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Quitting to Sell Ugly Shoes with Adir Landes
125 Plays5 days ago
This week I am joined by Adir Landes, who is behind West NYC's social presense. We talk about his time growing up on the Upper West Side, how he help his mom understand sneaker trends. What it was like waiting for the Packer x Iman Shumpert drop. Working at B&H and how he ended up at Tip Top Shoes. What keeps him curious and what drives him plus so much more. Follow Adir: IG: https://www.instagram.com/durrlanders/
Tip Top Shoes: https://tiptopshoes.com/
IG: https://www.instagram.com/tiptopshoesnyc
West NYC: https://www.westnyc.com/
IG: https://www.instagram.com/westnyc/
Podcast Linktree: https://linktr.ee/myfirstkicks
Sign up for the Patreon: https://patreon.com/MyFirstKicks
Music by The DoppleGangaz: https://thedoppelgangaz.bandcamp.com/
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Chapters:
00:00 $6M B&H Customer
03:29 Mount Sinai Hospital
07:37 Fila Designer ️
11:09 NYU & COVID Impact
14:55 B&H: Tourist Spot
18:25 Shoes & Tiptop/West
22:31 Shooting Videos
26:12 Selling Ugly Shoes
29:41 Orthodox Jewish ️
33:35 Jumpman Denouncing ️
37:57 Sold Out Size
41:31 Drawing Shoes
45:51 City Bike Boys
49:41 Versatility as Store
56:02 Five Shoe Types
01:00:35 Tiptop & West NYC
01:04:47 Patreon Shoutouts
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction and Surprising Camera Return
00:00:00
Speaker
Like this guy comes and like he returns like ah this $20,000 camera. I'm like, whoa, like I'm like, yo, like, you know how many hours at B&H I got to put in? Yeah. 30 years.
00:00:11
Speaker
30 years for that. Yeah. That guy just got to. Yeah. So I'm like, oh, God. So like I call my manager whatever. he he deals with it. And then like afterwards, I just like look up in the system, like how much that guy spent. I forgot what the date range was. It doesn't even matter because it was so much money.
00:00:27
Speaker
it was like It was either like five or six years or something. But like over that span, he spent $6 million there. $6 million? Yeah. In just one store? In just B&A.
Special Guest: Adil on 'My First Kicks'
00:00:41
Speaker
What's good, everyone? Welcome back to My First Kicks. This is episode 247. And this week, I bring to you another special guest. Welcome to the podcast, Adil. I didn't want to put the name there.
00:00:53
Speaker
Yeah, you can. I mean, you probably just don't know how to pronounce it. Well, that too. Yeah. How you say it? You want to guess or should i just say it? Land? Land? Landese. It's like Bucky's, but like Landese.
00:01:06
Speaker
Okay. Yeah. I was thinking more like Andy's mints. Honestly, i' think I ever had those and I've never been to a Buc-ee's, but like back yeah I could use both of them to tell people my
Adil's Background with West NYC and Shoe Legacy
00:01:17
Speaker
name, you know? like That works. ah But um for people who are not familiar with you, how about you introduce yourself?
00:01:23
Speaker
I'm a deer. I work at West NYC in Tip Top Shoes, um both on the Upper West Side, both on the 72nd Street, both between Columbus and Broadway slash Amsterdam. So...
00:01:38
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, it's three stores right next to each other, Tip Top, Tip Top Kids, and then West. Tip Top is really like the full family neighborhood staple. Been there since 1940, so 85 years this year. Crazy. ah Yeah.
00:01:53
Speaker
I mean, I haven't been there for 85. If I did, I'm looking great, you know? If you did, you'd be like, yo, what is the skin regimen? I'm Benjamin Button yeah of the store, right? um i'm really I'm the guy that founded it. I'm just getting younger. um But no, so there's that.
00:02:12
Speaker
West is like our sneaker boutique offshoot. A few doors over. um That's where we get to do some fun stuff. Yeah. and get to carry certain brands that otherwise we wouldn't have entree to. And there's a fun apparel piece associated connected with it. So that's real cool. And kind of get to like put together or shape a lot of how that looks and, you know, comes together. And i mean, I've got ah great team of people that work with on that and,
00:02:40
Speaker
Overall, yeah, I mean, I've been doing this for, been at the store for almost five years now. And even though it's been almost five years, I'm probably like one of the most recent hires. yeah yeah So that's the kind of store I'm, that's the kind of store we are, you know, like we ah got people that have been with us for 30 plus years. And some people that, I mean, it's a family owned and operated store. So obviously some people that have been in it since birth. So yeah.
Influence of Family and Early Interest in Shoes
00:03:07
Speaker
Are you part of the family? I'm not part of the family. No, I'm not. How'd you get in then? um All right. So pretty much. Do you want like the back? Like how big of a backstory do you want? Whatever you want to share. We got time. I could waste all your time. No, you're not going to waste all your time. start. was born Mount Sinai Hospital. Shout out Mount Sinai, man. Shout out. I used to spend so much time at Mount Sinai. Okay. My godmother worked there. Okay. And so whenever I was like, because I used to live in the Upper East Side because my mom worked at New York's Presbyterian. We're in the Upper East Side. Like so on 70th, like right next to hospital. Okay. yeah Yeah. And so my godmother would watch me from time to time because she used to live on 90th and rest in peace.
00:03:56
Speaker
And so shes she was, she because she worked at Mount Sinai and they gave her apartment on ninety ah So I spent a lot of time just like, cause ah she like ran, forgot what department she ran in Mount Sinai. But yeah, I was there all the time. So I spend more time there than you did. Yeah. I mean, I was only there for the, yeah the only there for like the day, you know, maybe half a day. I don't know. I don't remember, but.
00:04:20
Speaker
You might have been there November 1st, 99. We might have crossed paths, you know? Oh, actually possible. Yeah. Yeah, maybe. The I was born, you were there. so And now we're back. Yeah. Now we're here. circle moment. We're in some basement somewhere shooting a podcast. We're in my friend's basement. Yeah. friend's basement.
00:04:35
Speaker
um No, but yeah. Yeah.
Early Career: Internship at Fila and Work at B&H
00:04:37
Speaker
So yeah, i got started, you know, with birth. You know, my first pair of shoes was... ah all If you're going to jump into that, I got to ask you question then. No, that's not the first pair that like changed anything. That just happens to be like what I was wearing at the time. Okay.
00:04:50
Speaker
But it was Jordan 13s. um I don't remember that. I was but baby. But yeah, pretty much. You were baby with Jordan thirteen Yeah. So, so here's the, that's why I wanted to like say like what, what kind of backstory. Cause crazy because like i don't know with shoes. Like I kind of like, I started really, really young. um Pretty much my mom worked in like on wall street. She was like an analyst. So she had to like,
00:05:17
Speaker
You know, give her judgment on how stocks are doing and like what's the forecast and all that. But like her main stocks were Nike. She was like the longest standing analyst to cover Nike. Yeah. So like she was heavily like she was very tapped in there and she kind of like used us as like a barometer for for how the stock would do. Yeah. Like pretty much like how interested her kids were in the brand.
00:05:41
Speaker
um and like don't know sometimes that was effective i guess so like she kind of like nurtured us to be like really into sneakers and um i guess just like really into consumerism which i guess isn't the best thing to teach your kids but but it helped her out you know um Damn. That's real. She was just like, nah, you know what? I'm going to be so into this that I'm putting my kids through this too. Totally. And she used to go to the mall with us and shop and kind of just pretty much be taking notes a little bit mentally. Like, oh, what are we into? What are we interested in?
00:06:19
Speaker
And ah so that was that was kind of cool because like she would get to go to she'd go to Beaverton twice a year and like get to shop at the employee store. Yeah. You know, like that's why my that's why I like those shoes. Like we always kind of like had entree to like.
00:06:34
Speaker
to to nikes at a at a good price yeah you know through that which is cool um which like all like the pictures of me as a kid i'm like wearing like dope nikes yeah which is kind of crazy that's crazy and then it it kind
Creative Role at Tip Top Shoes
00:06:47
Speaker
of just naturally happened like you know my brother was super into this stuff and um i was the youngest um so anything your older siblings do like you gotta you're trying to fit in you're trying to fit in you're trying to fit in and then like eventually you end up realizing that you did it better than them okay kind of cool you know yeah shout out to matt i did shoes better than you hey i'm gonna see this and be like what yeah yeah um but so so yeah i mean he you know
00:07:17
Speaker
like with that so she had a lot of friends in the industry and all that um friends to this day that like some of them i still know um and you would have thought like that's what brought me to tip top or anything um it's what started me in the industry it had nothing to do with me ending up where i like at tip top yeah specifically which is kind of funny uh that was like far more just like random um Did you like you picked up like a job? So, yeah. so my first job in sneakers, I mean, I was like really into drawing shoes. i mean, we'll talk about that later, I guess. But um in high school, like she got me a gig designing shoes at Fila.
00:07:55
Speaker
That's crazy. Which was kind of cool. Like my brother also worked there in high school. Like we both interned there. um so that was kind of like a rite of passage. So you're the reason why Fila disruptor.
00:08:06
Speaker
No, but i actually was, it actually was, it did coincide with that. Yeah. Which is kind of funny. Um, cause like I saw it happening like in live time. Yeah. And like, I was like a sneaker head and I'm like, like, i don't know, maybe like down the line, that's like kind of like shaped me a little bit to be like more into like, you know, from like a numbers point of view being like, Oh, like what shoes, like can we sell, you know, versus like what shoes like am I like profoundly attached to?
00:08:34
Speaker
um Because, yeah, like at Tip Top versus West, obviously, we're I'm playing and playing at both of those, you know? um But, yeah, so I saw that happen in real time.
00:08:46
Speaker
I was like, I couldn't believe it. Like, it was nuts. like Like, they were just doing so many of them. I remember, like, seeing, like, a pair of, like, Barney's snakeskin ones. Whoa. Yeah, just like they only made like 200 of them. And they're like I'm like, these are like Fila disruptors made out of like genuine snakeskin. I'm like, this is crazy. I don't even know if they ever like hit like anything. Because like i remember like i was talking to the the CEO at the time. He was showing me this guy, John Epstein, rest in peace.
00:09:15
Speaker
And he's a really cool dude. He was like one of the greats. And he was like telling me, he's like, yeah, like these cost like over 200 bucks a pair just to make. To make? To make, yeah, because they're like, they were doing all snakeskin, but the fact that like they got to the point where they had to, or there was a need for like snakeskin disruptors, like in my mind, that's like so crazy. Yeah, that sounds so crazy. Yeah, it's like, it's kind of like, And they were, cause feel that time was- That's like Rick and Morty like other worlds, you know? Like, oh yeah, this is like dystopian universe, future stuff where it's like, oh yeah, no, they need feelid disruptors and like full snakeskin. Like genuine snakeskin, not even fake snakeskin, like it has to be real.
00:09:55
Speaker
You know, yeah that's so crazy. Yeah. The fact that there had to be real snakes. Yeah. like Just insane. And
Family Influence and Passion for Sneakers
00:10:01
Speaker
it's also the demand. the crazy The crazy thing was that the man was so high that it can warrant a crazy thing like that. Yeah. That's that's like insane. Yeah. Yeah.
00:10:10
Speaker
And also like now there's no Barneys. Now Fila's kind of gone yeah for the time being. So like whatever. it was like like totally like as if it didn't even happen kind of. It's just like a thing of the past.
00:10:25
Speaker
But yeah. But yeah, so i was doing that and then college pretty much. i wanted to work there again, but ah John Epstein, who I mentioned, the CEO of Fila, he passed away before ah started college. And then like the new guard kind of like had like this. ah um They had a rule that they didn't want to have repeat interns. hmm.
00:10:48
Speaker
So I was kinda like out of luck yeah in terms of that. And you know like New York, there's not like a ton of sneaker brands or anything in New York, right? And then to make matters like even worse, like COVID hit. So like now there's like way less jobs and all that stuff out there for a college kid.
00:11:05
Speaker
and I being like, you know, sitting there in class for the first semester of COVID being like, this is not how I don't want to be in class on Zoom. This just doesn't make sense. Where'd you go? I was at and NYU. ba I was in ah in on a Brooklyn campus, the engineering school.
00:11:22
Speaker
I'm saying damn because you're paying NYU prices to be in the house. Yeah, I'm like, no, I'm taking a year. So I took a leave of absence, right? And I'm like, all right, this is going to be great. I'll get a job.
00:11:34
Speaker
Which like, in my mind, like, don't know. It probably was smart, but I was also like, I didn't realize like there were no jobs out there. hi Yeah. everybody's in the house yeah oh i yeah all This would be cool. i'll get a job. It's COVID like whatever. I don't have to go to class. And then like, no, there's just no like that wasn't a thing.
00:11:53
Speaker
So pretty much. Would you tell your mom? My mom thought it was a good idea. yeah She was like, yeah, she didn't want me to like go to go to school if it's online and not really getting the like most out of it. Right. Yeah, you're not doing it She understood it.
00:12:07
Speaker
um But yeah, so then eventually I did was like I got a job at B&H, the camera store. Shout out B&H. Yeah. um Which is why like I'm really tapped in with the gear that's here. you know I totally knew what camera we were shooting with, even though.
00:12:23
Speaker
Yeah, totally. Yeah. I mean, B&H I don't know, to me, every time I've been in there, because like I was at one point really wanting to really get into photography. So I went in there and I'm always, for some reason, in all my iterations of my life, I've been friends with photographers. Like I'm friends with Jordan.
00:12:42
Speaker
But when I was in college, i was friends sort of with a couple photographers um and they were like, yo, we got to go B&H. They got me to be really there. And I'm like, this place is hectic, man. It's like Nike town. But for cameras. And it's,
00:12:56
Speaker
closed on Saturdays because like it's Jewish like it's the place doesn't make sense but like they do so much business like that and they got the whole conveyor belt system that blew my mind so yeah my first day like I get there I'm like great I have a job They're like, all right, so this is what you're going to do. Like the thing's going to come off the conveyor belt. hu You're going to take the box like the the basket, right?
00:13:19
Speaker
You take the basket, you put the basket back on the conveyor belt and then you take like the object out of the basket. You put on your table, you scan the receipt and you scan the and you scan the barcode on the actual item and you put it in a bag and put it on a hook.
00:13:34
Speaker
Come back. do that again the whole day the whole day i was like you know like i feel like no hell though man but like i needed a job at the time because like i had nothing else to do otherwise i'm just at home like living with my mom you know i'm like and need
Adil's Career Path and Early Interests
00:13:50
Speaker
to do something I swear, like that first day, I felt like I aged like 20 years.
00:13:56
Speaker
we i get off I got off of work, I was like, damn. And you're like, a because there's nothing but a ton of older gentlemen. Yeah, yeah. i didn't want the guy that The guy that taught me how to take the things off the conveyor belt and put them back on the conveyor belt, he's like, yeah, I've been here for 30 years, man. I was like...
00:14:13
Speaker
yeah His name was definitely like Ishmael or something. I'm just like, yo, like after like, I'm going to be like putting stuff on and off and can conveyor belt for 30 years. Like, yeah, this is, this is nuts.
00:14:26
Speaker
Especially in this economy, there's no way that it's sustainable to be there for 30 years. Yeah. I've got no clue out. yeah like He's like, oh yeah, I get my, my 5% raise every year. You're like BNH pays that well. 30 years later, you can he's like, yeah, I got a house in middle village. Like, yeah, i don't, I don't know, man.
00:14:43
Speaker
the is it Yeah, that place was like, yeah. And it was like, it was like you gotta you got to know what you want. And then it's kind of like, right, this person doesn't sound like... then Then you get the little bit of salesmanship because like sometimes people on the floor really do sell you. Oh, yeah. But...
00:14:59
Speaker
I remember seeing it like because like it it became B&H became so big that it became a tourist destination. Oh, totally. And so people were in there and I'm like, I'm like, yeah, people come to New York loaded.
00:15:10
Speaker
Apparently they'll come go to Times Square and then go to B&H to cop a DSLR. And I'm like, you're spending a fifteen hundred dollars on a vacation camera. Why? It's nuts. It's crazy. But like, so yeah, they they do a ton of tourist business, but like the professional business is where they crush it. Yeah, for sure. Because like, so eventually like I only like thankfully like only for a few, like maybe like a couple of weeks or whatever, I was doing the the basket carousel thing. And then afterwards, like they got me to like do like the buy online pickup in store. So I'd be the guy at the counter that you'd pick it up from. There was a ton of us and like i was one of them.
00:15:46
Speaker
They liked me. Eventually I got promoted to like customer service, which is just doing returns. Yeah. Yeah. So like all the angry people come to me, which is great. Yeah. But the cool thing about that is I got to look up like how much people spent in the past like few years. Uh-huh.
00:16:00
Speaker
And like, so this was 2021, 2021. Yeah. And like, I saw this, uh, like this guy comes and like, he returns like a, this $20,000 camera.
00:16:11
Speaker
And I'm like, whoa, like, I'm like, yo, like, you know how many hours at B&H I got to put in Yeah. years. to put in 30 years for that. Yeah. That guy just got to. Yeah. So I'm like, oh, God. So like I call my manager whatever. he He deals with it. And then afterwards, I just like look up in the system like how much that guy spent.
00:16:31
Speaker
I forgot what the date range was. it doesn't even matter because it was so much money. it was like It was either like five or six years or something. But like over that span, he spent $6 million. $6 million? Yeah.
00:16:42
Speaker
In just one store? In just B&H. Who the fuck was he? I don't know. think he was like making music videos or something. That's crazy. Hype Williams. It could have been his guy. That is crazy. $6 million? dollars Yeah.
00:16:56
Speaker
Oh, man. That is crazy. And then you're you're just like, here, twenty I'm just returning this. like Yeah, you're the $20,000 credit. That's crazy. The crazy thing is he bought the camera. it just didn't work. like The camera just came defective.
00:17:08
Speaker
I'm like, imagine like would have been upset. You got a twenty thousand dollar camera and it came defective. That's crazy. Hope you've been enjoying this episode with Adir. And of course, you can help out the podcast by liking, subscribing and leaving a comment on this episode.
00:17:24
Speaker
Please sound off in a comments if you enjoyed something that Adir said. you know, or enjoyed something that I said, it really goes a long way and helps get the episode into the algorithm. And of course, if you want to go the extra mile and help out the podcast by joining Patreon at patreon.com slash my first kicks, you can get a shout out at the end of an episode, or you can also check out some additional content, much like last week's episode with Anwar, where I talk about the first time i interviewed him. That will be going on the Patreon. I will have the Portland trip up on the Patreon. I will also have this week's Detroit trip to Black Forward Forum on the Patreon. so don't forget,
00:18:10
Speaker
patreon.com slash my first kicks really really really goes a long way also liking subscribing and leaving a review goes a very long way but back to the episode so then how did that oh yeah so the shoes part of that yeah yeah the shoes yeah back to the shoes Right. So then it was going to snow one day. ahhu And i honestly like I always wanted to kind of work at Tip Top and West just because like I kind of knew their positioning within the industry and like figured that's like a great place to be. You get to interface with everyone.
00:18:43
Speaker
Like i mean, when I say interface with everyone, I mean like you got exposure to like a huge cross section of brands. Yeah. Pretty much like anything that's like over $100 they carry between the two stores. So like, cause of that, like there's no other stores that, that really do that. Like if they do, they're just comfort and they don't do the sneaker side of things. yeah Or if they do the sneaker side of things, they don't do like all the other brands, you know? So like, and I knew like tip top, like how to,
00:19:09
Speaker
Not just that, but they also like had a great history with the brands that they carry. like They're the oldest Birkenstock account, um one of the oldest Timberland accounts. like I think it's like the second oldest Timberland account. When I say oldest Birkenstock account, I mean in North America. yeah um And then like a lot of other brands they had like a very, very history partnership with.
00:19:32
Speaker
um so and like i grew up eight blocks away from it so like i grew up kind of shopping there you know so i wanted to always wanted to but like i didn't really know like how i'd do it i think in high school one time i like walked into west i'm like are y'all hiring and like nope walked out i'm like you know like all right man that's it shut down that's it there it goes but uh But so yeah, I was going to snow and actually passed by the Timberland store downtown.
00:19:58
Speaker
I knew I was going to get a pair of Timberlands, but I was like, no, I'm not going to the Timberland store. I'm going to go to tip top. And like, I'll ask it like, while I'm there, I'll ask them if they're hiring and like,
00:20:10
Speaker
again still covid like no one's really hiring i go there and like i knew who lester was like he didn't know me or anything but i ah buy my timberlands from like some lady who at the time like i thought was just like someone's grandma or something like i'm like this is such a unique sales experience like i thought that was kind of like super endearing
Creative Strategies in Footwear Marketing
00:20:31
Speaker
um that person actually just passed away unfortunately jackie um Many condolences. Yeah.
00:20:38
Speaker
Got to work with her. But yeah, while was checking out, like, I see Lester at the register and I'm like, hey, are you hiring? And he's like, Not really. And I'm like, oh, you sure? He's like, I mean, like, would you want to pack boxes?
00:20:53
Speaker
And I'm like, yeah, sure. Like I got like Tuesdays are free because I was like my day off at B&H. Yeah. Damn, was picking up a second job. Yeah. I was just like one day. I'm like, just only a little like one day a week or whatever. Yeah.
00:21:06
Speaker
um And then like he was like, yeah, sure, like here's my number. i was hyped. like I was like, hell yeah. like All of a sudden, I'm like, yeah, I'm really in this shit. yeah i'm like I'm back in the footwear industry. like you know like That's it. I'm packing boxes. The boxes could have like all different shoes in them. you know like This is sick. You're like, my foot is in the door. Yeah, yeah no like I got this. This is Right?
00:21:31
Speaker
right So then ah wait for Lester's call the next day. Never calls. One day, another day passes. Don't really get the call. So I call him. He's like, oh, I thought I called you. I'm like, you didn't. He's like, oh, my bad.
00:21:45
Speaker
He's like, you start next Tuesday. I'm like, yeah, sure. yeah um So then pretty much, yeah, I start. And like I was doing the box thing. Yeah. And yeah, I mean, like I kind of was like looking at that, seeing like how how else can I add value? Yeah. um So like, i don't know, i was also just talking to Lester a bunch about shoes, like during my like after work or whatever, like after...
00:22:12
Speaker
people like in the office like clock out you know the store would still be open so I'll talk to Lester and like see like what they could like try to figure out like where they're at you know like from a position point of view and like is there any way that like I could add value or like suggest some stuff that like could be right and then ah on top of that I was like yo why don't you guys ever like shoot any videos for Instagram or whatever he's like oh well we don't really like have anyone that does that mm-hmm I'm like, oh, like well we could try shooting a video. So like, it's like on my iPhone, start shooting some videos with them. And like that kind of snowballed because like they they like the videos um at the time, which was like cool. Like one of my like first videos, like the CEO of Birkenstock was into the video. and I was like, wow, that's cool. But that's just because like he's like a friend of the store. But like as a dude packing boxes, I'm like, hell yeah. Hell yeah. You were mad hype packing that box. Like, Yeah, yeah. I was like. That's right. Yeah. ah Like the tape gun. Like i was crushing it. You know? One after the other. Like I was just like waiting for the next box. You know? Like and I was listening to like.
00:23:15
Speaker
I was listening to. Unfortunately, it wasn't your podcast. I was listening to pots Complex Sneakers podcast. Don't worry. Whatever. is Mine wasn't. I mean, you know. Wait, no. I was out. I was out. So, yeah. But it's all good. I was just getting started. You on it now. no yeah on is i got You know? And I'll listen to this at work too. But I was like listening to that and I'm like, wow, I'm really like in this footwear show. I love that. yeah I love that. Because I remember when I first started working in GameStop and I was like,
00:23:42
Speaker
damn, I'm really about to get really into this gaming shit. Yeah, you know? Yeah. I feel that. Yeah. this of It's like you're just hype, you know? You're standing there and it's like almost like you're not like you're so locked in you don't like zoom out at all. You know, like you're like don't realize you're just like packing boxes because like you're just like so amped up on the fact that you're like in a stock room, you know? Right. Yeah. you know I mean, especially if you've been shopping there before. you Yeah. yo Hell yeah. I get to be in the back.
00:24:10
Speaker
Yeah, and like Mike, the manager of West, walks in one day like to like get some boxes, and I'm like, he's like, oh, nice to meet you. I'm like, yo, I know you. like I've shopped at the store before. like Yo, like you've been you've been the manager since I was like a kid or whatever. Kind of like starstruck, seeing him outside of the store. you know I hope he doesn't hear this. Yeah, he'll be like, oh, shit, you said you starstruck when you saw me. He's going to clown on me for this. I might edit i might edit this out. Yeah. yeah If you don't know, and if you're watching this, Adir's going to edit this episode. Yeah.
Collaborations and Industry Innovation
00:24:39
Speaker
Well, hopefully. Hopefully. Yeah, we'll see. We'll see. going to get the message on that Wednesday. Yeah, I can't do it. Yeah, I can't do it. Sorry. Yeah. I know you need it today. My bad.
00:24:50
Speaker
But yeah. So then whatever we... are So yeah, I was making the videos, all that, and then like I'm talking to a and talking to Lester and and Danny one day, Lester's father, who also passed away back in October.
00:25:07
Speaker
um do yeah um But we were hanging in there like, yo, we want to talk to you. They're like, so yeah, we like what you're doing with the videos and all that. Like we might have something for you like full time instead of like the one day a week thing. Like maybe you could be like more like, you know, like doing other stuff and like also take on like some like creative like direction kind of stuff and that. And I was like, yeah, that'd be sick. Like, hell yeah. Like, let's do that.
00:25:34
Speaker
So had to like put in like two weeks of B&H. And I remember like I'm talking to my friend to my boss there, I'm like, yeah, like I got to put on my two weeks. I'm like i going to work at a shoe store. He's like, oh, like a sneaker store. I'm like, no, like, like a comfort store. He's like, what? So they like sell like SAS and like Mephisto. And I'm like,
00:25:52
Speaker
Yeah. He's like, and you'd rather work there over like where we're selling like Sony cameras and shit. I'm like, yeah. He's like, all right, I guess you can go for it. He's like, don't know why you'd ever do that. You know, like, but but yeah, it's your choice, man. yeah This dude thought you were making like the worst decision in your life, man. Like you're really gonna sell like ugly shoes? And I'm like, yeah, like that's what I wanna do. yeah Like the ugly shoes sell, like there's there's there's stuff to do there. like could Like ugly shoes is a great growth opportunity, man. Like this is what you don't get. Like you're- This dude is probably, yo, you probably- where He's wearing like cooked ugly shoes too, you know? I'm like, yo, like you're wearing ugly shoes. Like this is perfect. Like this will be perfect.
00:26:36
Speaker
Like how'd you get how'd you wind up in your ugly shoes? You know, I'm gonna figure that out. Sell more ugly shoes. Yeah, exactly. find a way to sell like the most ugly shoes and like, it's gonna be perfect. but yeah like you All I'm thinking is like, yo, he went, we probably went back to the break room. Like, yeah, this guy's gonna, this guy's leaving to become Al Bundy. ya Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Yeah, that's exactly it.
00:27:00
Speaker
Like, and like, to be fair, like a lot of like our customers like would be like my grandparents or whatever. Like if they were still lot, like they'd be shopping there. Like, you know, like there's plenty of like, we're selling a lot of like extra, extra wides. And like, you know, I mean, I'd say like the footwear to like the shoe terms, but like, you don't.
00:27:18
Speaker
I mean, maybe like, don't know. We carry like widths from like, you know, there's like, so like the width scale is like, it goes like A, B, C, D, C is like kind of like made up.
00:27:29
Speaker
Like, but like, there's also like triple A and like that, like whatever there's multiple A's. Like the I mean, none of this stuff goes into like sneakers. Like I, I wish it was, wish did, but you're kind of just, you're kind of just saddled. New Balance does Yeah. But like you, you're like, I mean, you're not going to get Jordan's with a, with a, extra wide no you're not gonna get Jordans in a double Eddie yeah you know so it's like quadruple Eddie yeah yeah it's like a 4E that's like mean you'll get them and like I ordered a bunch 4Es today you know like
00:28:01
Speaker
people people There are people that need it. There's people that need it. there because like when you For people who are... You know you remember the foot thing at Foot Locker? like There was that other side where it would go to the left and right and people were like, why is there... Oh, the Brannock device. yeah Yeah, I don't know the name. yeah See, that's why you have me on. yeah like i yeah All the technical stuff. Yeah, exactly.
00:28:23
Speaker
Vibranic device is the thing you step in where they measure your shoe size, right? So like... There's the side part. There's the side piece and that goes out and in. So like, for example, like kind of... Like have like an unusual size. Like I measure like 12 like...
00:28:38
Speaker
like narrow. yeah know like so like In Birkenstocks, I'm a 45 narrow, which they only make like in a few colors. so like i like I can wear whatever shoe like if I want to, just like in a 12, but like sometimes like if I ever i get a shoe that actually comes in a 12 narrow, I'm like always like, damn, this feels good. Like, it's surprising. Like, I'm like, you're like, this is true to form. Yeah, no. This is real TTS right here.
00:29:05
Speaker
Yeah. Like, standing up straighter. And I'm like, whoa, like, why did I why did I get fly that time? could have been standing up straight. Oh, man.
00:29:17
Speaker
Before we go any further, let me hit you with the question that I ask everybody each week. Okay. That question is what's your first kicks? What's that first pair sneakers you absolutely needed to have? Okay, so, Sia, you asked, like, what you needed to have. i'd say, like, there was a pair that I got that, like, really, like, changed the game for me, for sure.
00:29:38
Speaker
um So, back to, like, my mom knowing people in shoes. Growing up, like, one of the, like, we grew up, like, Orthodox, like, modern Orthodox Jewish. So, like... um I like went to Jewish school, had a dress code, all that.
00:29:52
Speaker
um And like on Shabbat, like on Saturdays, had to wear like a white shirt, black pants growing up. So like I was always kind of like, the shoes kind of always could stand out no matter what. that was There was no restrictions on shoes? There's no not really restrictions on shoes. On Saturdays, there there were...
00:30:08
Speaker
generally but like still is a little bit more lax than like any of the other like head to toe pieces so so yeah like my mom knew mike packer through through work right so like i remember like growing up like going a packer with like my brother and like him being like yeah like you're like when i was like five years old or whatever and him being like yeah you're like too young to like shop here but like when you're older you can shop here all that So it got to a point where like, yeah, I was older.
00:30:37
Speaker
Yeah. I could shop there. I'm a seven and a half now. Yeah. That's an adult size. Uh huh. So I go there. Right. And like my eyes are like wide. I'm like, whoa, like there's a kid in a candy store and then there's like a deer in a shoe store. Yeah. But but yeah.
00:30:54
Speaker
Um, uh, I, uh, look around and there's like LeBron seven dunk man's and like crazy shoe. Yeah, awesome shoe.
00:31:05
Speaker
To me, like that was like I was coming off like my brother, really, like he got me very into SBs at the time. And like it was clear like it was SBs and then Nike basketball was the next wave, right? yeah So you got to remember like at the time, I'm in fifth grade. So like it's still pretty young, like still very like you know shaping where at where I'm going to become as like a consumer, as like a sneakerhead, that kind of stuff.
00:31:31
Speaker
so like sbs are really cool obviously like dunks as like have huge like blocking on the side you know like the big panels this is the exact opposite a lot of intricate details like super technical shoe yeah and that seven no thinking eights eights have the big zoom on the bottom sevens are the seven Sevens have the full length 360 air with the patent leather yeah and the fly wire on the side. Yes, yes, yes.
00:32:00
Speaker
I could run you through all the details, all the technical details because ah pretty much, yeah, I get the shoe. It's a Friday. Friday afternoon. so like that means like Shabbat's about to start. So like I can't really wear the shoe right away um because I got to wear like dress shoes. I got to wear like that kind of stuff. So i was just like the shoes are just like in my mom's room. And I just remember like kind of just like drooling over them that night. And I was like looking at every little detail and like like.
00:32:29
Speaker
I think like that shoe is just like so like overbuilt in the perfect way. Like there's so many hidden details like. Especially like you look at that old LeBron logo, like it has like, it says like LBJ in it and there's like a 23 and a crown. Yeah. Like all that just like baked into one emblem. Like it's just like super sick.
00:32:47
Speaker
Like not like the most like, not like a logo you could really like see from a thousand miles out. But like once you're looking close, you're like, well, there's a lot lot in it. You're catching all the Easter eggs. Yeah, all the exactly. Yeah.
00:33:00
Speaker
So like from that to just like the technical details, all the little hits that say like LeBron James and stuff. And like that shoe also is like the only one where like he's got, they got the graphic underneath the bottom of like him dunking.
00:33:11
Speaker
And like, that's one thing I always kind of liked with LeBron is like, Yeah, Jordan has like that. there's There's a Jumpman logo, right? But like you don't really like see that in game. Whereas like LeBron, you could see a silhouette of him dunking and it's like you could tell like that's LeBron. That's LeBron. And because he's got that unique dunk, you know? So i was like, I thought that's kind of cool. I mean, obviously can't say anything bad about the Jumpman, you know? Like that's like super iconic, you know? like But I'm saying like. You're denouncing the Jumpman on this podcast? No, no, no. I went on the podcast, shat on the Jumpman, and then I left. yeah but And then I edited it out. yeah know So we're cool. ah home not and No, no, no. All jokes. but yeah they are So thats that's kind of like what I liked about LeBron.
Insights and Aspirations in Footwear Industry
00:33:55
Speaker
And then you also got to remember like a couple years later, I thought, or like a year later, later that year, really, I thought LeBron was going to the Knicks. Yeah, I remember yeah yeah so that. was like To be honest, I thought the story you were about to tell was the Iman Shumpert's.
00:34:08
Speaker
Oh, yeah. You saw that picture? I saw that picture, Yeah. bat Yo, that was crazy. But like that that kind of just like shows like how I was really just like mad young kind of waiting in line for that stuff. old were you in that one?
00:34:24
Speaker
that was That was probably like a year or two later. yeah like Probably like two years later, 2014. If you're not familiar, when Iman Shumper was on the Knicks, him and Packer dropped the crazy eight.
00:34:36
Speaker
All orange. All orange with like the blue, a little bit of blue, right? There was like hints blue it. think it was just all orange and white. So then, yeah, you got I think it was the home colorway then, right?
00:34:48
Speaker
like They were like painting that home colorway. Yeah. And no, I think that's away away is white, right? Or is home white? um ah Away is away is blue. Away is blue. So yeah, well i think so Right. I don't know.
00:35:00
Speaker
Forget it. Yeah. But yes, check it out. I go to too many Knicks games to not know that. Yeah. Yeah. um But yeah, I remember when that dropped and problem is now they got all like the city connector. They got the city. Yeah. And all that. So like they're wearing like it's not standardized.
00:35:16
Speaker
Look, shout out Ronnie. He's doing his thing. Yeah. Yeah. I just don't, yeah Nah, home, I'm like 90% sure It's definitely white Home's white, yeah Home's the white jerseys Yeah, Alright, so yeah, he dropped the Packer dropped that crazy eight And I remember, I was like, I gotta go, I gotta go gotta figure out how to get there Never figured out Couldn't get the day off for the next day Because I knew if I went out there I was going to figure out come back home And it didn't happen for me But how was it for you? And do you still have them?
00:35:47
Speaker
uh so okay so how it was for me it was like i went to the knicks game earlier that day it was martin luther king day yeah i'm pretty sure um and like i really yeah i wanted to go and wanted to meet him on shumpert had a small foot it's kind of happened to me a couple times you're like i waited on line and like it was it was like the line was long it was a hefty line and it was like cold outside and i was there with my dad my dad went with me and like he was pretty fed up by the end. Like he Cause he went to the game too. Yeah. I think he went to the game too. Yeah. And he was real fed up by the end. He's like, yo, like, he's like, man, this isn't worth it. Like, it's just not, this is not worth it. He's like, this is like, this is like, you're worshiping the guy. It's like, goes against God. Cause he brought religion into it. Cause like, we' we're very religious, right? He's like, it's like, yo, you're worshiping this guy, not God or whatever. Like you're waiting online way too long for this.
00:36:43
Speaker
And like, I remember like, talking to Packer after, and he's he spoke to my mom, and he was like, because like i guess when we got in, it was late, like because it just took so long online, and Iman Shumpert said to Mike, he's like, yo, is that kid all good? like He was like, it's mad late. Do his parents know he's there? like You know he's here? And Packer's like, yeah, no, I know the kid. like He's good. like but But yeah, pretty much they sold out a... Oh, and the other thing that he said is that he told my mom that they would have took me in through the back or something, let me cut the line. But he said if anything with that line, if they let anyone in, would have just caused a riot or something. Yeah, for sure. Especially because you had... Yeah, it was a combine of mixed fans and sneaker people. Exactly, yeah. And you're just like... I mean, that's kind of the way to win though. lot of times like the cross section, like getting, getting people that like aren't into shoes, like excited about a shoe. Yeah. That's like so sick. Yeah. Cause like also it just brings people into shoe culture as a whole, you know, like the through line is welcome to the podcast. Yeah.
00:37:54
Speaker
but that was cool. So then like I get in and like, they're like calling out all the sizes that are selling out and like they sold out on my size so long beforehand. Yeah. That ended up being that the pair I got was for like my brother's friend. Yeah. Yeah. And a size 13. That's my size. that yeah you couldve got You could have gave it to me. Yeah. yeah You look like a European 46. Yeah. Yeah. Am I? sure Yeah. forty six yeah 46. Yeah.
00:38:19
Speaker
Yeah. I mean. 46. Yeah. This is how you're so into shoes. You can tell off of one look. Well, usually I could like, usually someone...
00:38:31
Speaker
Like, I could tell what size they are just looking at their shoe or looking at their foot. They get pretty close. Yeah. Because that's what I had to do lot. That's, like, my party trick. But then, like, after a while, people like, well all right, stop looking at my feet. Like, stop staring at my feet.
00:38:43
Speaker
And I'm, like, yeah, that's totally, that's respectable. i shouldn't be I shouldn't be out here at the party telling everyone what size shoe they are. Oh, yeah. He's a 12. She's a 6 1⁄2. And you shouldn't know because if you don't work at a shoe store, that's creepy. You know, like...
00:38:56
Speaker
It is. You gotta start having like your business card out. yeah And then you just be like, no, no, no just come tip top. I got you. Yeah, I got you. I got you. We got some Burks. We got, you you know, a little 10% neighborhood. See, it seems like you look like you're a wide foot. I'm like, i could I could hook it up. You know, like, where else are you going to get the wide shoes? yeah You're like, look, I know the arches are pronated. And from what I'm saying, you got a little wide gate on the outside there. So, you know, come on down. yeah Then you really become Al Bundy.
00:39:24
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, because then I could also sell them on like a footbed, you know, like I could sell them on like some sort of like, you know, insults. Yeah. Then then then a a hundred dollars shoe becomes three fifty.
00:39:39
Speaker
Well, no, so we don't do the custom orthotics. I got a friend that does. Yeah. um He would actually be a good guy to have on the show, but he's out in Kenosha, Wisconsin. OK. ah um But yeah, we don't we don't have a custom orthotic thing in our store, but like we'll sell like like ones that are off the rack, like some really good ones. yeah So like yeah, some of them will be like up there in price, like around 80 bucks or whatever.
00:40:00
Speaker
But yeah, i mean i could i could like figure, I could finesse them. I could get you, you probably need a pair of nine ninety s if your shoes will if your foot's like Yeah.
00:40:10
Speaker
A little bit hard to fit. And then like, really, you need someone to wear around the house. You know, like, like being so like, I mean, I was going to answer my own question, but like, we know that you've been, ah you're in and literally in ah around so sneakers ever since you were. Yeah. So like when you, when it comes to this. Yeah. So, so back to that LeBron seven. Yeah. That's you. My first kicks.
00:40:35
Speaker
Yeah, so so that one, i remember like I was looking at it like all night that night. Oh, the story wasn't done? Yeah, no, story wasn't done. shit. Yeah, yeah, this a good story, man. My bad. No, we're chilling. Yeah, so i was like, wow, this is... ah like I was looking at it, and I'm like, this. I'm like, you're probably like what do you mean by this? I was like, no, this is what I want to do.
00:40:59
Speaker
like I kinda just saw the shoe and I was looking at all the details. I'm like, I gotta figure out like how I could possibly one day do this. like How can I like make something like this? Cause like this thing is so sick. I've never seen anything cooler. like At the time, I thought that was the coolest thing like at that point in my life that I've ever seen. I'm like, yo, how do I could like,
00:41:17
Speaker
potentially one day work on something like this or like get involved with whatever this is to like, you know, get other people like inspired by just product or just inspired by like cool design or anything like that.
00:41:30
Speaker
was like, that's kind of what I want to do. And so like from then on out, like every day in class, like I kind of stopped paying attention to start drawing shoes all day. hey And like I'd have like my friends like doodle them in.
00:41:42
Speaker
And like I even have like emails from like teachers to my parents being like, a deer's got to like draw less shoes in class and pay more attention. Yeah. Which is like kind of crazy because like now it's like, yo, like now I should have been drawing more shoes. Yeah, you should have been drawing even less attention. You know? like I don't know why a whiles like ever paying any attention to calculus. like I should have just only been drawing shoes.
00:42:03
Speaker
That's crazy. I mean, yeah. yeah you Even just like fast forward into like you putting out you know or helping create you know the last two. Yeah, yeah. So, yeah, those, I mean, just projects with Adidas. Yeah, that was...
00:42:17
Speaker
Those were fun. um But yeah, yeah, we could talk about that or we could, I don't know how you want to take it or I know yeah i could tell you why you need a pair of house shoes and well i don't need why there's five types of shoes that every person needs to have. you know Otherwise they're going to walk out of the store and they're just going to have holes in their closet where they're just missing like a water shoe. Cause what are they going to do if they go on a hike? Exactly. If you want to hear more about this, you got to go.
00:42:41
Speaker
You got to go to Tip Top and we tell you how messed up your whole shoe situation is and we can do you right. Yeah, we can make sure you guys everything you know No, but like, yeah, what was that experience of like now you're actually, you've taken all of this.
00:42:56
Speaker
Yeah, so pretty much what. going to have to. What kind of happened? Yeah. First, real quick, before we jump into the story, because going to have to have you on again. okay yeah i go I know people- You gotta get me with the whole crew. Yeah, I know. We've talked about it. We should definitely do a live- like You wanna do it in the store? In the store. okay We can get everyone. We got handheld mics here too.
00:43:18
Speaker
We got speakers. Okay, yeah. Let's do that. We can do that. um but yeah so like you know so does like the was the first shoot that the good the gazelle and the uh yeah so like anything there was ah so pretty much west was kind of like out of the collab game for a while yeah um since the uh not the sauconies right yeah since so soy yeah i mean they did a bunch of sauconies yeah last project were like sauconies and kind of like left like a Like a a sort of like, you know, a taste in the mouth, I'd say like, whereas like they're a little bit hesitant, like Lester didn't really want to do another project. And I kept like trying to convince him like, oh, no, like it would be really cool if we do something.
00:44:00
Speaker
And eventually, like I finally like got him like on board and then like. He was like, all right, let's do it. And then so we start approaching like certain brands and they're all just like, all right, yeah, what else do you have going? Like, you know, what's your latest? And they're like, oh, yeah, we did something like eight years ago. And they're like, yeah, no, goodbye.
00:44:19
Speaker
Like, yeah, no, that's just not going to happen. Like, you know, it's like, yeah, no, we don't believe in like that. You all can sell enough shoes or any of that. So. Yeah, that kind of like that, you know, that proved to be really difficult, really like proved be a very difficult thing to do.
00:44:36
Speaker
Then like we saw like Phil from Unheard of, who, you know, obviously you had him on. Yeah, had him on. here Yeah. Shout out Phil. Shout out Phil. Good, good dude. Yeah. Hell yeah. um ah but yeah we had like i saw like we were in a meeting and like he was there at adidas and then like fast forward a few months we see he's on nice kicks he's doing his own adidas shoe and we're like whoa like we never even like so us like we're approaching like approaching like Saucony again you know we're like approaching like Clarks and like Red Wing and like smaller brands and all that we're like we never even thought like
00:45:08
Speaker
And like not to like say anything bad about those brands. Like I love those brands that I just shouted out. Like I'd still love to do projects with them. It's just like Adidas to me is like that's like way that's like such a big like behemoth. Right. can't even like there the other ones like they felt approachable. You know like Adidas didn't even feel approachable to us.
00:45:27
Speaker
And it was like how'd that guy do that. So the first thing like I tell Esther is like we got to find out that guy did that. Like we got to call. We got to call Brian, who's his rep um and like get on the phone with him and see what he did.
00:45:40
Speaker
So we talked to Brian, whatever. Brian's like, yeah, like what Phil did was this, that, that you got to really talk to Tony and you got to like really stay on top of it and pitch to Tony. then we call Tony because like I know Tony and Tony's like,
00:45:53
Speaker
Yeah, well, do you have an idea? do you have a story? All that. And i'm like, yeah, we do. Which at the time was going to be ah um totally like random. This would like, you know, City Bike Boys. Yeah. So was going to be like a City Bike Boys shoe. Right.
00:46:08
Speaker
And like, so we're passing super niche. Yeah. Super regional. Yeah. Super regional. Would have been would have been awesome. Right. yeah yeah But like whatever. So like that's starting to look like that's starting to shape up. You know, we got the deck. We got all that together. um Then we don't really hear from him.
00:46:23
Speaker
we don't hear from any of them right and like six months later you know that was february of that year like this is probably like 2023 february 2023 that happens and then we don't hear back until like august where like they're like you know like do y'all wanna come out to Portland and like work on this and all that? And I'm like, yeah, this is sick. like Lester tells me, he's like, yo, I almost didn't even tell you right away, because it just sounded like, didn't really sound real. Like, hey, you know, like whatever. so So we do it, the dates are set, I'm like, all right, awesome.
00:46:56
Speaker
um This perfect, except this is also the second week of school. So, yeah. So yeah, was like, this is, don't know, I'm going to finesse this, but I'm going to do it. Like obviously I'm not. You're back at NYU? Yeah, I'm still school at the time. Yeah, like, all right, so let's, let me figure out how I'm going to do this. But yeah, I'm like, I'm totally in, right?
00:47:15
Speaker
First week of classes, I'm talking to my professor. I'm like, yo, going to miss the whole second week of classes. He's like, why? I'm like, I'm going to Portland for work. He's like, oh, like, where are you going? I'm like, oh I'm going to like the Adidas headquarters. He's like, what, are you designing shoes or something?
00:47:29
Speaker
I'm like, yeah. And he's like, Oh, okay. He felt the way after that. He was like, oh, okay. Yeah.
00:47:40
Speaker
Oh, okay. So then I was like, all right. He's like, yeah, cool. like Just hit me when when you're back and like yeah like don't don't worry about it. And like I did it. And then whatever, the City Bike Boys thing kind of fell apart. And so it ended up switching to the wizard story, which...
00:47:55
Speaker
ended up being a lot of fun for us was the wizards are fine was just like there was it was a fun fun moment and it was fun to play into like some of that just like unconventional like approach to like presenting shoes and yeah that kind of thing and i think the way that you worked with like you know um what was it street oracle subway or subway oracle yeah my bad my bad okay and then like you played into like finding the shoe and like all the all of that i think was helped enhance the impact that it was able to have because i felt like it became like a cult hit after that. Yeah, I think it was just like that was a shoe that I knew was like a very off the wall kind of story because it was based off like an off the wall video we did a while ago and I was like, all right, like
00:48:40
Speaker
if we're going to do this we're really going to lean into it heavy um and we kind of just like one of those videos like is sitting at like over a million plays like of four million plays and I'm like that's insane yeah to me because like I remember like there was a was that the same weekend as like Columbia's came out oh yeah yeah think it was gone yeah i mean it was Jordan it was Jordan 11's it was for sure the same weekend as 11's I think it was Columbia's could be Columbia's yeah And like, I remember like our video got like more plays than theirs. Than the their camping video that they did? Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:49:14
Speaker
And was like, dang, like, like, and they got like, obviously they got more followers than us by like a good amount. yeah So I was like, whoa. Oh, yeah. Everybody, because I, yeah, when you first posted that and then it was a whole like teaser with the with the wizard and then like finding the wizard. I felt like i so I saw that a lot more. There was, yeah, there, it was, it was a lot of fun to, to do that.
00:49:38
Speaker
Um, but yeah And then ah think like the best part about it was kind of like, it just like played into like this versatility that we're kind of working with. Like we've, we've have a lot of different ways to be fun as a store, um, and ways to activate that. Like, I think, you know,
00:49:58
Speaker
just like it's not the same formula every time yeah and I think that's kind of like it's very important to us that we kind of get to change it up um because I don't want to be like a one note band you know like I don't want to be doing the same thing every single time um But yeah, I mean, I think that was like, that was super sick.
00:50:17
Speaker
After that, I'm pretty sure Adidas was like, what was the next thing you got? Yeah, I mean, after, so we already had like the next, we already had the 85th shoes kind of like in the works, like before that dropped, which was cool. Cause like they, they kind of believed in us a little bit. we were able, i was able to talk and talk.
00:50:32
Speaker
good enough you know like yeah smooth it in there yeah you know some of that bnh skills yeah i was able to finesse them you know them about the five types of shoes they need in their closet exactly and like why they need an orthotic in their shoes and it got them to the point where it was like all right yeah they believe that they actually needed the shoes that we sold them on you know and thankfully they thankfully that worked you know because i mean it's interesting because like so that was my first like You invited me to to the the party with Nina Sky. The first one, which the first the wizard party you had, Styles P, was crazy. Yeah, that was awesome. that was correct I watched that from Andy's ah stories. it was very crazy. That one, that was a lot of fun. yeah Funny anecdote about that one was like...
00:51:20
Speaker
Styles P came in like, cause like we we know Styles cause he shops at the store, right? And like he came in and he was like wearing like Vamero's or something. i'm like, i don't know, i don't remember what he was wearing on foot, but he was like, he definitely told us like, he definitely comes to the stock room and it starts selling it. He's like, yo, I need a pair of Adidas. Y'all tell me this was an Adidas event. like He's like, i almost wore tech fleeces.
00:51:43
Speaker
I was like, that's crazy. Yeah. Like, yeah, yeah. Yeah. I was like, oh, bad. Mike was just looking at me like, yo, you didn't tell him. I was like, I guess I thought I did, but I guess I didn't. Second event you had Nina Sky. Nina Sky. Yeah. For the 85th Shoes. That obviously much more serious project, but still had fun.
00:52:04
Speaker
Like storytelling is like a totally different mode on that one. Yeah. Big time. Yeah. And then, I mean, I don't know. Was there an event? There was an event. There wasn't an event for the Lavers that we didn't. But what we did do far exceeded any of our expectations. Yeah. And I think what we did was way more than enough.
00:52:23
Speaker
And I think what we did was ah super dope. Yeah. and that's the partnering with Zabar. Yeah, so we did, seated about like 90 pairs to the floor staff at Zaybars. Zaybars. Zaybars. Well, you're not from the Upper West Side, you know? Yeah, my bad. But like on the Upper West... a Bagel Works guy. I'm Bagel Works guy. On the Upper West Side, Zaybars is like iconic Jewish...
00:52:46
Speaker
ah It's kind of supermarket, really. i mean, it's not like it's not like technically kosher, but some of the stuff is kosher. And like I've been going there since I was since I was like a kid.
00:52:57
Speaker
You know, i grew up like down the block from it. So it's like. Kind of just like something that we always wanted to work with, but it just never really made sense. And then we had this shoe coming out and the shoe was kind of just like by all intents and purposes, just like us, like proving that like the rod labor is like vastly underserved in the market. Yeah, for sure. And that we needed to like just get the shoe in colors that aren't white, Navy or white, green.
00:53:25
Speaker
And we do need more white navy and white green. Like right now, we're sold out of white navy and white green. Send it over. Yeah, send us more white navy and white green. But we also need other colors like white orange or white red or white yellow or white blue. I mean, like white royal. Like, you know, there's tons of other colors that can sell on that shoe. And this was like, hey, what if we just do a color?
00:53:45
Speaker
You know, like what if we just prove that the shoe is like actually needed? So then once we did it, um like we're like, all right, how are we going to activate this thing? If we could, you know, it just so happens that it happened to that we chose white orange and it's like Zabar's is eight blocks away. We're like, all right, let's.
00:54:05
Speaker
What if we talk to them? And so we go through like I knew like Lester, like kind of knew one of the dudes there, one of the owners. And he had his phone number, but he lost it. man. Because I'm like, yo, where's the phone number? He's like, let mes check my contacts. and I'm like.
00:54:19
Speaker
It's like, I lost it. I'm like, all right, we'll figure this out. huh So i'm like, let's go into the, our customer data and like tip top and like, just search the name Zabar.
00:54:30
Speaker
And like, oh for the whole family like came up, like everyone, like it was like Zabar after Zabar after Zabar. And so we're just sitting there on the computer, just like looking them up, like their names, like being like, all right, this one says so-and-so Zabar. We look them up. We're like, then we like find them. We're like, all right,
00:54:46
Speaker
That's the one. This is the person. This is like Stanley's wife. And Lester knows Stanley. So like we could call her and be like, we talk to Stanley? And she's like, yeah, like talk to talk to this guy, Scott, that works there.
00:55:00
Speaker
And just like that made it happen. And like, yo, like I swear, like people in the neighborhood were like so like thrilled to like buy the shoes because of that.
00:55:12
Speaker
Like it was it was actually like way... but like we expected the shoes to sell out like over time. And like like we expected to still have them pretty much in stock now. um But like, because we wanted the shoes just to sit on our wall, you know? Like we know we need the shoe. like It's just gonna like,
00:55:30
Speaker
sell over time and like will eventually sell out of them but like that shoe probably sold at like double the speed that we thought it was going to sell at I mean it's a gorgeous looking shoe yeah that's the other thing is like I was wearing the rod laver a lot already like before the shoe came out and I'm like yeah this is like that happens to be my favorite Adidas shoe is the rod laver and that's probably because i work in comfort footwear yeah because like that shoe is like that's one of the five in the in the in the closet one of the five in my closet i got dude i got more than five shoes no i'm just saying because you're saying you got to have the five different types of shoes one the five types what are the five types that you have to have no okay so now you want to know what the five no i don't i don't because we're towards the end of the podcast
00:56:16
Speaker
You're to have to save that for okay yeah for the live episode whenever we do that. yeah okay But um now that we're towards the end of the podcast, deals with a little visualization. Since you just already said you're you're um my first kick store, we're definitely going to younger Adir.
00:56:32
Speaker
yeah And you know now you're you behind your younger self as he's about to open that box of those LeBron, Dunkman 7s. What would you tell your younger self as he opens that box?
00:56:45
Speaker
i If you want a job in finance, don't open this box.
00:56:51
Speaker
Was that you going to, you were like, yo, that was before, before, before that shoe, you were about to, you were like, I'm jumping. I don't i know what I'm going to do. if you want If you want to be a doctor or a lawyer or anything in finance or... Return these. Just don't open this box.
00:57:07
Speaker
This box is going to change your whole life. yeah So don't... I mean, just... I would have maybe warned myself. I mean, like, I think it was the right decision. Like, for sure. Like, I wouldn't really give this up for anything, but like...
00:57:21
Speaker
i didn't I would never know like how big of like a moment me opening those shoes would be. you know That's crazy, man. Yeah. I mean, hearing your entire journey is crazy.
00:57:32
Speaker
It's crazy. It's a fun one, yeah. And I'm like, and it's still going every day. you know like I'm just trying to find new ways to to kind of reach people in in footwear just through...
00:57:45
Speaker
Like I kind of like the i like the challenge more than the layup, you know, so you'll see some like some more of our projects come down the line and you'll be like, oh, like that's might be on a riskier side or something. But it's also just because or like how we activate it might not be like how you typically see shoes marketed, but it's kind of just like, yeah, I'm doing that because.
00:58:06
Speaker
I mean, A, it's more work for me. So, you know, like, yeah. Like, I guess, like, maybe I just, I'm addicted to the work or maybe also, like. No, you said it. You like the challenge. I like the challenge. I want to, like, see, like, what's another way we could do the shoe thing differently, you know? Yeah.
00:58:23
Speaker
Yeah. And in this world where, you know, in this industry where a lot of people are taking the same kind of routes, you are standing out. I have to give you your flowers on this. You are standing out. Yeah. You know, all of West, this has been standing out.
00:58:36
Speaker
And like, especially because, you know, like I was telling you when Andy introduced me to you, like I used to go to West when I was in high school. And so like, yeah, because when I was on the Upper East Side, like,
00:58:48
Speaker
I'd had to take the 72 across. Yeah. And then I could, it's right there. But like, yeah, like I remember. You ever go to a, you ever go to Pipe Dreams? Yeah. I went to Pipe Dreams. That's where I used to buy. Yeah. Pipe Dreams. When I said like I was into like its been SBs yeah before, like that's where I was on and New York.
00:59:06
Speaker
I think was. Yeah. In York. They sold me the Brutes, the Brute SBs, with a $60 Marco. Jeez. Because they were like, they didn't they knew I wasn't a skater.
00:59:16
Speaker
Yeah. So they gave me, they were like, yeah. I swear I thought that place was on the end of the world. Because I was a kid, you know? Like York Street. Like, I don't know where this And it's like nothing else there. It's in the basement. Yeah. And like...
00:59:29
Speaker
and like the place like you don't really hear people talk about it anymore or anything it's like it never really existed yes you know like i think we're the last two people because i remember trying to bring this this place up to other people and they were like never heard of it never the skate this gay store but i think they also like had one of the a i think they had one of the best sb accounts in the city and b i think it was just so slept on it they just had stock that like no one else still had yeah And like, remember, like my brother was like, he comes home with like a fire pair of dunks. I remember which pair he had that time.
00:59:58
Speaker
But he was like, yeah, like these are dope. But like, I really wanted to get this other pair. But like, I went to get rung up and he's like, and the guy was like 200 bucks. And he's like, oh, but dunks are always 100 bucks. And he's like, not these ones. Yeah, see that's what I'm saying. They marked me up.
01:00:11
Speaker
they bought me But then like. He should have spent 200 bucks. They were like lobsters. They were way when. That's like the first time. He definitely should have. He definitely should have. Let everybody know where to find you.
01:00:23
Speaker
ah Find me? Just find me vibing out like around in or around the store or like online. well push push We'll push the stores at the end. Push the stores. yeah The Instagrams and all that. Tip Top Shoes NYC and West NYC on Instagram.
01:00:39
Speaker
Mine's Der Landers on Instagram. kind of a nickname instead of a Deerlandies. Some my friends would call me Deerlanders. It's like evil me. Love it. Yeah, you know. Love it.
01:00:50
Speaker
um But yeah, that's it. That's it. you um And you know where to find me. I am who is Hassan on social media. is Then I'm going to kick it to myself to give the Patreon shout outs. And if you want to be on, shout it out.
01:01:02
Speaker
Follow what I said at the, probably in the middle of this episode where I was like, you got to check out the Patreon. Patreon.com slash myfirstkicks. So you don't you don't play the music like on the actual, when you're recording.
Host's Acknowledgment and Community Engagement
01:01:14
Speaker
You add the music in after. Yeah. yeah Yo, thank you for tapping into this week's episode with Adir. I hope you enjoyed that episode. He was a wealth of knowledge and Of course, we teased maybe we'll be doing a live up No, he said yes. So yes, we'll eventually be doing a live episode with the entire staff from West NYC.
01:01:36
Speaker
You'll will hear when that come is going to be possible for anybody to join. um i think that you know we learned a lot from Adir on this episode.
01:01:47
Speaker
We learned where he gets his drive from and it does give me hope and into how like the younger generation gets into sneakers and you know how much he shows how much he loves sneakers. and I think it's just going to be a really good episode for a lot.
01:02:03
Speaker
Anybody that wants to tap in to tap in because it's just he's just a wealth of knowledge. And I can't stress that enough. I can't wait to get him back on because or just do that full episode with ah the team at West NYC.
01:02:18
Speaker
And i just think it's going to be fun. But, you know, if you haven't yet, Make sure you follow me. MyFirstKicksPod at gmail.com is a great way to reach out and send your My First Kick story. Or, i mean, follow me on IG, which I don't know why i jumped into the email, but whatever. IG, MyFirstKicksPod, who is Haas on all social medias, of course.
01:02:46
Speaker
um But I do want to talk about you know writing into My First Kicks and so I can read it to anyone that I have on. and Or I can do a compiled episode on Patreon because i would love to have more involvement, build this community out a little bit more.
01:03:04
Speaker
and make this as interactive as possible because you know it's great to hear everybody the story in front of me but i also want to share other people's stories as well you know i just think it's a really good you know activity that i can bring into each episode so really wanted to stress this because i stopped really pushing it at the end of episodes so i just wanted to make sure i call this out in this episode and i will be calling it out going forward because i would love to build continue to build out the patreon have it a lot more fleshed out and encompassing and of course like i said earlier as long as everyone that watches this is hitting that like subscribe leaving a review
01:03:50
Speaker
you know, joining the Patreon, you know, sharing it with all your friends, you know, letting people know that to check out this podcast because it is more than just
Listener Engagement and Podcast Support
01:04:03
Speaker
sneakers. It's really about the person that I'm sitting in front of and getting them to engage with and also making everybody that listens want to engage with us too because We're all just a big community. And if you're listening to this and are in Detroit for Black Footwear Forum, I will be walking around.
01:04:21
Speaker
I might be wearing my my first kick shirt. I don't know. I'm... Maybe? I don't know. But please stop me. Tell me, you know, if you dig the podcast, don't dig the podcast. If you like to be a guest, want to be a guest, or you like a previous guest, like...
01:04:36
Speaker
Please, like, please pull up on me. You can do that in the street We'd love to hear more about people that listen to the podcast. um And of course, you know, we got to do Patreon shoutouts every week.
01:04:51
Speaker
And if you want to join the Patreon and get a Patreon shoutout every week, as long as you're a member, between the $3 tier or the $5 tier, you get shoutout every week. you can get a shoutout But of course, started off Adam Neustetter.
01:05:08
Speaker
Then we got Ross Adams. We got Derek ah Fresh Poetic. We got Jesse, Jesse G. And we got Adam MSR Butler.
01:05:20
Speaker
You know, i really appreciate y'all tapping in every month and hooking me up with, you know, little bit of support to keep pushing out the podcast it goes a long way as we continue to try to grow you know 238 episodes it's crazy like i did not think starting with one episode that i would be 238 30 38 episodes deep like it's crazy i don't i don't know There's no end in sight, I will tell you that. i'm gonna keep going.
01:05:51
Speaker
I'm definitely gonna keep going. And I'm gonna keep making sure that I'm bringing some sort of podcast content
Podcast Evolution and Creativity
01:05:59
Speaker
around. Well, that helps the the ecosystem and the the atmosphere of podcasting around this as I try to build out my first kicks and add more things and see what works and continue to be creative and having great guests on or having repeat guests on and building these conversations because i do feel it is extremely important, especially in this community.
01:06:24
Speaker
And as we continuously grow, go outside more and grow the community, ah want this to be as immersive that you can have another conversation. Like, yo, you checked that episode out? Like, and then, yo, what did you learn from that? Like, or yo, I can't believe that that was the story. Like, that's the fun part about podcasting.
01:06:43
Speaker
But I really, really, really appreciate y'all.
Episode Editing and Viewing Experience
01:06:47
Speaker
for tapping into this week's episode. Adir actually and edited this episode. So, you know, we we we are, you know, we I don't know how to explain it. I just think it was a great it was great that he was able to, you know, put his input in. and and do his little his his uh his add his effects to it and stuff like that you know i did my my additions you know of of the uh what you normally see in the episode so i hope y'all enjoyed it if you didn't watch the episode you might want to go to youtube and watch the episode uh but if you're listening to this that's why
01:07:24
Speaker
yeah You're wondering, like, i didn't you know I don't understand. There was like sound effects and stuff. like Yeah, you got to watch the episode. It does enhance it a little bit more. He threw in pictures of stuff he was talking about. like it Shout out to Adir, man. This full 360 view of this episode and letting him edit it and having that great these these great that great conversation with him. and He told some great stories. like Please tap in on the YouTube.
01:07:52
Speaker
But now, if you want to check out two other episodes of this podcast, you can check out these two videos here. And you know, we say each week, wear your kicks.
01:08:03
Speaker
Peace.