NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ—On the ground floor of “The George” sits a pair of sneaker and clothing shops: LMTD Supply (279 George Street) and its sister store, Lady LMTD (281 George Street).

The stores sell custom-picked sneakers and an assortment of vintage and new clothing ranging from 1990’s Nike jackets to 2020 Supreme drops.

Founders Josh Ubeda and Willy Murillo told New Brunswick Today they started selling sneakers when they were teenagers.

Ubeda explained that they always had a passion for shoes, but keeping up with the exclusive releases got expensive when they were working limited hours and going to school.

Now, they run a store packed to the walls with sneakers and a plethora of vintage and new clothing. The team recently celebrated the 5-year anniversary of the first storefront.

Sneaker Heaven LMTD Supply

The original store, and the sister store that opened last year, are just the front-end of the business. Ubeda and Murillo also have a warehouse stocked with shoes and clothing.

“The vision for the storefront location didn’t come into our mind until a couple years down the line,” said Ubeda.

“We had moved on to the point where we were running an e-commerce [business] while also doing events… We felt that we reached the point where having a brick-and-mortar location was necessary to further solidify our brand.”

For LMTD Supply, building the brand is more crucial than ever before.

A year ago, their YouTube channel had less than ten videos on it.

Since then, they have been filming “Inside LMTD” episodes: behind-the-scenes encounters with the team showing the everyday moments of running a sneaker and clothing store.

Their YouTube audience has grown to over 1,800 subscribers and their videos get thousands of views.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, they have also been growing their Instagram audience, where they have amassed nearly 40,000 followers. 

The team posts between three to eight times per day; ranging from an employee, Ike, hosting a fire sale to raffles of high-end shoes.

“During the times in which we were unable to open but offered curbside pick-up we kept in constant communication with our customers through social media and emails to try to give people a better shopping experience even though they weren’t able to physically come in and try on or see a product,” said Ubeda.

“Thankfully we received plenty of support from our customers to help us get through the hardships.”

Ubeda has advice for anyone trying to start a small business in New Brunswick: “The best advice we could give someone that wants to start their own business is don’t be afraid to take a risk. Also have a plan, structure, and system to execute your vision.”

LMTD Supply is open from 11-7 Monday through Thursday, 11am-8pm on Friday and Saturday, and 11am-5pm on Sunday. Their website is lmtdsupply.com.

Reporter at New Brunswick Today | jlevin@nb.today

Jason Levin is an English major at Rutgers University.  Outside of school, he teaches yoga, writes stories, and eats too much sushi. You can find out more at https://jason.dog.

Jason Levin is an English major at Rutgers University.  Outside of school, he teaches yoga, writes stories, and eats too much sushi. You can find out more at https://jason.dog.