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The Town of West 72nd Street Live from West NYC
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This week we are live from West NYC, I sat down with Lester Wasserman and Adir Landes to talk all things West and Tip Top Shoes. We hear how long Tip Top has been around, how Lester grew up and his love for shoes. Adir's and Lester's love for ugly shoes and helping the area of West 72nd street. How their new Clark's Original came to be. The store and intention behind the design. Also we hear so many amazing stories and much more!
Follow Adir & Lester:
IG: https://www.instagram.com/durrlanders
IG: https://www.instagram.com/westnyc
Cop The Clarks Originals: https://www.westnyc.com/products/west-nyc-x-clarks-originals-a-love-letter-to-west-72nd-street?variant=42289678090345
Follow Jordan: IG: https://www.instagram.com/jordankeyser
Podcast Linktree: https://linktr.ee/myfirstkicks
Sign up for the Patreon: https://patreon.com/MyFirstKicks
Music by The DoppleGangaz: https://thedoppelgangaz.bandcamp.com/
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to Family Businesses
00:00:00
Speaker
but Before Lester jumps in, like I want to just she just mention that Tip Top and Clarks are both family businesses. Yeah. um You know, the Clark family and then as well as like the Wasserman family.
00:00:13
Speaker
So maybe that's something that Lester might want to talk about because I know like a couple of weeks ago, like this guy Galahad Clark was in the store. I don't really know him, but I got to talk to him and, you know, he's a Clark. And then Lester's asking him about all these other Clarks.
00:00:27
Speaker
You know, it's like kind of like a family reunion thing. So it's not like a dimest. No, no, no. Far, far from it. I think he's overea overselling it a little bit. But there is some there there. um Galahad's grandfather, I believe, um sketched out the wallaby on like a napkin, like while in in a war zone or something. in a war zone?
00:00:49
Speaker
Yeah.
Podcast Episode Introduction
00:00:54
Speaker
What's good, everyone? Welcome back to My First Kicks. This episode 247. forty seven And this week, i have them we're live, yo. Everybody say what up. Everybody clap. Let's hear it. Let's hear it.
00:01:07
Speaker
And I'm joined by two special guests, Adir and Lester from West NYC. How you doing? Huge honor. Thank you. Thank Thanks for coming. y Oh, yeah. Thank you for for letting me do this. Thank you for letting us all and embrace West NYC. You know, I've actually grew up on the Upper East Side when I was- What street? 70, 70th Street. Yeah. 71st seventy first in York was like my first time I lived out there next to New York Presbyterian. Sure. Yeah.
00:01:35
Speaker
And ah there was one time you guys had a release out here and that was the first time I ever came across, took the the Crosstown M72. That trail is insane. Did we have the shoes?
00:01:49
Speaker
ah No, I struck out. ah Well, thanks for coming back. Good to see it Since then, you know, ah you guys have, you know, historically, this is a historic avenue, or historic street, so West 72nd. You know, you got the Grace Papaya down the block. and Who?
00:02:08
Speaker
Isn't it Grace? I don't know. and I've never seen any hot dogs dance here. No, all right. My bad. they would They didn't want to be in the video. so Oh, really? we Yeah, you know. you now you peel it Now you're peeling back the onion on that one. I may or may not have gotten him breakfast there today. but um As also, you know if you haven't yet, we've I've had Adir on the show before. we talked about his journey. So we're really going to focus on Lester here. Surprise. Surprise. Okay. So I'm going to hit you with the question that I ask everybody each week, and that question sure is, what's your first kicks? What's that first pair of s sneakers you absolutely need to have?
00:02:46
Speaker
So, where do
Sneaker Beginnings and Evolution
00:02:49
Speaker
I begin? I guess the first pair of shoes I really needed was i was in summer camp, and I grew up um next door you know selling shoes at Tip Top, and was a multi-generational business. and But we sold shoes, not sneakers. we And then eventually my dad got New Balance because they came in sizes and widths.
00:03:11
Speaker
So that was a big deal back then. um We had shoes for that person, but we didn't have athletic shoes. In fact, the industry did not have athletic shoes for that individual. So that was a big deal. and But they weren't necessarily the coolest shoes at that time.
00:03:25
Speaker
And I was getting ready to play tennis at camp, and I was first falling in love with that sport. And I knew that what I had, I didn't love, but I had them. They were mine. And, you know, you're a kid. You take what you get. Yeah. And and especially in those days. And fast forward to like visiting day, and I think I wrote my parents a letter and described this shoe called the Air Tech Challenge. Oh, okay. And there used to be an athlete's foot on the other side of this wall. Oh.
00:04:01
Speaker
So my dad was friendly with the guy from the athlete's foot and they used to trade shoes sometimes, sneakers, New Balance because that was the only one we had and that's sometimes one of us would be missing a width or whatever and just to satisfy the customer and a good neighbor, right? You're a good neighbor. Can I borrow some sugar, neighbor? Of course. Of course. Yeah, absolutely. So what goes around comes around and and sure enough, ah come visiting day, i had a pair of challenges and it was a great gift to my parents. I mean, it's so interesting too, because Tip Top, if you know, like it's such a heritage store where, yeah, it's it's the shoes, like these are shoe shoes. Brown shoes, yeah yeah, and in those days, ah mostly leather sole. Well, and I first started in 1992 in high school, was mostly leather sole shoes. Wow, the trade. I want to know what was the trade. out Now want know what was the trade.
00:04:53
Speaker
you told me that the pair you were wearing, the New Balance, was a pair of Worthys. Okay. So maybe it was a you know pair like Worthys, New Balance, 740s. Could have been. Probably was. i mean.
00:05:05
Speaker
Look, New Balance is out of my depth over here. So I need a visual or something. Is that a number? 997? Well, a lot of their shoes are numbered. But the 740 was like the James Worthy shoe, right? Yeah. Oh, wait. That was the first athlete. And I think the last one. That's the number. I think that's the first and only.
00:05:26
Speaker
oh Well, no, now they have athletes again, but they went through a a number of years, you know, a number of decades rather. Yeah, for sure. Where they had no athletes. Wasn't it like endorsed by no one? was attend Endorsed by no one. yeah Correct. i think Worthy got caught up in something that didn't align with their values and images and... imaged and ah And they walked away from that business. Wasn't there, because I know ah Joe Freshka did ah a drop where it was like, what if Michael Jordan signed with New Balance? Because there was a story that Michael Jordan was going to sign with New Balance when it was like. Right, I had not heard that story. but Or like it was like a ah hypothetical maybe. Okay. Yeah, because I know he was like going to do Converse. Converse was big thing. Converse and Adidas lost him by, ah you know, yeah small six figures.
00:06:11
Speaker
That's crazy. yeah What is it like like selling? I mean, as you called it, he coined it in his in his ah episode, selling ugly shoes. Did he ever tell you that? I don't know if you listened, but I might be in trouble now. He's got a store full of them. I just called them all ugly, but. So, you know, before we talk about the ugly shoes, let's talk about the reason that we've lasted 85 years, right? And that's the level of service and the dedication to the customer. And, you know, not only putting them first, but our people on the floor solve, you know, they come up with solutions for people with bad feet.
Customer Service and Business Longevity
00:06:57
Speaker
So with that, you know, come shoes that fit bad feet. yeah And some of them may not be the prettiest shoes in the world. um Sizes and widths, shoes with fitting features, straps, laces for women. you know But hey we've we've ah we've managed to do it and do it well, I think, for 85 years and yeah and wait on ah you know have a bunch of celebrity customers in between as as well as regular everyday folks, yeah neighborhood, you know ah tourists, both foreign and domestic. So um I'm real proud of the work that we've done next door. What's really like pre prevalent, I think that's the right word, maybe is ah the customer service for sure. I think that I recently said on ah an episode of customer service is lost art now, especially when we're in these like current days of like these stores that we're we're we're pre we're we're always going to. like yeah I feel like customer service has been taking a super step back. And what out whenever I know we're good, we're not even have to ask you your size. Yeah. And they fit like a glove. Yeah, exactly. But it's like it's interesting when um i pass by your store. Yeah. I pass by Tip Top or here West. Like the customer service is always just like you need anything like how did like it's and next door. Next door is like.
00:08:14
Speaker
It's like you're being it's like Butler service. Yeah. I mean, it's the reason for being I don't want to blow up his spot, but like they kind of have a system there um at Tip Top where it's like if there's a customer that let's be real, I don't know how many of y'all have worked retail, but there's always that one customer that no one wants. And ah that they call them Lester customers, where like they just you know they'll call Lester out of his office or something, or if he's on the floor, and he takes those customers that really no one else has the time or patience to deal with. Sometimes they could be like an hour-long customer just to buy a pair of insoles or something. or not
00:08:51
Speaker
yeah Or not even, no, I'm saying not that the the time is not invested, but they could float, you know, they could just walk that yeah that day. how How, like, why doesn't that for um ah frustrate you? Because for me, it would frustrate me. It does, but it's just part of the deal. yeah You know, it's all part of the of the price of admission.
00:09:10
Speaker
You know, sometimes you do and sometimes you don't. Like somebody's got to do the work and it's also like we know that if if that's good if that's left up to someone else, like some of our staff after an hour, they're probably going to do something that's going to get us a bad review. You know, so.
00:09:26
Speaker
as I mean, it's it's wild. And, you know, like I was saying, like this is Tip Top has been here for 85 years. Yes. And so you've seen this this ah block change so much. Oh, my gosh. Yes. When I was coming, yeah.
00:09:41
Speaker
You know, I told you about this, that there was this, a it was like, it was a Greek restaurant there that I was, literally the only time I would come here, I would come and get it. And it was called like, ugh. What street are we talking to about? No, right across the street. Right And they had like some of the most banging gyro, gyro, gyro, whatever you want to call it. All of them.
00:10:01
Speaker
all All of them. What was it called?
00:10:06
Speaker
but Oh yeah, the under the Triad Theater, you're right. I don't know what the place was called. I've i've lived on this block for decades. I don't even know my neighbors. yeah But it's it's crazy that how wild this block has changed. But I remember when Wes first started, like yeah what influenced you to be like, let's do this.
00:10:27
Speaker
So concept for the store, how did it come to be? or Both.
Business Decisions and New Balance Success
00:10:31
Speaker
So when I first, um after I went to college, I worked at Nordstrom for about a year in New Jersey and, you know, got used to dealing with customers and people and learning how to sharpen my, you know, my, my, my, my sword my game, I guess. And,
00:10:48
Speaker
you know Just how to how to talk to people and how to understand what it is that they're looking for. And then I yeah joined Tip Top in 1997, or maybe it was early 98. And you know I know myself when I was working there at that time. Yes, I wore regular shoes to work, but at the minute I got out of work, I was going to the gym. Equinox on on Amsterdam Avenue. Yeah.
00:11:13
Speaker
And, you know, everyone there had cool looking shoes. But on the way over and back to the gym, I'd see people walking around the street in these cool looking shoes. At the time, there was a New Balance Trail shoe, the 801. They sold a zillion of them.
00:11:27
Speaker
M801AT. was the number. It was gray with a light blue end and, and yellow and like a mud guard. And it was like the first cool trail shoe that came out. But what made it cooler was that it came in narrow, medium and wide for women and, uh, medium wide, extra wide for men.
00:11:44
Speaker
And, uh, I started seeing a lot of those. And we were carrying New Balance at that time, but we didn't have that shoe. So I went to my dad, you know I'm young kid at that point, and have no experience in ordering shoes, and you know don't want to tell you know the chef how to cook the dinner, because that's not right, especially when you just got there. Oh yeah, for sure. and you don't want to step on toes literally. Not at all, literally. I like that. So I told him and I said, I'm seeing this shoe all over. You know, I think we should have it.
00:12:17
Speaker
And he said, all right, call this guy. And he gave me the number and I called him up and I introduced myself to him. and Boy, I guess I was like 21 at the time, and you know anyone older than 21 was like 100.
00:12:30
Speaker
you know You were either 21 or you were 100, and there was very little in between. yeah You were either kid or a grown-up or a you know whatever. But you know what? I think everyone in this room kind of has an idea what I'm talking about So you were either 21 or you were 100. Anyway, I call up this 100-year-old guy who's not 100, but he's also not 21. And um I introduced myself, and he said, oh, you you really, well, you think you can sell those shoes on 72nd Street to your customers? And I said, yeah, why I don't see why we couldn't. Why do you think we can't?
00:12:59
Speaker
And he said, no, it's not that you can't. It's that I never thought that I'd get a call from you guys looking for shoes like this from us. And I said, oh, that's interesting. I said, do you have any? He said, no. And I said, all right, well, can can we get some? And he said, yes. And I said, well, when? And he said, yeah i don't know, like three, four weeks. You know, there were no computer whatever. You know, you wrote down sizes on an order pad. You faxed it in. You know, it was a different world. The speed of –
00:13:28
Speaker
of movement was was considerably less. People didn't have to have it yesterday. And sure enough, we waited and they showed up. It was like in the old days, as mail order catalog. you Like you ordered something in kid. Which you had. You had a ton of mail order catalog. Yeah, we had a ton of that business. You know, by the time you got they got the catalog in the shoes, hopefully you had it. Used to advertise the catalogs in Rolling Stones magazine in the 80s. In the back of Rolling Stone magazine. Specifically for tip-top Birkenstock selection. Wow. Yep.
00:13:57
Speaker
My father, may rest in peace, was was ah a visionary to a degree. um And always, you know, kind of was always exploring different things. He never was complacent. He was always looking for the newest and the best and different vehicles and vessels.
00:14:13
Speaker
to uh to spread the tip top name and and develop new customers um we used to do a ton of advertising in the new york times and uh albeit an expense an expensive proposition it solidified tip top as you know one of new york city's premier premier it also uh advertised in like foreign newspapers so that tourists when they come to the new come to new york they know to stop by tip top definitely that's like in languages like you don't even don't know we don't know yeah but i yeah but they they knew to come to tip top and also a good part of that that danny did was he bought the the phone number 1-800-WALKING oh so it made those ads like a lot
00:14:58
Speaker
easier and that's still like our phone number today that's smart but that is smart yeah he he played around with it for hours you know in the old i i know we're probably digressing and i'll get us back in a minute top stop it is we're tiptoeing man we're tiptoeing in those days pre-internet you had to look up a so store in the phone book if you wanted to get it right so there were all different tricks to to get with with t you're towards the right of the alphabet right yeah But, you know, so so if you put acorn slippers slash tip top, you were at the front. u So there were lots of different tricks and he was always interested in learning the next. How to get to the top. How to get to the front. Totally. But anyway, but it's your show. Back to you. No, no. I was saying that like that. So then how does West become to
Expansion into Children's Market
00:15:45
Speaker
be? Oh, I forgot about that already. So, you know, and after the New Balance AT comes in and and the shoe sells out and
00:15:54
Speaker
we We decided, my dad anyway, decided that we were going to open a children's store, which is a couple doors to my right. Right, yeah. um One door in between the adult store and the kids store. there's There's one other retailer there. but um That was the athlete's foot where you got shoe. that was right. It's now kids' foot. Correct.
00:16:12
Speaker
so Kids wear sneakers. you know Even back in those days, I'm talking about in the late 90s, they still wore sneakers. um Maybe not as much as today, but a ton.
00:16:22
Speaker
So we needed the official sneaker brand, which was Nike. It still is. yeah um And we had to have it. So you know my father... ah made some calls and they came and looked at the location and, you know, realized that it was an old athlete's foot. So it wasn't a new account. It was kind of an existing thing. And like, you know, it was, it was, it was far easier than the horror stories that you've heard of, you know, throughout. Yeah. to to To get it across the finish line. Yeah. So anyway, fast forward a little bit further and I'm selling shoes and tip top and, you know, were we're picking up other lines, Puma and whatever it was. And, you know, there was a great guy at at Nike at the time, Gene Smith.
00:17:12
Speaker
And he went to Georgetown and I went to Syracuse and and we just clicked. And, and you know, he he was also, ah he liked to learn and he liked to experiment with things. And he took a look at the store and he was like tip top. He's like, I don't know, but, but maybe, you know, and, and sure enough, he said, go for it. Yeah. I'm curious to see what's going happen. And, and it worked out really well. Right. But now you're getting all these West kind of customers in that store. So, so it's,
00:17:40
Speaker
What's going on in here? you know Like who's the real customer? you know Will the real customer please stand up? and and But there's two of them. but but you know But who, are we losing focus? My dad, are we losing focus?
00:17:51
Speaker
No, we it just, it needs a life of its own. it's it's too It can stand on its own two legs at this point. So let's spin it off and and and move it. Now we have to see where we can move it to. yeah And this, where we're sitting right now, used to be a ah beauty parlor. My grandmother, may she rest in peace as well, used to get her hair done in this building. In this space over here. of outlets.
00:18:11
Speaker
I know rambling lot. no, no, you're good. This is what it's about. But sure enough, that was, we opened the doors August 25th, 2007. remember the day. It was a Saturday. Yeah. And, sure enough that was ah we we we opened the doors august twenty fifth two thousand seven yeah i remember the day it was a saturday yeah and Everybody, like like on the forums, everybody was very hyped. Wow. Yeah. So I remember that day too. so I was hyped. Yeah. it was ah it was It was interesting because like on the east on the east side. Right.
00:18:43
Speaker
Like I'm making sound, it seemed like I'm super far. But like on the east side of Manhattan, we we just lost Slope City Skates. I think that was the name of the skate shop. and We talked about that. We spoke about Pipe Dreams. Pipe Dreams. That's what it was called. That was on East 86th Street. Yes. Or 85th or 86th. In York. Yeah.
Opening of West NYC
00:18:58
Speaker
Yeah, and we just lost that. And so I didn't have a place where I can get like sneakers that was kind of near me. Right on. but Outside of the Foot Locker that used to be on 70, what was it? It was like 70, it was on- On 2nd Avenue. Yes, 72nd? I think it was 3rd Avenue.
00:19:15
Speaker
I know where it was. yeah Right now it's a Vineyard Vine store today. Yeah, a you it was this is super regional, sorry, but there's, used to be a Gristides, and then the Gristides, across the Gristides was- Gristides. Yeah, yeah. In all due respect. And that was the only other spot. And then that shut down. And I was like, damn, I'm not going to be able to get any sneakers. And then I found Wes. And then it's like, yeah. So, yeah. That's when I was just like, I got to come here. August 25th, Saturday.
00:19:41
Speaker
August 25th, 2007. And the reception was great, you know? Yeah, I didn't know what was going to be that first day. Yeah. um but But we did business. what More than I thought. I was terribly, you know, upset.
00:19:52
Speaker
Concerned because you never know, you know, will it stand on its own two feet? Will it or won't it? Yeah. And the customer is the ultimate judge. I mean, shoot, the customer is always right. now I hope you've been enjoying this week's episode live from West NYC with Adir and Lester.
00:20:08
Speaker
And if you really have been enjoying this the podcast, please like subscribe and leave a comment on this episode or any episode that you're watching. It really goes a long way. And of course, new, new to the page, hit the hype button. It only lasts for about seven days and it helps people see the podcast.
00:20:29
Speaker
So it really does help me out. And of course, if you're listening to this on any audio platform, leave a five-star review. And if you really want to help me, please write a comment or a review.
00:20:43
Speaker
in any Spotify or Apple, and I will read it at the end of an episode right before the Patreon shout outs. And speaking of Patreon, please, please, please become a Patreon. It really helps me, you know,
00:20:55
Speaker
pay for a lot of this stuff so patreon.com slash my first kicks got two tiers three dollar five dollar tier i might start getting rid of that three dollar tier because nobody's been signing up for it but it's all good five dollar tier definitely just really helps the podcast and of course let's jump back right into the live episode yep how did you two meet because i know we touched on it and i needed some shoes and i came in you know but i want to i want to know your impression of him So he came into the store um to buy, like he said, to buy a pair of shoes in in a snowstorm, I think. The day before. The day before the snowstorm. A little bit prepared.
00:21:35
Speaker
and it was And it was like high COVID, I think. um You know, we had opened the store back up in July after... ah closing it in March. And I think he probably came in in November or December, whatever it was. So, you know, we're still working really thin and customers, you know, this is not a young neighborhood per se. So it's customers are very concerned over here and they weren't really coming in.
00:22:00
Speaker
um So this guy comes in and he's buying a pair of boots and he says, Hey, I'm looking for a job. Do you have anything? And I like scratched my head in disbelief. Honestly, I'm like, what is what is he? Does he not know what's happening in this I'm like, take your ah take your number, I'll take your number, and you know I don't know if I asked you to put it my phone, or I put it in my my wallet, or my, I don't even have a wallet, that's not true. um I just shoved it in my pocket, possibly, and ah i thought I followed up with him, but apparently I never did.
00:22:33
Speaker
um I never called him back. yeah he says He says that on his episode. Yeah, I call you. I never called him, but I really was convinced that I called him. Yeah, and then he was like, you called he called you yeah you. were like, can you start? where is Yeah, you're just like, yeah, like you could do Tuesdays, packing boxes. Right, i needed a guy to pack boxes because at that point, the web was really doing the heavy lifting as the customers were were deathly afraid to come into the stores. Yeah.
00:23:00
Speaker
that it's It's interesting too because like just thinking about that time, right like like for you to think like I need to have a job right now. you know oh i was I was at B&H. was going to say, did you know he was working at B&H? I did. yeah now he he was He was clear about that. yeah the That role, if you listen to this episode, that role was very interesting. At B&H? Yeah. It was thrilling. but He was dealing with customers. so I think that like like dealing with customers with of high value is like ah is a is an interesting skill that you can only do especially when you're not commissioned so you don't you don't really care know like they're like buying twenty thousand dollars cameras and you're just like in the returns department or whatever and you're like oh like i've got no skin in this game i just if i scratch the lens by accident like nothing's really gonna happen to me You know, Jordan knows. I mean, he's he's holding a camera got to shake the head. But but as this is this this interesting? What I'm saying is just like it's interesting because I worked in luxury candy, per se. And so did you work? Dylan's. scott do joke Yeah, you went to you went to high went to school with her. Yeah. Oh, yeah. yeah i did She's a great. She's a good friend. I see occasionally. Yeah, she used to call me neighbor all the time. Okay. Because I lived on seveneth and she lived around that area. Oh, cool. And then she'd be like, hey, neighbor. She's nice. And then friends, yeah. so the
00:24:21
Speaker
But it was just it's just interesting like dealing with people that have a lot of money. And so like doing that, I feel like it translates pretty well or over here, would you say? I think so. I mean, we we have customers from all walks of life. We have very wealthy ones and we have ones that are not so fortunate or or what. You know, we're here to service the masses and and and the people and, you know, they all matter. You know what I'm saying? there Each one matters. I think where it like really...
00:24:52
Speaker
added the most value, though, was that i was going from a business that was like super buttoned up, super high tech, like everything had barcodes, all scanned, all that to like A place where like if you're ever in the stock room, like you've got no clue where anything is. There's no order. It's just all chaos. And I was like, you know, had helped bring a lot of that like, you know, systems changes to to how they ship out orders and that kind of stuff that ended up being like very valuable off the rip.
00:25:23
Speaker
Agreed. Yeah. That's fire. But yeah, that... Otherwise, like, the the customer-facing stuff, like, it was ah it was... It was totally different. Because, I mean, at the end of the day, like, when I started, I was packing boxes. So... Yeah. I was so far away from a customer, you know? So then, how does how does a deer move up the ranks to where you're, like, you know? I think he did have... So...
00:25:51
Speaker
I think he did a video or he he expressed interest in, in things beyond the box the boxes and the tape guns and, yeah and the computer, not meaning like the shipping labels and all that. But, but he always, anytime he came to me, he always had an idea. You know what I'm saying? What if we did this? Or what if we did that? So I could see the, the, the wheels were turning. Yeah. He had longer hair at that point, I think, but yeah underneath the hair is the, there were still wheels turning. Yeah.
00:26:19
Speaker
And, uh,
00:26:22
Speaker
You know, he, he whatever task or or ask I had of him, um could you look into that? Or sometimes I'd ask or sometimes he'd say, look what I found.
00:26:34
Speaker
you know, so so we got along quite well. And, ah but but I know he's he's a bright guy. and yeah And, you know, sometimes, look, we've. I've hired great people. I've hired okay people. I've hired people who have been with me an hour and people who have met me, you know, for for a lot longer. It's the nature of the business, for sure. You know, it's it's the people business, and the people are the hardest part.
00:26:57
Speaker
I'd say where where things really changed was, like, it kind of hit a point where, like, Danny got a little bit interested And then it was like, got this It was like, Hey, we got to bring this kid around. And like, I went like a trade show or two with, you know, Danny, Lester, Randolph,
Improving Store Operations
00:27:11
Speaker
Margot. I think on running video did something for, you know, you made video with on running and you did one with Birkenstock. And after that he was like, wow.
00:27:19
Speaker
Yeah. You know, this guy's got something. I mean, I will say, like, ah even though this is kind of like foreshadowing, but like his his insight in the like just the sneaker industry overall, like I think the way he he moves within it and like always is trying to learn more about it is something that I find. Like, I feel like it's kind of rare, but a lot of people just don't. really Well, I feel like a lot of this is like all about, you know, being informed. And like yeah I think especially like with the store, like tip top, like Lester and I are in a very like privileged position to see you like more shoes than anybody else, really.
00:27:56
Speaker
You know, that that keeps us the most informed because we're looking at shoes with widths that, frankly, most people never even heard of, you know, and. seeing all that we're seeing how different shoes are made kind of like what what are different constructions that you don't typically see on a pair of shoes that like you know you're seeing to bring it to clark's a little bit you know that you saw like ronnie do with the wallaby yeah you know that kind of stuff where it's like you don't think it's necessarily imaginable but then like we'll see other shoes that are like dress shoes on sneaker bottoms you know that's something that we've been seeing as a trend as a whole you know where it wasn't just like
00:28:31
Speaker
the cole hahn lunar grand like that was a good shoe but like there's been probably like a decade since then of like shoes that kind of followed yeah from various different brands whether it's florschein johnson and murphy that we carry them all you know and we're seeing like broader trends that i'd say the stores or the sneaker obsessed individuals don't typically see are they're just not in their purview usually It's it's I mean, since we're talking about Clark's, you know, i was reading that
Relationship Between Tip Top and Clark's
00:29:02
Speaker
article. And so there's this long standing relationship between Tip Top and and Clark. Yes. And can you can you talk about like how how Clark's has become the fabric of Tip Top? Just before.
00:29:14
Speaker
Now it's a much bigger company, obviously. But. You know, there are still some people named Clark there, which is crazy. i didn't even It's pretty cool. I didn't even know that this was like a family business. I'll be honest. I didn't I didn't know that that Clark's was like, yes, there's people. That's interesting. How did you how did like how did you feel about that?
00:29:33
Speaker
What, not being in either of the families? Yes. don't know. I mean, I still i think that like even though you know I'm not in either of those families, both both parties make us feel like family. you know like There are certain people at Clark's that...
00:29:51
Speaker
are honestly like some of the people that Lester and I are closest to in the industry. And I think that's been, that's kind of been the key to, to making this project happen was just people that, that are vouching for us. Um, whether it's like Vinny or Jeff, like those are the guys that really fought for us and made this happen.
00:30:10
Speaker
And honestly, I think because of them, we could have been anybody and they would have got this project to happen because they cared so much. And yeah, we We owe it all to them. and i mean, I wish they were here, but Jeff doesn't live around here. Vinny's under the weather, but I'm sure they're going watch. Yeah.
00:30:29
Speaker
Yeah. That'll be how I look. we' We've been staring at this blue pair. Oh, yeah. So I've got some samples here samples here. okay Because I'm pretty sure people were like, why? Yeah. So how this. Yeah. I kind of brought these out to like show like how how this project happened, um how it started.
00:30:47
Speaker
It started with. um i had I had a bunch of fabrics that I brought to Vinny, um as well as some CADs of like mock-ups with those fabrics.
00:31:00
Speaker
And he sent it over to the pro, I mean, he he convinced them that this is actually something that should happen. and then eventually brought it to the production team. And ah from there on out, um we met with them. The initial concept was something that they said they had something else similar coming out. yeah I haven't seen it come out, but I guess I'm excited for it to come out. yeah um But they sent us like a sheet of all different fabrics that were similar that they could use.
00:31:30
Speaker
And on that sheet, kinda picked out, they told me to pick out two colors. um So we picked out this blue, this blue one, it's kinda gray, blue, and then also this this navy. i didn't out realize this is gray, blue. Yeah, I don't know, what would you say? It's just gray?
00:31:50
Speaker
I would have said gray, but the one behind your left shoulder is gray. Yeah. It's the same material. It is? Yeah, it's the same. All right, so it's gray. But we we went with like the tonal like shadow sprayed sole, and kind of when it came in, we didn't really like the sole being like...
Clark's Collaboration Development
00:32:07
Speaker
not the crepe because it it just didn't look so authentic. And as you could see right there, there's like a chip from where Mike tried to peel it off to see how it looked without that.
00:32:18
Speaker
Yeah, right here. But and then we also kind of thought that it needed like some sort of branding on it on the outside. We knew that it was going to say West on the insole. We are you know, this was the the text and the logo. Yeah. We changed the the text to be a little bit bigger on the final.
00:32:35
Speaker
um and we we narrowed it down we were like trying them on me mike and mark were talking about which color we like best um between the between these two colors and we ended up going with the lighter one um we like the navy we really had nothing against the navy it's just like yo if we were going to pick one the light blue gray option to us just seemed like something that Honestly, it was a nail biter. I don't know why we chose it. I like it. I'm happy we chose it.
00:33:05
Speaker
But as you could see here, we have like different like branding options that we were trying out to see what. it ended up with being this like, this is the final sample, ended up being this woven label on the top there.
00:33:18
Speaker
and then came the laces. We wanted like different lace options, and they shipped us like way too many to actually decide. Like, I'll be honest. And these aren't all of them, because I gave a pair to Mark, right?
00:33:31
Speaker
And I gave a pair. I give a pair to Mike? I don't know. Yeah. Yeah. So, figure we got, like, eight pairs of laces that we were deciding between.
00:33:43
Speaker
And as you can tell on that sample, there's actually a different color gray lace yeah to go with the shoe. Yeah, this one's darker. Yeah, that one's darker. But that's that's kind of how it how it all all happened. I'd say like this was out of the projects Lester and I worked on. This was like the most seamless with production. like We were able to get so much of this done just over email.
00:34:04
Speaker
Not everything required like a long Teams call that we were asking, oh, what if we change this? What if we change that? It was really just like, hey, they ship us the lefts. like As you know, these are half pairs. They didn't ship us the whole pairs.
00:34:17
Speaker
So ship us the left, ship us the right or whatever. Take it from there. um Here's our revisions. Boom. Looks cool. And that's like that's kind of how it how it came about.
00:34:29
Speaker
And I think that... How are we feeling? and How are we feeling about which, you know, since we have a the finish, but like, what are we thinking? Navy. And be honest. you yeah You can say there's no wrong answer.
00:34:41
Speaker
Navy. Okay. So should we come back and and launch the Navy? Yeah. Navy.
00:34:50
Speaker
That's what saying. That's why I put the. But wouldn't the yellow Laces do the same thing on the Navy?
00:35:05
Speaker
Yeah, I think at the time what we really liked about the the gray pair is that there were more colors within the within the yarn. Like there's a yellow and a light blue, whereas like the navy was just blue throughout.
00:35:17
Speaker
True. And that's something that we just wanted like ah another layer of complexity to it. And honestly, the the one thing that I forgot to mention that really drew us to this shoe, that drew us to this fabric, was that it's something that, like, you could, like, you look at it, and it's, like, you could, like, kind of feel it in your mind. Like, it's kind of got, like, a little bit of, like, ASMR to it, where it's, like, super 3D.
00:35:42
Speaker
The navy looks a little bit flatter than than the than this with the different colors. And, like, I think that's why we ultimately landed on it. And I think that like now like like wearing it like it's a fun shoe to just like throw on because the material is so soft.
00:35:57
Speaker
Like it's like one of those shoes that you kind of just want to like rub your hand. but yeah yeah the lester works yeah when when when he brings this a collab to the table like what what are because i know you're saying that you love you know brand new ideas and stuff like i like ideas yeah so like you know not all ideas are good but i'm interested to hear yeah yeah so like when he brought when he was like let's do this clark's collab yeah like what was your initial reaction you got nervous you know i don't know let's see Yeah. Yeah. there' that Is that your thought process for all
Navigating Collaborations: Risks and Rewards
00:36:30
Speaker
the collabs? Because it's not not specific to the shoe. No, no. That's just me.
00:36:35
Speaker
Yeah. You know what I'm saying? You got to sell yeah sell it to me. You know, what's what's the reason for it? Yeah. You know, how does it work and why does it work? I want to understand what you're seeing. You got to also remember that at that point we're talking because i was a little bit A little bit over a year ago, we didn't really have like any recent collabs right done at the time. So Lester was just timid as a whole, thinking that, i don't know what's going to work or not. I don't know what the bandwidth is of West when it comes to special projects and all that.
00:37:06
Speaker
And now he's talking about, now Adir's talking about a shoe, not a sneaker. Right. And that's a very important point because the rate of sell is completely different. Exactly. And like... you're tying in the tip top stuff as well yeah you know like it's it's a bit different from yeah guess i mean so this one yes it was the first well i guess we didn't have other ones out at the time when we started working on it or we just launched one maybe might have just launched the wizard Possibly.
00:37:38
Speaker
No, I think it was like around around the time. Yeah, it might have been her a little bit around then. But this was pretty much the first shoe we worked on right after Lester's father Danny died. Right.
00:37:50
Speaker
And i mean, we're remember we're pushing we're pushing Clark's to get this done. So it's not like a done deal right away. and then once we actually like finally start talking to them about drafting a sample and all that, you know, we're having those conversations.
00:38:05
Speaker
Like that's kinda when Lester and have a conversation where Lester's like, yo, it'd be really cool if we could have some sort of shout out to Danny there. Because like, you know, this was like the first collab we couldn't tell him that like, yo, we landed a Clarks. yeah You know, we we got to tell him, yo, we landed an Adidas shoe.
00:38:24
Speaker
He got to be excited. He got to see the 85th shoes. And like, those were the last shoes he saw. i mean, not the like the last shoe that we worked on that he saw. correct Like complaining to us about. Explain to the crowd a little bit who Danny is. Danny was Lester's father. If y'all didn't pick up on that by now. But yeah, what up?
00:38:41
Speaker
ah but But yeah, he um pretty much... i remember, yeah, like we we were working on the 85th shoes. Yeah. And he sees like the me, you, and Diana from Arrow. It's a comfort brand. None of y'all really... Heard of it, whatever. We're like, we just get the sampling. We're talking about like the multicolor weave on the handball spezial. And like Danny was very much like, like his, no one's opinion really mattered more than his to like Lester and I when it came to shoes, you know? yeah So this was like also one of those ones where it's like,
00:39:17
Speaker
yeah, we're going to like make this shoe, but we don't get to show him. and he doesn't get to We don't get that like affirmation and that pride that we get from when we make something that that Danny is like, hell yeah. you know so That was good. If gave you the hell yeah, you had a winner. Yeah. Because he was you didn't do it often. Yeah. yeah Generally speaking, everything sucked. yeah you know So all the Adidas collabs were all hell yeahs? No. No. Well, so it it depends. So um the 85th shoes, well, really, we just showed him like the wizard in the 85th shoes.
00:39:49
Speaker
the The handball Spezial, he was like, he he understood it like for sure it's just like he's so used to like black comfort shoes that like he wasn't like that was a little bit like too much of a sneaker for him yeah but then when he saw like the the sl 72 which was more like a brown shoe even though it's like maroon he that one i remember like he's like i was just with him solo like in his office which is now lester's office and he like picks up the shoe he looks at it and he says to me he's like you know You got ah you got a good you got a good taste.
00:40:24
Speaker
And I'm like, that's like literally like, as far I've probably got like four or five compliments from Danny over like the four years we worked together. Sounds about right. That's probably the best one I got. there When he brings up the wizard and like the the handball special, like how did you, what did what was your like your first looks into that?
00:40:42
Speaker
You know, a little bit ah a little bit cautious, a little bit leery, you know, because at the end, you know, yeah there's all risk involved. You know, business is risk. Everyday life is risk. But, but you know, they're they're calculated risks.
00:40:55
Speaker
And, you know... I felt that anyway the time was right to to step back into the ring with that stuff. He did and and and um and and we made it we made a play yeah for it.
00:41:08
Speaker
No, yeah, you guys are have been tapped in really well with the community and especially the sneaker community because you know a lot of a lot of these sneakers have been been like sought after as well. But like speaking of community, you know for this campaign, you really tapped in with the community that's in this this block right here. So yeah, so yeah I mean, with this with this shoe, yeah, so there was that call out.
00:41:33
Speaker
It says on the inside of the shoe and it also says it on the box. um'm honoring those who served to make 72nd Street an iconic block for footwear retail. So obviously we wanted to make some tie back to Danny and that's how it happened. But we didn't want to make the marketing and all that like to, you know, we didn't want to make it like a heartthrob. We didn't want to put his name in the shoe because that would be a little bit difficult for us, yeah you know, on a personal level. And we also wanted to to broaden the scope of this thing because what what that kind of made us realize is that, you know, there's,
00:42:05
Speaker
there's different facets to everybody.
Honoring 72nd Street Community
00:42:08
Speaker
You know, there's Lester as a person, there's Lester as a shoe store owner, as Lester as a father, there's Lester as a boss. You know, the same thing with Danny, right? Danny, like, there's Danny as a father, there's Danny as a shoe store owner, but there's also just Danny as a guy on seventy second Street that literally everyone on the block knows people like lester said on his way to work after danny passed like all these random doormen and people that lester didn't even know were coming up to him saying that he they heard about danny and with that that kind of made us realize that hey like we call out the block on the shoe let's make let's tie this to the block like let's house the people of the block people that honestly if you don't work or live on this block you might not know but
00:42:52
Speaker
As we could see from the comments of people that do live and work on this block, like they know those people, yeah people that are like absolute staples, been here every day for 30 plus years. i think literally everyone that was featured in there has been here every day for 30 plus years. Right. Right.
00:43:08
Speaker
Oh, for sure. Yeah. yeah And just did you have a hand in who can who should be? Well, at one point, at one point, he was like, it's got to be me. I lived my whole life. Shut me out. That's all right. but I understood that I didn't I I understood why I shouldn't appear in the video.
00:43:27
Speaker
And I get it because it's not about me. It's about seventy second Street. Yeah. It's about, it's about the people that, that, you know, we appreciate and like, you know, we, we wish there was, we kind at the end of the day, wish there was something like that, that Danny was in while he was around, you know, something that was like, sure. He had, he had plenty of praise, like,
00:43:46
Speaker
in footwear and all that, but there was not really much that we could have looked at from like a video point of view that was just like, this is a guy that like you know means a lot to the community locally on 72nd Street, that the way that we captured this that we would have loved to have had.
00:44:03
Speaker
you know Because we knew it, we saw it every day. We saw, like you know I'd pick up food for him sometimes and people would be like, yo, you're picking up from dan for Danny, I know based off the order, you know like stuff like that.
00:44:14
Speaker
He was a creature of habit. Yeah. Same stuff. Same stuff. You you also got to remember like lived lived on the block yeah and worked on the block since what year? 1972.
00:44:26
Speaker
two Wow. Yeah. the year The year Echo was created. Yeah. That's right. yeah It's good one. but But so, yeah, that was- that was kind of I do wonder because you know the previous collab before this was the Rod Lavers and you tapped in with ah Zabar. Yeah.
00:44:46
Speaker
And so it like hows the differences in between that, like you know tapping in with the community here. Yeah, I mean, I feel like this one was my bad. I feel like this one's that one more entrenched. Yeah, that one was local as in it was eight blocks away. And this one, this one was like the block. So I guess next one we got to do like this square foot, you know, but um with the Rod Laver, I mean, that that was honestly like pretty much like the marketing for that was something that like Lester and I were like really excited for. Yeah, it was a good. And it was something that like we mentioned a lot of visibility, you know, like they're they're big. But it was ah if you know, you know, thing at the end of the day, people that don't know Zabar's people that, you know, it's it's it's iconic, both like in New York and a little bit globally. But at the end of the day, it's it's an Upper West Side institution.
Zabar's Collaboration and Local Connections
00:45:40
Speaker
So we we felt like that was the, like it matched up perfectly with the colorway of the shoe. Yeah. Honestly, we thought of it after just being totally straight up, you know, like we had the shoe on the way already and then we were like, whoa, what if we did this? And it worked like no charm. It was awesome. It went crazy. Yeah. And that was like, and they treated us so well, dude. Like you eat for free there now, right? Oh, hell no. get a shot for free. I got to pay normal prices there now as opposed bills to whatever. they They would have charged me, but I got to go in the kitchen there. Jordan Jordan went in. Jordan was like, oh, that thing was crazy. Yeah, actually. Yeah, I wanted to about the about this project. I kind of wanted to if if you're cool with it, get Jordan's perspective on on the people of the block right here. No, he got we got an extra mic right here. Yes. Sit up here works because like, you know, we kind of want to show how it's like, you know, the block was really like a community. You might have to turn it on.
00:46:36
Speaker
and Jordan, as ah as an outsider, you know dealing with the people, like yeah what did you what did you think of that campaign? like did you realize like Did you come to realize that pretty much like every block in the city, or 72nd Street specifically, is like its own neighborhood?
00:46:51
Speaker
Is that something you'd say? um I don't know if this is on, but yeah, no, it was definitely interesting to see that. like Right in my comings and goings on the block, in and out of West and Tip Top. See a lot of familiar faces, especially over at Tip Top. But yeah, getting the chance to... You always hear people talk about like community building. Yeah. And it's like, you know, I'm from upstate New York. So we're we're a little more scattered up there. You know what mean? And yeah, I live in Jersey. So again, I don't live in the heart of New York City. So it's very eye-opening experience. And just... ah Donna?
00:47:26
Speaker
Donna, yeah. From the stationery and toy place. Toy Story, yeah. When we were out there, people just kept coming up like, oh, you know, i apparently she's like semi-retired down in Myrtle Beach. and And I don't know, we spent half hour, maybe an hour with her. And the amount of people who came up like, oh, haven't seen you in so long. You know, just how easy it is for people on the block perusing the block like whether they live on the block or passing through like to recognize these staples of the block and it really is like a a true neighborhood and well obviously i guess but a real community yeah so that was very interesting to see um
00:48:04
Speaker
Yeah, that that was probably the the coolest part for
Community Atmosphere on 72nd Street
00:48:07
Speaker
me. Like i said, i'm ah I'm an outsider here, so getting a chance to to see some of familiar faces and that have just a big part of the community. Right, but you would never really think that in New York City, where there's millions of people and tourists and locals, and you know, like...
00:48:23
Speaker
that you'd see the same people twice in a certain respect. But yet these people are like fixtures of the neighborhood and yeah everybody knows them and they know everybody. And it's small town USA on 72nd Street, which is wild to think about, too.
00:48:38
Speaker
It was cool to see when the post went up. I looked in the comments on Instagram. It's like, oh, everyone, that you know, people obviously recognize these, ah you know, familiar faces from the neighborhood. Local celebrities, whatever you want. That's it. Yeah. A lot of them asked me how to use Instagram to see the post. You definitely don't know them from Instagram.
00:48:58
Speaker
Yeah. And just to hear, get to spend some time with them and hear, you know, their take on lot of them have, like ah they were saying, have been around 20, 30 years. Sure. block So to see how the block has changed, how the neighborhood has changed over the years and also how it stayed the same in some of these core businesses. Yeah. Yeah.
00:49:15
Speaker
have withstood the test of time on this block. it's It's refreshing to see because sometimes you know things pop, especially in new York City, you see a store pop up, it's here for a couple years, and then it's gone. So to sort of see these mainstays that have, like have the like I said, just withstood the test of time, I think that's...
00:49:33
Speaker
I think it's important to see that, too, that there is the ability to make a lasting impact and have something that can be here to stay rather than just like a flash in the pan. Agreed. It's a commercial block that's led by small business. And I think that's pretty unique in New York. You don't really have many big commercial streets that are like every business is a small business. Especially now. Like I think that the way, you know, the New York is moving and, you know, like we' we're...
00:50:00
Speaker
The way it's moving is just like, yeah, a lot of these big businesses are just coming in and just buying up lots. and Yeah, you'll you'll know 72nd Street is chopped if a blank street moves in. Hey, I like Blank Street, chill. I like Blank Street, all right? Look, man, their green tea is really good, all right? And they're sponsored this podcast. Use my... No, just kidding. Working with the with the talent around here. I don't know why I've called them talent. Working with the people around here. How did did they... Did they, like, accept you in or did you have to, like, you know...
00:50:30
Speaker
That was cool. Like I said, like I'm not from around here. So for me, it was I'm always interested in hearing different perspectives. So I was probably, I guess, like more inquisitive than they may have expected or wanted to answer. Like, I just kept rolling with the questions like, oh, like, OK, so tell tell me more. Tell me more about your time. Tell me more about the block. like Yeah, I think also like a lot of it was like the questions in the video like that the people are answering like most of them were asked by Jordan. Like I i was like, we're going to capture these people and whatever. But like I'm like I'm looking through the camera. I'm like kind of freezing up and Jordan's just talking to these people, you know, because he's genuinely like interested in in what they have to say and what their perspective is like on this neighborhood. So like.
00:51:12
Speaker
Big props to you for that. See, you're the mayor of 70 seconds. Good job. You're the mayor of 70 seconds. am definitely not the mayor. I'm um curious, you know i mean? Because like I said, when I've known West, when I lived upstate, we would make trips down to the city and West is a place that we would come. But Tip Top was right there. And to be honest, I had no idea what Tip Top was. know what I mean? Really until I started working with these guys, I wasn't very familiar. Like I said, I'm an upstate guy. I've lived down in this area about five years now. I didn't know what Tip Top was. So to see...
Tip Top's Historical Impact on 72nd Street
00:51:40
Speaker
that and to realize like, okay, cool, Tip Top, been here, you know, 85 years and it's like, oh wait, beyond Tip Top, there's other places that have been here 10, 20, 30, 40, maybe 50 years, you know what I mean? In the neighborhood, it's very and interesting to me. know what I mean? Like said, like I'm used to more,
00:51:58
Speaker
cruising around Soho and it's like, oh, store is here for five years and then it's it's gone. You know what I mean? In these places and even places when I was in high school would come down like DQM and sures old like original flight club on green. and you know and like Transit, yellow rat bastard.
00:52:14
Speaker
That's it. Mike used to work there. Michael K. Sorry. David C. I can remember coming to these places and it's like, all right, you know, they're, and then like, again, like I live in my bubble, you know, I'm a sneaker guy. I'm not a shoe guy, you know? So it was like, wait, like Tip Top's been here 85 years selling shoes. Right. Like brown shoes. I wear those kinds of shoes. Exactly.
00:52:36
Speaker
I do wonder if there's an actual shoe collector. There's a lot of boot collectors. Boots, yeah, but boots last the same time. You're a cowboy boot collector. like cowboy boots. Do you shine it up and you do yourself? He has a boot jack, but I don't think shine him. No, I don't shine him. I shine my loafers myself, though. I'm thinking of more of like, you know, people be like, and people, everybody in the crowd here will understand this is when you relace a pair of sneakers. That's like your moment is in, right? Is that the same for like, you know, putting nice shine on the shoe? It is. Yeah. I feel like I did something important. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, that's fine. It is subtle fire, but it's fire. You know, it's like a smoldering fire. It's good. It's very makes me feel good about myself. Oh, one. One other thing I wanted to mention, though, is that like with the casting of the people in the video and the pictures, it was like, I feel like, Jordan, you might not have like knew why we like why I picked those people.
00:53:35
Speaker
And then until we start shooting and you're like and they start talking, you're like, yeah, no, this makes sense. Like these people, they're the right people for this. Yeah, I would say all of the projects we've worked on so far, today I'm just kind of like, okay. Yeah, it always starts with the, what the hell are you doing? Explain to me, give me some context here, what are we doing?
00:53:56
Speaker
So yeah, like ah so we did a couple, but like Mario. Yeah, sure. Mario was like the most, i don't want to say the most interesting, but like, What an interesting guy.
00:54:08
Speaker
Like, I really enjoyed just sitting there talking and chatting with him. Which one's Mario? The mayor of West 77. Oh, yeah. she's that's the Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And like, that was probably the person where I was like, okay, cool. I'm going to start just asking questions. I'm like, just want to know more. And,
00:54:23
Speaker
With him, it was just interesting. like He was really kind of the one that like drove home the idea of like community and like the the neighborhood like really being a community and, um for I guess for lack of a better our term, like a self-sustaining community where everyone looks out for everyone. That was his big thing. Like, hey, i I'm here to help in any way that I can. That was interesting because New York is so busy and there's just... so much going on you always hear like stories about like oh like you know people just head down keep it pushing you know i mean we're not paying attention all the crazy shit that could be going on you just keep it pushing for him it's like it's crazy shit that happened in new york yeah for him it's quite the opposite like he's just like you know i'm here to help in any way i can if i see someone falling down or you know falling on hard times like as the mayor of 72nd they know i'm here to help and that was just
00:55:10
Speaker
Yeah, and I think like- Do you have a first interaction with him? Lester's known him- I've known him for probably 30 years. I don't remember my first interaction with him, but he's always been around and always looking, you know, his head's on a swivel and he's looking out for the neighborhood and the people in it.
00:55:28
Speaker
And I also say that like the way he helps is like very like catered to the to this neighborhood where he like he was telling us about how he helps like the elderly and like this is, at the end of the day, the Upper West Side does have like a very large elderly constituent you know that has that needs shoes and sizes and widths.
Syracuse's Contribution to Footwear Innovation
00:55:46
Speaker
But yeah. by but What's the name of the thing? Everybody, the the thing? What it? The Branagh device? Yeah, the Branagh device. Made in Syracuse, New York.
00:55:56
Speaker
Yeah, they actually they all are, right? yeah That's the original Brannock device from Syracuse, New York. Look, i I'm always like the the shoe scale. yeah That's what I call it. monday I'm like the shoe the foot scale. From now on, you call it the Brannock. Yeah. All right.
00:56:11
Speaker
um you think i think we're we're towards the end of the podcast here. So I'm going to ask my little last question here. And it deals with a little visualization. I want you to think back okay it' to young Lester. yep And he's about to open. what Should we do the tech chair the Air Tech Challenge? Or should we do the...
00:56:28
Speaker
ah The new balance. We'll the new balance. I think that's easy. All right. so think back to to young Lester as he's he's getting his new balance. What was this? 7? 740. 740. And now you're older, you. Yeah. Behind your younger self. What would you tell your younger self as he opens that box?
00:56:45
Speaker
thought you were talking about the other balance. No. I thought it was the first one, right? What would I tell myself?
00:56:56
Speaker
I guess that...
00:56:59
Speaker
the How would I say it?
00:57:03
Speaker
not that the pair is going to change your life, but how influential that, not that specific pair, but the idea of wanting something like that would become a passion of yours and not knowing, you know, like the, the first time you, you do anything, you may not know how much you're going to like it or what kind of impact it's going to leave on you.
00:57:22
Speaker
And whether it was that pair that led me to the next pair, the, the, the lasting effect that it all had on me, um, will last a lifetime.
00:57:34
Speaker
Yeah. You know, it's 50, you know, whatever, however old I am, it doesn't matter. but But the point is that I'm still interested in in opening the boxes. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? and And I love opening the boxes, whether it's the shipment of boxes that come through and I want to see how the shoe delivered and did it come as it where we thought it was going to come or, you know, hopefully it looks even better than it did. But just to get that excited and that enthusiastic about Anything, I guess. you know whatever you Whatever makes you happy is is a good thing.
00:58:07
Speaker
you know So that's my story. yeah Beautiful, beautiful. Thank you. Let everybody know where to find where Jordan first. Hi, Jordan Kaiser.
00:58:18
Speaker
Instagram. At Darrell Anders. Lester. At home. There you gosre go. go. And I'm WhoisHas on all social media. Follow the podcast. This has been a live episode of the podcast. Shout out to everybody in the crowd. Appreciate everyone. Thank you very much. Thank you. it's a pleasure. Really. yeah Thank you for checking out this week's episode with Adir and Lester of West NYC.
00:58:45
Speaker
You know, it was really cool to really just like embrace the crowd and see people pull up for a live episode. This is my third live episode. The first one, i was able to do it in a comedy club with kind of comedians in the beginning.
00:58:59
Speaker
And so very interesting. Please check out that. It's going to be at the end of this this podcast this podcast episode. I'm going to link it at the end. But I interviewed Jesse Villanueva.
00:59:10
Speaker
um and We got to hear some A-Life stories. So it was really cool and it was the first time I ever did a live show in front of a live audience. I was super duper nervous. This being my third one, I wasn't as nervous. My second one, obviously we did it with Sneaky Leak and Phil in Cincinnati and i got to kind of like spearhead that and it went terribly, in my opinion, for me.
00:59:34
Speaker
ah Just terms of just like recording but the and dealing with the equipment I wasn't familiar with. But I know, two eighteen episode 218 for that, um I was able to do it over the next day and interview people like AD and Aaron and Phil and Elena and Melissa. um So I had to take like a different approach to kind of make up for the missteps that happened that day.
01:00:06
Speaker
But this this time, I relied on my people, man. So shout out Connor from my friend's basement. you know That's where I record every week when you see me in studio. And he was able to pull up.
01:00:18
Speaker
And big shout out to Wes for embracing it and Adir to hit me up to wanting to do that. Because you know we talk about these Clarks in the episode, and there's only 300 pairs made. They were able to hook me up with a pair. I really would love to see this shoe sell out because Man this this episode was super cool. I mean it really hits home for me because I used to go there as I was a kid and so To be able to host my own pot live podcast from a place I used to just visit as a kid is crazy. I mean
01:00:55
Speaker
I'm forever thankful. I mean, I couldn't say thank you enough to Adir and Lester after the episode. i couldn't I can't say thank you enough to Adir and Lester for even letting me do that there because, man, I remember, even though we talked about me not getting the shoot, I remember going up there for the New Balance. i think they were like the 540s or whatever, but they're like but this like gray and bluish New Balance.
01:01:21
Speaker
um i'll probably put in a picture right here to to help me out but or maybe i won't we'll see let's see how i feel but i remember going up there to try to cop those new balances and i was just late i couldn't i the bus the crosstown bus when i used to live in the in the um in the upper east side would take forever sometimes right or i would have to take 68 m68 bus and then walk all the way up because it would leave me like super far. And I was just like, take it I took forever. The line was too long. I got there. And by the time I got to the front of the line, I'm pretty sure it was Mike. Mike was like, we're out.
01:02:02
Speaker
But ah West is like a legendary spot to me. And I hope I show that in this episode. And I hope y'all enjoyed learning the history behind Tip Top and West and I'm really appreciative of everybody that pulled up. you know I had lots of familiar faces. I had previous guests in the crowd. um It was just really cool to be able to kind of do my first kicks in front of a crowd. And that's like the goal. I want to do more of that. I want to be able to bring that experience of being in the studio and hearing these stories
01:02:41
Speaker
to everyone and it's really cool to do it at sneaker shops and do it with a sneaker shop especially helping them release a sneaker and doing that twice has been like I never thought I'd ever be in a situation to do that and so It's just been this year has been really, really cool. And I know this is going to be dropping after Thanksgiving. But I also want to say, you know, I'm really thankful for the experience that anybody that listens to this has given me and the experience that anybody that even just like tells anybody about this podcast has been able to give me because.
01:03:18
Speaker
And I'm forever thankful because I'm getting the opportunity to do this even while having a nine to five. And so as this continues to grow and hopefully as I continue to bring in more people to help and and also include anybody that's listening, you know, it's always the goal to hear more my first kick story. It's always a goal to have more conversations. It's always the goal to just...
01:03:45
Speaker
make this as fun as it can because this is what it's all about. it's all about having fun and hearing other people's journeys and learning from that, learning from past mistakes, learning, like growing this, becoming better at conversations, becoming better as a person, becoming better at doing everything that I'm hoping I can basically fulfill, right?
01:04:11
Speaker
I really want, you know, in this time of Thanksgiving, I'm just going to get on this little high horse real quick. We know we live in ah in such a separated state. You know, there's some people that don't like each other sitting at the table or have sat at the table since we're post Thanksgiving. You know, um there's people that.
01:04:29
Speaker
you know, we just refuse to have conversations with, but I'm always that person that just wants to have that conversation. I'm always that person just wants to hear different sides. I'm always that person that wants to hear people out and give people grace whenever they're, whenever it's allotted, obviously, you know, uh, if you ever meet me in public, I'm always inviting. I've always want to hear about you.
01:04:55
Speaker
You know, I'm always giving, I'll give everyone, you know, my time because I'm asking for y'all's time, right? 247 episodes, this an hour each, that's 247 hours.
01:05:09
Speaker
And so, you know, as I go and grow to whatever episode is next or the last or whatever, you know, wherever this journey takes me, I'm always going to be inviting of,
01:05:22
Speaker
Anybody that wants to be a part of this anybody in in any format like if you just want to listen to it if you just want to talk to me if you just want to want to share this with your friends and sit around ah ah iPhone on speaker and and hear about this or talk about it like that's what this is about and i just want to say thank you because Without y'all there wouldn't be any of this and so that's just my my little spiel at the end and I hope everyone had a ah pretty good turkey day but of course on to patreon shout outs and you can also get a shout out by sign up for the patreon at patreon.com slash my first kicks so of course got to start off with Adam Neustadter Ross Adams Derek Lipkin Jesse Jesse G Adam Butler
01:06:19
Speaker
Plox, shout out Plox, and i you you gotta follow me somewhere, man. You gotta to hit me up because you've been you've been really on on the Patreon, for real, for real. So I really appreciate you. And new new new patron, shout out Sabia.
01:06:35
Speaker
Sabia, thank you for for for becoming a patron. You know, ah big fan the Snobbet. We did a panel together, and so thank you for your support. And like I said, anybody can become a supporter.
01:06:49
Speaker
Join the Patreon, patreon.com. All your hard-earned money will go a long way. I've gone to definitely, definitely, definitely make sure, especially over these like breaks that I'm going to be having from work, get some extra content up there, get into more of a content calendar specifically for the Patreon. I'm going to be putting up some exclusive content on there, more pictures from a lot of the stuff that I i barely post on on Instagram because...
01:07:17
Speaker
I'm just the worst at posting on Instagram, but you know where to follow me. I'm going to say it again because I think I said at the end of this episode, maybe, but I'm just going to say, you know, who is Haas on social social media is follow podcast and my first kicks pod.
01:07:30
Speaker
Um, definitely hit up West copies copies. They're right on the West website. I'm going to put a ah link in the description of the podcast where you can cop these limited quality, limited quantity. I don't know why say quality is very high quality. but limited quantity.
01:07:48
Speaker
Definitely pick up a pair. These are super comfortable. um Also, if you want ah your My First Kick story to be read to a guest, hit me up, info at myfirstkicks.com.
01:08:00
Speaker
And if you want to check out more of the podcast, check out these two episodes here. Subscribe to the podcast, of course. And you know what we say each week, wear your kicks.
01:08:12
Speaker
Peace.