El-evate

El-evate is a shoe store featured in the 2022 Disney+ original film Sneakerella
==Background==
El-evate is a shoe store located in Astoria in the city of Queens, New York. Founded as "Laces", the facility was owned by Rosie, El's late mother and Trey's late wife, who was loved by all throughout her career while working at the shoe store prior to her death. Throughout El's life, Rosie became a loving mother who helped El make the right sneaker for the right customer during his life as her son helped her mother's shoe industry grow. However, ever since Rosie died from an illness, El was left without a mother and Gustavo cared for El during his lifetime at Laces.
Following this, El lived with his stepfather Trey and his mean-spirited stepbrothers Zelly and Stacy. Throughout his life, Trey became firm with his stepson in trying to be busy in being productive for his mother's shoe store; otherwise, his mother's store would be repossessed and converted into a Foot Locker store. Over life, El finds a small hidden workshop dedicated to Rosie, which he remembers what his mother did before she passed away and seeing the sneaker concept art, El felt inspired to become creative like his mother so that he could go on to honor her legacy in helping find the right sneaker for the right customer who visits Laces. Some time later, Laces was at risk in going out of business about to be repossessed and converted into a Foot Locker store, which Sami thought of El who is at the King6 headquarters, while Trey became worried about his stepson not present. However, after El reconciled with his father and Darius King, tycoon of King6, and the rest of the King family for his bad reputation, Trey accepted his apology after El explained that he didn't feel like showing his art to his father, even while facing the challenges he had without his mother during his life at Laces. As a result, Laces was saved and was later transformed into "El-evate", El's own brand named after himself, resulting in the shoe store to be saved.
==Role in the film==
At the beginning of the film, Trey tasks his stepson El to get to work rather than his stepbrothers Zelly and Stacy, putting pressure on him by giving him no distractions while at work. Just as they leave, El closes his mother's store early and instead decides to catch up with his friend Sami. After El met up with Sami and Kira King, he meets his stepfather who is furious of his stepson not being present at work, furious of him for not being present, tasking him to tidy up the store. Just as El enters the stockroom where his stepbrothers cause a mess inside, he remembers the moments he had with his later mother Rosie before she passed away.
The next day, Sami and El enter the stockroom where Sami privately shows El the King6 Annual Charity Gala on a computer just before El approaches Mrs. Singh who is having a conversation with his stepfather. Just as Singh leaves, Trey engages in a conversation with El, who tells him that he spoke to a Foot Locker manager, telling him to turn this place into a Foot Locker store, much to El's worry. Later, El discovers his late mother's secret workshop in the stockroom seeing the drawings he made when he was a child. Feeling inspired by his childhood drawings, El used his curiosity to design sneakers as well as being inspired by the graffiti wall at Astoria. Later that night, El gets ready for the Charity Gala, only for his stepbrothers to lock at the stockroom, leaving him unable to escape. However, Gustavo arrived and rescued El, giving him and Sami a special car to help them get to the gala.
After Sami took a picture of the sneaker Kira was looking for and then Sami sent a direct message to her, Stacy and Zelly felt jealous and planned to keep El's sneaker design talents a secret. The following day, Laces is under the state of going out of business, as El plans to find another career. After El reconciles with his father, Laces was transformed into "El-evate", giving El his own sneaker store, keeping his mother's legacy alive.
==Trivia==
*The shoe store serves as the modern counterpart of Cinderella's Château from the original 1950 film.
==Gallery==
Sneakerella - Laces.png|El-evate under its original name "Laces"
Category:Sneakerella
Category:Shopping places