I mentioned previously that I'm a bit of a sneaker collector. Not at all like the kids who waited three days in the cold for a pair of Jordans, but I do like a good pair of collector Nikes. It's probably the only thing I have a modest collection of. Anyway, I had a good friend in town this weekend and plenty of time to kill, so we did a sneaker tour of the city. Started off at the sneaker boutiques around the Lower East Side, went to Alife Rivington Club, which buzzes everyone in and keeps several of its pairs behind a glass case.
It was when we were leaving there that the light went off in my head: what were we doing in Manhattan, when we were just four train stops away from the Fulton St. Mall in Downtown Brooklyn, aka Valhalla for sneakers? Every store down there has sneakers, mainly Nikes -- more varieties of Nikes than you'd ever imagine. It can't really be described. You just have to experience it.
Anyway, I ended up with the pair seen above, which I scored for $39.99. Not bad. What's crazy though is that at one of the fancy places in Manhattan, they were $180. And actually, a few places in Brooklyn had them for between $80-$100. Why is there such a big difference in prices? I'm not sure. Obviously, part of what you're paying for in Manhattan is the fact that the sneaker boutiques only carry premium pairs, so your paying for their curation, which has value. Going down to Downtown Brooklyn is a bit of adventure, as you have to wade through countless more pairs and going into about 20 different shops before you find the perfect pair. What's less understandable is why there's such different pricing at stores that are right next door to each other.
Anyway, while down there, I asked the lady ringing me up how business was these days. You know, I'm always curious about the health of the US consumer. The answer: shoes are flying off the shelves lately. The reason: tax return season.
By the way, I think I know which shoe store the above picture was taken in. It's on Lafayette St., just north of Houston.
(pic via Kix and the City)
The sneaker shopping was a blast. While there's a certain attractive panache to sneakers from a Manhattan boutique, nothing beats a good deal on some sneaks. My only question: why doesn't Fulton offer hoodies in anything smaller than XL?
Posted by: Goldtoof | February 05, 2008 at 02:22 PM