Nobody knows sneakers better than the boutiques around the world that sell them.
Source: Talking Shop: The Best Boutique Collabs From Atmos, Undefeated, and More
I subscribed to Stadium Goods YouTube this morning. I typically overlook the channel and I kind of fall into the routine of clicking on Complex’s YouTube shows and I also subscribe to Jacques Slade’s channel, but overall I kind of mindlessly watch Complex when I’m packing and shipping kicks of my own. If I’m doing research of some sort for the website I will hit Jacques’ channel. I’ve never had a reason to subscribe to Stadium Goods, but that changed this morning when I started thinking about resale and the people that I see in the business now.
The video that made me stop and subscribe was this discussion on “The Best Sneaker Boutique Collabs” hosted by Fresco BK. Dude wasn’t acting corny asf or doing too much. He delivered a discussion on the best collabs with a cool delivery that spoke to the veteran in me. When I build with the community that I started in the sneaker biz with, the dialogue is a more mature approach that always hovers around the past and how things used to be. For me that means discussions on selling kicks to people who simply couldn’t find what they were looking for way back in 2004. It includes flea markets and meetups without threats and it initially meant trying to set up the first sneaker conventions in Memphis with one of the kids I sent to college to play basketball who became a sneaker shop owner, but eventually pulled away from sneaker culture altogether. Which takes me back to Talking Shop from Stadium Goods.
The irony in saying Stadium Goods reminded me of the past is that they are symbolic of the shift in resale to venture backed projects that have inspired an entirely new generation of resellers. As Stadium Goods has garnered multi-million dollar investments, along with StockX, GOAT, and Grailed, the people entering the business of resale have changed. I partially contribute this to Gary Vee and to the homogenization of the sneaker biz. Everyone is a sneakerhead now. It’s mainstream and that brings a host of new people into the business who have never really been a part of the community. They only see dollar signs.
There isn’t anything wrong with that. I can’t be upset at those who are getting paid, but somewhere along the way I’ve grown offended that old White men wearing Sebagos, khakis and button downs were inside of stores looking at ex dopeboys who stopped slanging to sell kicks and saying, “Look at these dope dealers getting in on our hustle.” This is not a joke. This was overheard. This recent addition to reselling looked more like Donald Trump than Quavo. To make things even more awkward this comment was said to an older Black guy wearing a pair of Roshe Runs who explained that he also flips houses and he heard how good sneaker resale money is.
There are guys who look like Napoleon Dynamite, guys who you can look at and see that they have never chased a pair for themselves all standing around and lining up to try and get a slice of the pie. The reality is it’s so much easier to do this resale thing now. The apps have removed all barriers and it’s not about relationships anymore. It’s about money and who is willing to drop off a few bills.
Stadium Goods actually snapped me out of my irritation with the shift. On LinkedIn this morning someone responded to a post I wrote on SRP and StockX by saying ” as a re-seller, I would never sell X shoe on any platform.” I assume the person had no idea of my level in the business and that they hadn’t read the post. It made me a bit angry because I know that this isn’t a person who has been at this for a long time. He was a probably like a lot of people who jumped in right when the hurdles to entry were lowered 5 years ago.
I subscribed to Stadium Goods’ YouTube this morning because the video above felt like a conversation I used to have standing in lines or just chilling. The people like me are dying off in resale. They are fading away and it’s hard to talk with people when I’m out and about now as the sellers now consist of executives from companies, house flipping business people, retired chefs who just started collecting and collections of groups of Asians who swarm and buy up small sizes in every Air Jordan 1.
The only dialogues I get to have now are with the ex-dope dealers who flip shoes in their neighborhoods. They may not know that the Jordan 12 Game Royal isn’t called the Blue Flu Games, but they have that hunger and passion that I had 15 years ago kicking it at flea markets showing people my receipts to prove that my shoes weren’t fakes. I can talk with those dudes all day. I can watch Talking Shop all day because it sounds like me and I appreciate that.