do you have any favorite sneakers that have stories?

James: “The story is incredibly important. I had a collection of shoes that debuted last March called the Twilight Pack. Every shoe that I do, I want to have a positive message to kids in it. This one had #ShootYourShot on it because in life, you can’t be afraid to shoot your shot. So, if you’re a kid in school and you stutter, you might be scared to stand in front of the class and read. But you've got to face it. And that shoe sold so well. I actually just shipped a pair to Patrick Mahomes.

“I’ve got another great story about the pair of shoes I designed after I was diagnosed with cancer. When you go through that, sure, your family is supportive, but when they roll you back, you’re by yourself, so you’ve got to deal with that. I started thinking about my life and how, at the end of the day, health is wealth. I decided to design a shoe called ‘Idy Star Control Five.’ I wanted it to represent Milwaukee, so I did some research and found out the cranberry is our state's fruit. So, I made the shoes a cranberry color. And then I had a thought about whether the shoe could reflect in some type of way because I was spending so much time during chemo reflecting on my life. And the designer said they had this technology called ‘red reflective’. It turned out really cool. My son said they were my best shoes. He didn’t even know the story. We made 1,000 pairs, and they were a huge success.”

Q: I know that fostering youth development is so important to you. Tell me a little bit about J Academy and why you started it.

James: “The J Academy is my non-profit that I started because of the death of George Floyd. I have a store in the inner city of Milwaukee called Black Market. We had a storage space that was next to it. During COVID, I started to hear about how kids couldn’t do their homework because they didn’t have Wi-Fi. I decided to clean out the storage space and turn it into a space called Study Hall. We put a couple of computers in there and got a couple of teachers from Siefert Elementary.

“We started scheduling tutoring time for kids. It just started growing, so we created this other program called Fades for Grades where we let kids come and get free haircuts based on their report card. After the death of Floyd, I felt like the community didn’t need another story. They needed resources. So, I closed the store and opened J Academy. We started doing a lot there. But we kept a small portion of the store there, so when I teach kids how to either make shirts, hats, or shoes, I’m also going to teach them how to sell. I want them to know there’s more that goes into it in designing a shoe.”