Just do it.
You've all seen it by now. The nifty looking Michael Jordan shoes, the brand already up to "XIX" (nineteen), and the price tag with three digits dangling off the side of the shoe. I'm not singling out Nike though. There's Reebok who promotes Allen Iverson's I3's, and Adidas with Tracy McGrady/Kevin Garnett/Tim Duncan. And most of these companies, in one way or another, are showcasing shoes that cost very little to produce and rake in a tremendous amount of profit. But I'm not about to write about the pros and/or cons of globalization and the labor market overseas, I'm trying to point out something about the consumers. Why in the hell do kids with little to no skill purchase $140 shoes?
I bought my Nike Airs quite awhile ago, it's been maybe two and a half years. I knew that my feet would stay a size 9 or 9 1/2, so I spent lavishly on my current pair. The total was somewhere in the neighborhood of $40-50. Much to my dismay, however, my shoes are literally falling apart. As such, I walked into Foot Locker last week, scoping out possible replacements. Tying my shoes doesn't just tighten the the area around my ankle anymore, it secures the shoe to prevent walking on a flat pile of leather. So when I entered the store, I noticed that I wasn't looking at 6'2" small forwards picking up a new pair of the LeBron James brand, but looking at a couple 14 year olds purchasing shiny new Nikes. There's nothing wrong with dropping money on shoes, but I start to wonder what the point of acquiring these shoes is. I asked these kids how often they buy new shoes, and they answered three or four times a year. After pooling answers from other kids of the same age, I got about the same estimate -- which I have some reservations about, but I guess some people need to look down and have shiny feet. Nevertheless, I still left Foot Locker sorely disappointed that they weren't having a sale of cross-trainers that could last me until 2007.
Coincidentally, I saw one of the kids I talked to in the Foot Locker again on a local basketball court during a pick-up game. I also guarded him and watched his game quite closely. All I know is that if you're putting $100-$140 on a nice looking pair of shoes, they better give you an extra two feet of vertical leap. Let me just say that during the course of the game or two we played together, I finally understood why those kids bought new shoes "three to four times a year". The ball bounced off his foot so many times that the nice yellow shine turned into something out of schoolbus hell. The shoe would have stayed cleaner had he just tossed it into a septic tank. But by far, the best part was when the kid had the audacity to say "I should have gotten the Iversons." Yeah kid -- want to trade?
I bought my Nike Airs quite awhile ago, it's been maybe two and a half years. I knew that my feet would stay a size 9 or 9 1/2, so I spent lavishly on my current pair. The total was somewhere in the neighborhood of $40-50. Much to my dismay, however, my shoes are literally falling apart. As such, I walked into Foot Locker last week, scoping out possible replacements. Tying my shoes doesn't just tighten the the area around my ankle anymore, it secures the shoe to prevent walking on a flat pile of leather. So when I entered the store, I noticed that I wasn't looking at 6'2" small forwards picking up a new pair of the LeBron James brand, but looking at a couple 14 year olds purchasing shiny new Nikes. There's nothing wrong with dropping money on shoes, but I start to wonder what the point of acquiring these shoes is. I asked these kids how often they buy new shoes, and they answered three or four times a year. After pooling answers from other kids of the same age, I got about the same estimate -- which I have some reservations about, but I guess some people need to look down and have shiny feet. Nevertheless, I still left Foot Locker sorely disappointed that they weren't having a sale of cross-trainers that could last me until 2007.
Coincidentally, I saw one of the kids I talked to in the Foot Locker again on a local basketball court during a pick-up game. I also guarded him and watched his game quite closely. All I know is that if you're putting $100-$140 on a nice looking pair of shoes, they better give you an extra two feet of vertical leap. Let me just say that during the course of the game or two we played together, I finally understood why those kids bought new shoes "three to four times a year". The ball bounced off his foot so many times that the nice yellow shine turned into something out of schoolbus hell. The shoe would have stayed cleaner had he just tossed it into a septic tank. But by far, the best part was when the kid had the audacity to say "I should have gotten the Iversons." Yeah kid -- want to trade?
