Sneaker Store Near Me by Union Square: Concepts on University Place

Concepts NYC has two doors, one on University Place and one on 12th Street, and both lead into the same pavilion. The shop is at 99 University Place, two blocks south of Union Square, and it opens at 11am every day. For a sneaker store near me search around 14th Street, this is the Boston brand's New York outpost, a 2,500 square foot room that splits sneakers, skate and the in-house label into separate zones.

Concepts started in 1996, when Tarek Hassan opened the first store in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Its flagship now sits on Newbury Street in Boston, and the company has also run stores in Dubai and China. The brand built its reputation on collaborations long before they became routine, and its private label line has grown alongside the sneaker business. Collectors still associate the name with storytelling releases where the box and packaging matter as much as the shoe.

The University Place shop opened in December 2020 as the brand's fifth retail location. Concepts designed it with the agency Sid Lee, and the launch coverage described dedicated brand areas, a separate skate room and a central pavilion that anchors the whole floor. Opening a store in the middle of a pandemic winter was a bet on the Union Square crowd, and the shop is still trading from the same corner in 2026.

The pavilion is the reason to walk in even if you are not buying. It is reachable from both entrances and holds a lounge area with a DJ desk and a setup for recording and broadcasting podcasts, so on event days it doubles as a stage. Around it, new releases and collaborations get the prime display space, with the private label apparel close by. Brand bays line the outer walls, so you can scan everything in one lap.

The skate room is the corner most visitors miss. It sits apart from the main floor and is where you will find decks and skate footwear, which is a nod to the brand's original mix of street, skate and fashion from the Cambridge years. If you skate, ask staff which shoes on the main wall also hold up on a board, since several of the suede models do double duty.

The range runs from everyday trainers to collector pieces. On cncpts.com this month, the Air Jordan Tatum 5 in the Laser colorway is listed at $135 and the Salomon XT-6 in pearl blue is $185. Converse First String Chuck Taylor All Star Hi pairs are $230, a premium take on a shoe most people own in canvas. Those three are a fair spread of what you will find on the main walls on an ordinary weekday.

The house collaborations sit at the top. The Concepts x Mephisto Match is $425, a leather walking shoe rather than a hype runner, and the ASICS Gel-SD-Lyte made with Above The Clouds is $220. An honest call: skip the UGG and Red Wing bays if sneakers are the mission, since those boots are easy to find across the city. Spend your time at the pavilion, which is where the store-exclusive pairs show up first.

The official locations page lists Monday to Saturday from 11am to 8pm and Sunday from 11am to 7pm. Union Square foot traffic peaks on Saturday afternoons, especially when the Greenmarket is running on the square, so the store fills up after lunch. Weekday afternoons are calmer, and the first hour after opening is the easiest time to try several sizes without waiting for a staff member.

Concepts posts its launches on an Upcoming Releases page and in its app, and big collaboration days follow whatever process that page describes. Read it the night before. If a release line wraps further than you want to stand, Flight Club is a block east on Broadway, and its resale wall is the fallback when a pair has already sold out at retail. You pay above retail there, so set a budget first.

The crowd is a mix of NYU students from the blocks south, Union Square office workers on lunch and collectors who came specifically for a Concepts box. Concepts collaborations are known for telling a story through the product, so regulars ask staff about the idea behind a pair before deciding. Staff tend to know which pairs run long, which helps on narrow styles such as the Salomon models.

For web orders, the return policy allows unworn items back within 30 days, with a $8 restocking fee, and it excludes quick strikes and collaborations. Treat in-store collaboration buys as final and try both sizes before paying. Students should look at the student discount policy on the website before they shop, since it is listed there as a separate page.

The 14th Street–Union Square station is about two blocks north, with the 4, 5, 6, L, N, Q, R and W trains, which makes Concepts one of the easiest sneaker stops to reach from Brooklyn or Queens. Walk out the 12th Street door and you are a short block from the Strand on Broadway, the used bookstore known for its 18 miles of books, which is the best rainy-day pairing in the area.

Heading south down University Place brings you to Washington Square Park in under ten minutes, past a string of cafes and diners that fill with students in the afternoon. On market days, Union Square Greenmarket to the north is a good place to pick up apples or cider before the train home. If you want one more shop, the Broadway corridor between 12th and 8th Streets still has several footwear stores.

Concepts NYC is at 99 University Place, New York, NY 10003, with a second entrance on 12th Street. Hours are Monday to Saturday 11am to 8pm and Sunday 11am to 7pm. The nearest subway is 14th Street–Union Square. Prices above are taken from cncpts.com and can vary by colorway and size in the store.

Check Upcoming Releases before launch days, try sizes before buying collaborations, and look for the skate room in the back. Ask Karpo in the Karpo APP to line up a Union Square sneaker route or a Greenwich Village lunch nearby.