“The Thirst Begins”…..
This Friday is the release of the black and red Jordan Retro 11′s, an iconic shoe for Brand Jordan, arguably the most memorable shoes during the many Bulls championship runs.
With Christmas around the corner, shoe enthusiasts and Jordan fans will undoubtedly have this on their wish list. There is a twist for this year’s release though, most major retailers are doing a raffle or a lottery system. Last year’s “Concord” release was so chaotic Nike implemented a new “RSVP” system, to deter enthusiasts from camping out and causing the disorderly uproar that has become oh so familiar in recent years.
The hype behind the “Concord” was so crazy that people were going to extreme lengths to get their hands on a pair, with the negative images making national news. Consumers were so desperate to get a pair that they were sleeping in cars and hiding in bathrooms overnight. Unfortunately, in some cities there was property damage, fights, & armed robberies. It poses the question, “Does Nike truly have the consumers best interest at hand or are they adding to the problem”? Nike has the ability to produce as many pairs as they see fit, that’s evident with restocks of Retros throughout the year. Yet, they still limit the pairs available only to maintain the value for supposed collectors. Make more pairs available; you eliminate the Hypebeast from reselling and reduce the chance of having disgruntled shoe consumers.
This process has proven successful with other releases but the Christmas release has been the biggest release for Brand Jordan dating back to ’01. We will see if this lottery system will help or hurt the retailers for future releases. Nike and retailers implementing this system eliminate elements of the shoe game that people have become accustomed to, and here are a few points that will be effected by this.
1.)Hook ups: it’s always good to have resources when you need a shoe, but what do you do when your connect can’t put your size up.
2.)Camp outs: the days of standing in line for hours to get your favorite shoe are over unless you’re standing in line for a ticket.
3.)Customer loyalty: whether you’re a die hard Footlocker, Champs, Finishline, or Footaction customer it doesn’t matter when you can’t walk in and purchase your size if they have plenty of sizes.
4.)Resellers:all the hypebeast characters coming in buying multiple pairs to resell are going to have to wait until the next release. Downside to this process though it fuels the winners to flip these shoes for a profit which allows this cycle to continue to kill the shoe game.
I know Nike’s intentions for this process is to ensure a safe shopping experience , but I hope the individuals who don’t win won’t take it to violent measures. To all who are trying to get a pair good luck!!
