It’s Never Just Been About Selling Shoes

By Gracie Eddins

Alchemy, according to Ace Graham, is a code word for transmuting humans into gold. It’s about turning our base qualities of fear, ignorance, hatred, and shame into love and fulfillment.”

For Graham, opening a storefront in the heart of Five Points South was never just about selling shoes.

“Alchemy is a store… it’s one thing but it’s really a lifestyle business of footwear and apparel of mixing demographics and breaking down barriers,”Graham explained.

Graham grew up as a military kid and relocated every 12-18 months.

“I don’t remember anyone from before I was 15,” he recalled.

That constant state of transition gave him a nuanced understanding of different cultures and the ability to empathize with different kinds of people.

Graham’s military roots landed him in Europe for the beginning of his adult life when he started work as a brand consultant and advised distributors of premium goods, on ways to sell to American customers. He brought his talents to the US and opened Alchemy as a creative boutique in 2015 in the heart of Five Points. His passion for high-end streetwear created an avenue to challenge social barriers. He opened Alchemy as a space to start those conversations.

Graham said the premium goods and specialty brands that they work with give them the credibility to welcome all kinds of people into their space.

“We want people to be able to come into this space and be able to interact with each other, and learn something about each other because at the end of the day I think there are a lot of issues in our society because we don’t understand each other,” he explained.

Seeing the needs in Birmingham and having the resources that come with brand partners, including Nike, Adidas and Puma, gave Graham the idea to take community outreach to a new level.

Graham started meeting these needs on a wide-scale level with Alchemy Cares, the non-profit organization of which he is the co-founder . They focus on fashion, art and music and are a platform for up-and-coming artists to help them develop brands, get product placement and create business platforms.

Graham explained, “Me sitting down with Puma, I’m gonna say, ‘Sure we are gonna sell goods and exchange cash and products but what are you gonna do to help me support my community?’ Our work through Alchemy

Cares is directly connected to our retail partners and it is about giving back to the community as best as we can.” The windows of Alchemy are full of display shoes that are often never sold. Graham and the team at Alchemy could have turned these shoes in for compensation, but instead, they decided to check in on their neighbors. They all hopped in the back of a pickup truck one day after work with 50 pairs of shoes and just drove around downtown looking for people who needed some new ones.

“Yo, what kinda shoes do you wear... Okay well take those off here is a new pair of shoes” Graham said they shouted from the back of the pickup.

That was a gesture from us just because we wanted to put shoes on people. This wasn’t just a one-time thing.”

Alchemy’s brand partners got wind of this gesture and wanted to be involved. This year, Graham and his team are on track to give away 100 pairs of shoes.

Graham makes it a point to get to know everyone on his block. He develops relationships with each of them. One specific relationship was the caveat for “The Alchemy Experience.”

Graham told The Local about this relationship. “We met Roy, who is a gentleman who fell on some hard times during the COVID-19 pandemic and was a little bit discouraged. We felt like we could help with that.

Graham and the team got Roy a hotel room at The Homewood Inn and Suites. They got him some fresh clothes, shot some photos with him, stocked the fridge and went out for a team dinner.

“We just wanted to make him feel welcome and connected to us,” Graham said. “We all had a good experience.”

Since that day, Graham and Roy have a growing relationship. They got Roy a cellphone and talk wit him a few times a week and are in the process of getting him an apartment. “It seems like this ‘Alchemy Experience’ or this one-time thing but it’s more than that. It is just our relationships. It is just a way for us to stay connected to our community and help people as much as we possibly can,” Graham said.

“What’s the difference between me, a 35-year-old business owner, and a 62-year-old guy on the street… a couple of bad decisions. I see them in that light and I understand that I’m no different than anybody else, I’m trying to figure out how to be myself just like anybody else.”