The World's First Sneaker Pawn Shop

Being a middle-aged guy, it would be easy to say that I just don't get the whole sneaker culture thing.  But I actually customized a pair of my own shoes years before this kid Chase Reed was even born.  In 1991, I was sleeping on the floor of the tiny, one bedroom apartment best known as the World Headquarters of S&M Bikes.   The bikes lived in the garage, Chris Moeller had the bedroom, and BMX industry guy Bill Grad claimed the couch.  One weekend I got hired by someone to work at the Action Sports trade show in San Diego for the weekend.  Sunday afternoon, as people were starting to pack up, I wandered around the show one last time.  The Etnies shoes booth was pretty small then, and Pierre Andre himself was packing up.  Since we were long time friends from the years spent hanging at the Huntington Beach Pier, we started talking.  Out of nowhere, Pierre looked down at whatever pair of worn-out shoes I had on.  "What size are you?" He asked.  I told him 9, and he literally walked over to the display wall and grabbed a shoe.  "You like this style?"  It was an all white shoe, semi-high top, or whatever you call those.  I said said, "Yeah."  Pierre took the shoe into the little curtained off area, found the match, and handed me the shoes.  I was stoked, that was my first pair of Etnies.  I wore them on the trip back to Huntington Beach.

I was pretty stoked, they were brand new, yet already felt broken in, a hallmark of Etnies at the time.  No ski boot feel like the Vision DV8's I got free while working there.  Anyhow, I was stoked on my new shoes... until I walked into the tiny apartment.  Both guys immediately noticed the bright white shoes.  "What the hell are those?"  "They're Etnies, Pierre hooked me up," I replied, stoked on them.  "They look like nurse's shoes... they are sooooo white."  In that apartment, someone became the DBV or "Designated Bag Victim" every night.  That night, it was me... again. 

A day or two later, I went somewhere, out riding, I think, and I wore my old shoes, wanting to keep the Etnies looking good as long as possible.  I got back that night and found my ultra white Etnies covered in swastikas and the zig-zag Nazi "SS" symbols.  The guys had destroyed my shoes with a marker.  I was fucking pissed.  But I also needed shoes, that was back in the ramen days.  So I pulled out my trusty black, ballpoint pen and turned all the swastikas into four-squares, and turned the "SS's" into KISS, like the band.  Then I drew designs all over my new shoes.  It was actually pretty fun.  That was a while before I really started hearing about sneaker culture and customizing shoes as an offshoot of the whole hip hop scene. 

Fast forward 25 years, and sneaker culture is HUGE.  Young people today spend ridiculous amounts of money on Air Jordan's and other high end shoes.  We are also living in a time when the computer/mobile phone connected world continues to encourage new business ideas.  I first heard about Chase's Sneaker Pawn Shop on CNBC.  Collecting shoes isn't my thing, but a lot of people do it.  I think the whole sneaker pawn shop idea is brilliant, and that's why I'm sharing it. 

We're at a point in time when millions of people need to either find better jobs or create their own jobs.  Here's a young guy who saw an opportunity, and even sold his personal collection of shoes to get the business started.  When the shoes are up for sale, he puts a pic on Instagram or Twitter.  Now his dad works for him.  The world needs good business ideas, and it looks like Chase Reed has found a really good one.