i’m sure there will be more to come from this collaboration posted on ts so let me take this time to introduce an east meets west tale: Vans DQM. vans teamed with independently owned nyc skate staple chris keeffe and dqm to bring us the best of both worlds.  i’m not a huge fan of the ever growing popularity and need for every brand to have a “boutique-esk” store especially skate/snow/surf brands but i get it. especially if you are trying to have your store downtown; high rents = less products in store with higher almost unreasonable prices for young skaters probably not making that much to begin with (who lets remember, are the real heart and soul of the sport). but, this is the nature of the beast these days. i’m not saying the store isn’t core or doesn’t have a very nice decor and layout because it is and does, i’m just sayyyin. by jr