The OVO X’s dropped this weekend. If you were within 5 feet of a computer at any point this weekend, you most likely saw for yourself. The sneaker world went crazy, the few stores that did get the shoes had to raffle (of course) and NDC sold its stock in a mere matter of seconds (of course).
Seems like just another hyped-up release, right? Well that’s the case for the most part, but one shop that received the shoes made the release memorable for another reason.
“What shop, and what did they do?” you might be asking yourself. The shop is Sneaker Politics, a Louisiana sneaker store with three different locations, and what they did was make anyone who wanted to purchase the shoe wear it out of the store. This is great for many different reasons.
First of all, with how limited the shoe is, any reseller worth their salt was slobbering all over themselves trying to get their hands on a pair. The few that were lucky enough to actually hit on the raffle then had to put them right on their feet and walk out the store, dropping their profit by several hundred dollars as the shoes were no longer DS. Sure, you know how resellers are: most will try to clean the shoe and sell it as DS anyway, but it’s the thought that counts.
Secondly, it’s almost forcing people to enjoy themselves. Maybe someone wasn’t reselling (I’d like to think there were at least a few customers that were copping to rock), and they had the joy (albeit forced joy) of a day 1 wear. When was the last time you wore a shoe the day you bought it? It’s probably been a while, right? Well I’ll let you in on a secret: putting a shoe on your foot the day you cop it is actually a lot of fun. You should try it sometime.
And last but not least…the employees finally got their day. I’ve worked in shoe stores for several years, and I know how things can get. You have rude people in all the time. You have people frequently ask you for discounts. You have people belittle you for no reason whatsoever. The employees of Sneaker Politics got to be in the driver’s seat for a change, and you bet your ass they enjoyed it. “Oh, you don’t want to wear these shoes out the door? Well then you don’t get them.” Being able to tell the customer they weren’t always right for one glorious day just might have been the best thing ever for them.
So bravo to Sneaker Politics for bucking the status quo and running this hyped release their way. And to those of you that grabbed OVO 10’s…please rock them! They’re too dope to be sitting in a box.
If you’re a size 10, I just might have some trades for you too.
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