James Whitner’s A Ma Maniére continues to grow. Following the success of its Air Jordan 3 and Air Jordan 1 collabs, the luxury brand under The Whitaker Group brand is taking things up a few levels while staying true to AMM’s commitment to authentic storytelling rooted within the Black community.
A Ma Maniére will be opening a five-floor store in Atlanta, near Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s historic home, according to Footwear News’ Peter Verry.
“It’s a true Black enclave. The idea that you can have Black entrepreneurship anchor an area is incredible,” James Whitner told Footwear News. “We were partying a block over at 2 a.m. when I realized, ‘We need to do something much bigger here. This is where culture lives; culture actually happened here — civil rights, segregation, Jim Crow, Martin Luther King and Ebenezer Baptist Church as the moment of triumph or uprising.’” Whitner said. “I was in awe in the moment like, ‘We can leave from the club and walk to Martin Luther King’s house.’ You know how crazy that sounds? The symbolism [is meaningful]: ‘We’re able to do this [new store] because of that [moment in history],” Whitner added.
The five-floor building consists of 23,00 square feet. The first stand-alone A Ma Maniére location will include two retail floors, two residential suite floors, and a dining experience on the top floor with a rooftop lunge bringing it all together.
“For us, hopefully, this gives the people who are originally from the community a sense of pride, something they can participate in meaningfully. It’s definitely more than a shopping experience,” Whitner said. “It’s about everything the space offers and all the good work that we can do.”
The location opens in late 2022.
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A Ma Maniére Atlanta (Renderings via Footwear News, Courtesy of A Ma Maniére)
