FC NOW: The Fast Company Weblog
August 25, 2006
Walk This Way
Three cheers for Stephon Marbury, point guard for the New York Knicks. He's bucking the trend among athletes and endorsing a sneaker , the Starbury One, that costs a very reasonable $15. Just in time for back to school.
Michael Jordan doesn’t even play anymore and a pair of Air Jordan sneakers can run mom and dad $100 . When the sneakers first appeared in 1985, they were $65, which seems like a steep price for the mid-80s. In an article from the L.A. Times that year (unavailable on the paper’s website), Randy Harvey reported fights between New York customers trying to get their hands on a pair and a mugging victim who had his newly-bought pair stolen. According to Harvey, after one month in six test markets across the U.S., $29 million worth of Air Jordans were sold.
Now with so many styles to choose from, “sneakerheads” have spawned. According to this article in the July 27th issue of the L.A. Times, 17-year-old Cesar Vasquez has 300 pairs of sneakers and buys a pair a week. Marbury recognizes that not everyone is this fortunate (or foolish). First lesson of the school year: Nothing beats a good bargain.
Posted by Tonya Garcia at August 25, 2006 4:34 PM | Category: news + current events |
3 Comments
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Why does the media insist on treating this story like Stephon Marbury is providing a public service?
They saw a position in the market and they're taking it.
As a footnote...
Reporting the official line is lazy journalism (Unfortunately, all too common!).
What's the story behind the story?
I think this is great if done for the right purposes...much like the philosophy of one of my past clients (IKEA), there's a growing movement towards beautifully designed, functional, yet affordable products.
Unfortunately, IKEA battled a pretty bad wrap in the U.S. for quite some time because they originally viewed the U.S. as an outpost--a region that wouldn't accept the styles popular in other countries. (Not all of us have, and not all the styles are that beautiful.) As a result, they sent us the schlocky stuff. But as IKEA took hold in the U.S. they began (however slowly) to send us increasingly-better quality stuff.
Have we matured enough to have an appreciation and understanding of value beyond the amount tacked onto our credit card debt?
How much was that Hummer H3, those Jimmy Choo's, that DWR cashew shell grinder?
I think this is a great! Parents are struggling to give their children a small taste of the "in" fashions and the cost of the shoes and designer clothes now a days is ridiculous! The athelets and Rappers are getting richer and children that can't afford these items are in some cases doing illegal things just to obtain them. Say what you want..... If this will help save money for higher education or save a child from being jumped on and/or picked on for NOT having the latest fashions I say go for it! This may give the children who can't afford the shoes by Jordan or other celebrities an opportunity to wear a pair of name brand shoes for less than half the cost.
I'm all for it!
God Bless you Stephon