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After spending 8 years in prison, Cole Richman was determined to find his passion and turn his life around. With a little bit of street smarts and a whole lot of determination, Cole was able to turn $200 of government sanctioned probation money into a full-blown business. With almost nothing to his name, Cole took a risk and decided to buy a pair of Air Jordan 1s, which he then flipped for profit. Cole built his reselling momentum from there and before he knew it, Bottom Bunk was born.
Located in the heart of Melrose, Bottom Bunk Sneaker House sits right in the middle of LA’s sneaker shopping hub. As the founder and creative director, Cole incorporates his time behind bars into the store’s aesthetic and purpose. More than just new releases and sneaker grails, Cole provides resources for formerly incarcerated people that are in need of direction. A portion of every sale from Bottom Bunk helps to fund programs that aid formerly incarcerated people that are transitioning back into society.
Outside of the store, Cole spends his time as a mentor to LA’s youth and works to help former inmates stay out of the vicious prison cycle. Cole and the Bottom Bunk team are currently in the process of launching their own non-profit, in which the retail store will serve as a pillar in helping ex-inmates get access to mental health treatment, job placements, & housing post-release.
Cole has mentors of his own who have helped him get to this point. Bottom Bunk’s Head of Marketing, Nate Schlimme, has worked with brands like Jordan and Nike by putting together pop-ups across the country. Nate brings his background in business to help Bottom Bunk create a one-of-a-kind retail concept. Cole and Nate both hope that Bottom Bunk will be able to host private shopping experiences for celebrities, and that they’ll even be able to invite exclusive brands to take part in their mission.
The name “Bottom Bunk” is a reference to the bed that Cole slept in for years while he was in prison. As you take a look around the store, you’ll notice other elements that are nods to Cole’s time behind bars, such as the concrete benches, the single payphone hanging on the wall, and black bar finishings around the mirrors. The interior of the store has soft blue paint that is meant to honor the sky, which Cole rarely got to see while locked up.
Together, Cole and Nate hope that Bottom Bunk Sneaker House will be a springboard for not only the formerly incarcerated, but for criminal justice reform as a whole. The U.S. prison system is an institution that touches all of our lives in one way or another, and Bottom Bunk hopes to eliminate the stigma that ex-inmates endure when trying to get their lives back on track. Cole’s story of redemption is proof that there is a possibility for freedom and hope in an otherwise seemingly hopeless situation.
Get to know more about Bottom Bunk Sneaker House as Cole Richman and Nate Schlimme talk about how they got started, Cole’s vision for the non-profit, and what’s next for Bottom Bunk.
Nice Kicks: Give us a quick rundown of the Bottom Bunk. What’s the vision?
Nate: “We have a few different visions for the space. Obviously, being able to keep it like a blank canvas. People can come in to do pop-ups or any type of events, whether it’s educational, open-mic night, whatever. But the goal is to make it a private shopping experience, something that you’d experience at like a Tom Ford or an elevated place. So if Ja Morant comes through the door or we know someone’s coming up, we can prepare accordingly for their sizes. Maybe we’ll have a showroom of some cool up-and-coming brands that they would fuck with, some jewelry, stuff like that, – just providing them an elevated experience. We want to build it out, but still keep it fairly bare bones. So if someone wants to come in and take over, we just have some nice furniture and stuff that we can store. But other than that, we view it as a spot where it’s like come in, chill, and catch a vibe. A place where in LA people will look at it as a destination. We want it to be a destination for stylists, for brands, for talent, and all that.”
Are you guys partners?
Nate: “Cole owns the store. I run things from the marketing side. My experience is with Jordan and Nike, more on the corporate side. I’ve done pop-ups all around North America, like Station 23 in Chicago.”
How did you guys meet?
Nate: “Mutual friend.”
Cole: “Yeah. The person who actually showed me how to start doing shoes when I got out of prison is somebody who he grew up with. He and I became close friends and now we’re building the vision together.
Crazy, it’s such a small world for you guys to meet the way that you did.
Nate: “Yeah, 100%. My last 8 years were spent working on the sneaker side of things or in sportswear with entertainers, influencers, music, and whatever. Cole came out and dove into a slightly different, adjacent space in sneakers. But then now, we kind of land in the hub, and we’re bringing it all together.”
Were you interested in sneakers growing up?
Cole: “Yeah, my first pair of Jays were a pair of Fire Red 4s, back like in ‘91-’92. So for me, the culture has always been right there. I remember being in high school, like skipping school and going to Sportie LA and hanging out on Melrose. It’s like what we did. So I’ve always been right around it.”
How would you compare the Melrose culture then to now?
Cole: “There’s still the kick-it feel of Melrose, but because of its notoriety, especially directly linked to shoes. Now this is like a world shopping destination for more shoes. It’s brought a lot of different people. A lot of different backgrounds are all coming here now, to either get their vintage or get their shoes. It’s become a lot more inclusive as opposed to like, where the bad kids go kick it.”
So you do strictly resale right now, right?
Cole: “Yeah.”
Would you be interested in becoming a tier-zero retail store if the opportunity was presented?
Nate: “It depends, I think.”
Cole: “I’ll be completely transparent. The easy answer is like, ‘Oh, I want to make money and whatever is going to facilitate that the most.’ But really, that’s [plan] B. Option A is whatever is going to give me the most exposure to help people that were in a similar position as me. I believe that my divine purpose on this planet now is to use these unique experiences that I went through, so that people could look at the trials of my life, to be able to help more people. So whatever helps facilitate that most is what I’m most interested in.”
We’ve been told you have plans of starting a non-profit. What do you envision for that?
Cole: “God willing, by the end of next week, we should have the 501-3C done. I think that what I’ve learned is there’s a lot of really good organizations that are attempting to help people when they come out, but they’re lacking the experience of knowing what those people really need. Because I’ve received that help and I work with different organizations like ARC or Beit T’Shuvah, there’s been a lot of them, and we’re still putting money and time into those places, but also, I know what helped me. I know what actually facilitated my change. So if I could pay that forward very directly, with a focus on mental health services, which completely get passed up and become generalized like, ‘Well, just go to your AA meetings.’ There’s more there that’s involved in that. As well as strictly opportunity. Having somebody where you go and be like, ‘Yo, this is my idea. This is what I want to do, but I’m having trouble getting there because I don’t have housing’ or ‘I don’t even have a job right now that I can sustain, which is forcing me to turn back to the street.’ By providing that outlet, with something as simple as just a little bit of money, can go a long way in helping someone facilitate their dreams. That would be amazing.”
What are some unforeseen problems that formerly incarcerated people face, that society isn’t aware of or is ignoring?
Cole: “The first one is the state releasing you with $200. That doesn’t get you an apartment, that doesn’t get you a place to live. Then the other part of it is, I believe that with education for retailers, especially in this space, the fashion space, with some education about a person who works here with a unique story and unique skillset that comes from the street, that’s going to make them a better salesperson. I believe that with the right molding, we could be a hub that places people in career retail across the country. I could see someone coming out of prison with their street influence being a really big asset to Gucci, [because of] all the different cultures that are coming in now to the high end space. I see how it could help them and I think that if we had a brand that we created trust with, hiring people from this organization, it could open up a lot of doors for a lot of people.”
What’s the timeline for Bottom Bunk? It seems like this operation got started pretty fast.
Cole: “Yeah. I got out at the very end of May in 2020, during the Pandemic. In August, is when I actually started doing resale, my roommate in rehab, because I had to go to a halfway house, was actually the person who was doing it. That’s who [Nate] knows really well. He was kind of just messing around doing it and I was very interested like, ‘Yo, help me cop the shoes.’ He was like, ‘Well, there’s a lot more than just copping shoes now. You can make a lot of money.’ Which is something that wasn’t around. StockX coming in and organizing the space really did help put a price point on something, that there wasn’t necessarily a standard price for. So as I started learning more, I really saw how adjacent to street life and hustling really clearly. So from there, I started receiving shoes at the rehab. After about six months, when I left the rehab, some of my close friends were like, ‘How can we help? We see you killing it.’ I’m like, ‘Honestly, if I just had more money.’ Then they were like, ‘Well here’s some extra money. Get the fire going.’ I realized that in order to become a bigger facilitator in this space, we needed name recognition, which is what led us to opening up the store in November. We started the build out in July [2021], and it took us to November to open. Our goal is to use this as a platform to organize resellers, help more people in that space, and then make a bigger platform to help people that I feel are forgotten about.
Recently there’s been an uptick in sneaker-related crimes around the Melrose area. Does it feel frustrating to you that elements of your old life are nudging into your new venture, especially considering you’re trying to promote positivity?
Cole: “Yeah, of course. I think that it’s a complicated answer, but I think that the easiest way to explain it is we’re a new business that’s trying to help people. As we get bigger in this space and invite the culture in, this will become a sacred place, and it’ll become a lot safer because people will want to keep this in their culture and not push people out of it. If you walk into other shoe stores around Melrose, you can spend a half hour there and never get helped. For us, just by putting the sizes and the QR codes allows someone to help themselves, but we also completely train our workers to want to help. So by having conversations or even the QR codes, it all makes it feel more inclusive, which is going to invite more people to feel comfortable sneaker shopping, which will also invite the culture in more, which will hopefully will make this a mecca, and keep those people out, or invite them in and keep it safer.”
Nate: “Going back to what this Melrose-Fairfax community is and what it was built on, a lot of the stuff is from streetwear and skateboarding standpoint. People would come chill after school, which made it a hub and a community. We’re trying to bring that feeling back.”
Would you consider yourself a mentor to Cole?
Nate: “Maybe in certain aspects, but I think Cole brought a really interesting sense of just straight hustle and relationship building, which is transferable to every single business, but it’s especially important sneakers. [Cole] gets the brunt of it, where he’s like, ‘At the end of the day, we got to get the dope shoes in the space.’ If you have a great product, that’s number one, and then there’s of course expertise that I can bring from a marketing, design, and PR standpoint. But outside of that, he built the product and I’m just here to help fill in the gaps.”
Cole: “He’s minimizing it a lot. Nate and my business partner [Shi], taught me a lot. I know how to get everything together, but he showed me a lot about how to have human resources and hire employees. So he taught me a lot about the business part. And before I went to prison, things like TikTok, Snapchat, and Instagram had just started. I never used them. Nate helping me facilitate how to maximize and leverage that part of the world has been invaluable, as well as his friendship, and his understanding of shoes and business. I know I’m lucky to have them in my life.”
Nate: “In general, we have a pretty dope team. It’s super small. Him and I, and then two other business partners who have been successful in their own space that bring a lot to the table. It’s a small operations and retail team, but they’ve been around the block, too, and they’ve been through some wild experiences as well, that kind of relates to some of the shit that Cole has dealt with too. It’s crazy how it all kind of came together and all the people that we have here.”
Cole: “It really is family. Honestly, everyone here I feel personally close to because I’m invested in their lives, not just as an employer, but as a friend wanting to hear about how I can help them become a better version of themselves. We have people that have been to prison that work here, and we have people that have dealt with their own mental health issues. So being a facilitator for their change and getting better, that’s what we’re all about.”
What was it like being released from prison during the middle of a global pandemic?
Cole: “I actually got released from [solitary confinement] because of COVID. The prison system shut down and the world went on lockdown. So if I had come home to a world that had been open and was moving really fast, it would be really hard to get my feet going quick enough to jump in. But because of COVID, the world was stopped. It allowed me a really slow-paced world to be able to get my feet back under me, and get my recovery right – which was the number one thing that kind of led to all this. I was able to build my relationship with God at my own pace and get right in my recovery. It made me a better person at working as well, and as the world slowly started to open up, I was getting faster so I was able to keep up. It helped me on a personal level. It was one of the biggest blessings. Obviously, I spent 8 years itching to get out because I wanted to go do all of these things. The world being stopped allowed me to look at the new world, which had a lot of change, and let me pick my area where I felt like I fit the most and feel purposeful in. It just happened to be shoes and I feel really lucky.”
It’s a big jump to go from reselling to opening a store. Did you ever get scared that you were in over your head?
Cole: “We all have things that were fearful of that influence our decision making. You have to recognize that fear is okay and that you just got to make that next step, and the next decision. That came from my recovery. It was like you know what, I believe in God, whatever’s supposed to happen, is going to happen. So that’s kind of it right there. I’m doing what I’m supposed to do, what’s right in front of me.”
What’s been the greatest achievement so far for Bottom Bunk?
Nate: “Getting the doors open.”
Cole: “Honestly, for me, the greatest achievement is being able to employ 12 people that all have unique stories and come from completely different backgrounds, and making it a family. To me, that’s like where our success is going to be driven from.”
Nate: “I agree, and as Cole was saying, we’re kind of setting the stage for a lot that we have coming this Summer. We have a great team. We’ve been working with a lot of celebrity stylists. We’ve been bringing in a lot of talent, actors, athletes and things like that, which has been great. A lot of people are responding to the story as well, because in the sneaker world or anyone in general – you’re probably not too far removed from someone who has some type of story that is somewhat similar [to Cole’s]. It’s a no-brainer to try and give back to people in the community and connect all the dots.”
Cole: “I also think there’s going to be a ripple effect from this, in the sense that we’re telling the story, which just happens to be mine, but it leads to [someone else] telling their story to the next person that was influenced from this. With the right people getting behind it, and telling their story, it can be really impactful in not just California, LA, or Melrose, but truthfully, the United States as a whole; like criminal justice reform. There’s so many different avenues that we could go from this and make a big impact.”
How do you make sense of sneaker culture and the obsession that it drives? What is it about sneakers that make them so fascinating compared to other pieces of clothing?
Cole: “That’s easy. It’s culture. From music to sports, there’s so much attachment to it. Whether it’s artists that were wearing specific shoes back then, to Kanye creating his own shoes that are just as impactful as Jordans in a sense. People relate it to their childhood, to their culture, to what they believe in, and what they enjoy.”
What are some design or business trends that you guys have learned so far in the process of opening up the store?
Nate: “New Balance is interesting to talk about because I think they did a great job of selecting their creators that they align with. Of course, everyone has been going collab crazy over the past couple of years, but that’s not going to stop. That’s why you see guest creative directors happening left and right. [New Balance] chose everyone from Salehe, to Joe Freshgoods, to working with Aime, and all these people over the past two and three years. Some of these smaller creators get brought in early too.”
What’s the next step for Bottom Bunk?
Cole: “I think that the number one thing is we hope to impact and revolutionize the speaker world in many ways, from what’s going to come out in the next 12 months. We have our own hopes to tell our own story on blank canvases of shoes and clothing. We’re going to make our own merch and do our thing. We hope to be able to tell the story that hasn’t been told a lot in sneakers and clothing, and get it out in the world, and start making a bigger impact.”
Nate: “Yeah, if there’s an opportunity for Sean Wotherspoon to design his own Nike, there’s no reason that other people can’t be involved in the curation of clothing, or sneakers, or events, or whatever it may be. There’s no reason that we can’t all work together.”
Cole: “All the people that work here have an attachment to wanting to help people, and it’s more than just hustling up money to hand it to them. We’re all ready to get boots on the ground, donate our time, and figure out how we can be impactful. However that door opens, we’re ready to walk through it.”
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