MEMPHIS, Tenn. -Every sneakerhead remembers the moment they became hooked.

“I’ve been in love with sneakers since I was a baby. I saw some baby pictures of me that my parents had me in sneakers,” said Sherman Harper.

And like Harper, the pair that put him head over heels.

” These (Grant Hills) were in the Easy Bay Book. I told my grandmother, ‘Hey, I want those shoes. ‘ We went to Foot Locker in Southland Mall. This is when you just walked into the store, no matter what day or time, them shoes were in the store, and then from there it was every week”.

From the sole to the shoestrings, every shoe has its own story.

” This was the first shoe that hit the $200 mark back in ’98”, said Harper as he held a pair of Penny Hardaway Foamposites.

And a brand new box still sweeps Sherman off his feet.

“It’s something about that new sneaker smell or just getting that shipment, seeing FedEx come to the door, and you’re like ‘ I got my baby’.

For Harper, his sneaker collection started as a kid but has grown into a business alongside friends Jerry Khammavong, Adam Ghueder, and Reginald Jones. The group founded Sneakfest, a bi-annual sneaker convention that’s been going strong since 2013, with the Bluff City playing a big part.

” Everybody knows that Memphis is a Nike city, so we’ve got Nike in our backyard. A lot of where people are ordering their shoes from are coming from Memphis, so it’s only right to lik,e let’s bring this convention here.”

At Sneakerfest, you can find the rarest of the rare.

Even if you’re just starting your collection, there’s something for everybody.

” You’ll be surprised, you’ll come in there and be like man, I’ve never seen this before, and you’ll walk away with a handful of sneakers”.

Even some of the country’s biggest stars have stopped by.

” We’ve had NLE Choppa come through. Jelly Roll in Nashville, his manager literally sent us a DM and was like ‘hey Jelly Roll wants to come through and he came in and had the biggest buyout in Sneakfest history.

Thousands of pairs of latest and vintage footwear will be bought, sold, and traded at the Agricenter on Saturday between 1 pm and 6 pm.