Two men are recovering at the Regional Medical Center after they were shot while trying to sell shoes.
Source: Two shot while selling Air Jordan shoes
A couple of days ago two guys were shot during a meetup for a pair of Retro 5s. As with anything like this, it simply doesn’t make sense. With so many options now for selling kicks, you would think that in Memphis, the second home of Nike, this wouldn’t happen.
The problem is, this is Memphis. We have one of the highest crime rates in the country and the irony is we probably have more churches than any other place in the country.
As a strong advocate for the good in sneaker culture, it’s really frustrating for me to read or hear about this. Memphis probably has more Nike employees than any other city in the country. At the Nike Employee Store, you can go and park outside and ask someone who can go in to buy you something. Everything there is 50% off unless you’re on the guest list in which case certain items are only 40% off. With a huge temporary service hiring hundreds of people a month to work in Nike warehouses (a completely different discussion on cheap labor and Nike), a person can get a temp job and have access to the Nike Employee Store once a month.There is a Nike Clearance Store and Nike Factory Store here in the city with reduced pricing as well.
There isn’t a single pair of Jordan Retros that dropped in the last two months that sold out at one of the 20+ stores in the city that carry Jordans. Most of those pairs are on sale so no one has to pay retail. On almost any site eBay, Amazon, or 3rd party sites online you can find retros below retail with free shipping, so the shooting was completely avoidable.
I mean, there is a SneakerFest being put on by local sneakerheads in the next few weeks…
I guess it depresses me that kids are still risking their lives over kicks that aren’t even in demand like that anymore. I guess the thing that really bothers me though is that people think so little of life that they will shoot you over a pair of kicks. I mean… I know this very well. It’s been documented and a recent movie “Kicks” retold the story to a new audience in a raw and visceral way.
I guess I’m writing this to say to any of the kids who visit this site there is no such thing as a deal on the streets. I know that businesses can be conducted that way, but please stop putting yourself in harms way to save 20 bucks. A pair of kicks may make you feel important, but ultimately it’s your life at stake whenever you make a deal for anything on the street.
Be careful out there.