The holiday season is upon us and most sneakerheads have their eyes on the prize. With more prospective buyers than ever but also a wider array of product, tracking down a top release takes more work than it once did.<\/p>\n
At Snkrs Day, we hope that everyone can pick up their sneaker of choice this season, and we hope that process goes as safe, smooth and civil as possible. Because of this, we spoke with representatives from some of the best and biggest boutiques across the country to create some dialogue about the release methods that are best for both the businesses and their customers.<\/p>\n
For years, the most common method of release for both boutiques and big box retailers has been first come, first serve<\/strong>, also known as a lineup. The main advantage of this format is rewarding the customers that are ‘the most dedicated’ by first selling to the people in the front of the line that arrived the earliest and thus waited the longest. A number of top tier boutiques still use this method.<\/p>\n “Some of the methods we go with are all based on the amount of pairs we actually receive,” says Matt Tomamichel of Corporate in Cincinnati. “If it’s a good number we are able to offer first come first serve. For Black Friday we’ve been able to do everything first come first serve. Now that you have multiple releases on Black Friday it’s easy to just make everything first come first serve. We also have a reputation that reminds our clientele we will hold the shoes if the crowd gets wild. We can do everything via a phone order. I’m not willing to allow my staff or anyone a chance to get injured over sneakers. If I see it goes wrong I’ll shut it all down.”<\/p>\n As alluded to, there are some inherent issues with first come, first serve releases. One of the main issues is customers arriving so early (sometimes days in advance) that lines become unruly and crowds become huge. From homeless folks being paid to wait to nearby businesses becoming frustrated with the commotion, problems have arose from the original launch method. In an attempt to tackle those problems, Detroit’s Burn Rubber has set a designated time when customers are to lineup.<\/p>\n “As of now we designate a time that the customer is allowed to line up and then at the end of the day we take names,” says Rick Williams. “This is something that we are trying now but it is an evolving situation. We are still looking for the best way. It was rough when we didn’t make any effort to govern the line. When this was the case we has a lot more angry people on the day of the release. Our current method of governing the release seems to be working at the moment.”<\/p>\n “We also have a reputation that reminds our clientele we will hold the shoes if the crowd gets wild. We can do everything via a phone order. I’m not willing to allow my staff or anyone a chance to get injured over sneakers. If I see it goes wrong I’ll shut it all down.” -Matt Tomamichel, Corporate<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Shops maintaining order, authority and respect seems to be the calling card for a successful launch via the first come, first serve method.<\/p>\n “We organize our customers at our storefront in single-file lines and deliver the product via that route– it proves to be the easiest and most efficient avenue for us [currently],” stated Joe Staley of Oneness in Lexington, Kentucky. “That’s the most important part for me; getting a lot of product in people’s hands and preparing them for the holiday season.”<\/p>\n Just the same, being swift and changeable can be beneficial for shops that see larger crowds arrive earlier than expected.<\/p>\n “This past Black Friday we released Ronnie\u2019s collaboration with New Balance – the Daytona, and we handled the release as first come, first serve,” Lucas Monroe of KITH recalls. “Due to the inordinate amount of people that began lining up after midnight, we decided to open at 5 AM. Black Friday is the busiest retail day of the year already, so I wanted to make sure we were able to expedite the process of our release, so that we could permit traffic to flow throughout the store for our in-store product.”<\/p>\n In general, it appears first come, first serve works best when allocations are high and authority is respected.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In recent years, the raffle form of release has become quite common amongst both boutiques and even some big box retailers. Customers come by the shop during the week\u00a0leading up to the release to register for a chance to purchase the pair of sought after sneakers in their size. Prior to the day of release, the store calls the winning customers, giving them a window to come in and purchase the release date sneaker on its official launch day. The main selling point of this release method is that it’s considered the safest form of distributing launch product.<\/p>\n “First come, first serve was my favorite until bums started getting paid to camp out and fights started happening at 4 AM in front of the stores,” says Derek Curry of Sneaker Politics. “We currently use the raffle system due to the way the market has changed. I think the raffle system is the safest way to release shoes these days. I do hate it since I didn’t come up like this, but I do agree that it is the safest way for everyone.”<\/p>\n As alluded to by Derek, though safe, the raffle form is considered somewhat unpopular because it leaves purchasing a desired sneaker completely up to chance.<\/p>\n “As far as raffles, we hate holding them as much as our clientele hates coming in and getting a ticket,” states Matt Tomamichel of Corporate, who as mentioned before still uses the first come, first serve release method. “It takes the focus away from us being able to sell the product that’s available now.”<\/p>\n “We currently use the raffle system due to the way the market has changed. I think the raffle system is the safest way to release shoes these days.” – Derek Curry, Sneaker Politics<\/p><\/blockquote>\n While that may be true, many boutiques have still made the move to raffle releases. The calling card for such changes has primarily been safety.<\/p>\n “In my opinion raffling works the best,” states Greg Grovey of the Snkrs Day Shop in Austin, TX. “Raffling keeps the confusion down and it keeps the big and sometimes angry crowds from forming at your store. First come, first serve didn\u2019t really work for us because it keeps a lot people at a disadvantage. For example, some people have jobs and can\u2019t camp out for shoes for days. Something we also noticed was older people sometimes tried to intimidate the younger kids in line and bully them for their spots, and that\u2019s not cool. Safety is always our number one priority so we currently use the raffling system.”<\/p>\n While raffle releases may make securing a release date product a risk to obtain, it does rank very high in regard to safety. Also, in some ways it allows a shopper to hedge their bets by ‘playing the lottery’ with the raffle while still having the same chance to score a pair through other outlets or avenues.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n While first come, first serve launches and raffle releases prove to be the two most common launch methods amongst stores, some shops have explored other methods. Most of these methods involve disregarding the original release date of the shoe and dropping the product by surprise on a later or unannounced date.<\/p>\n “This year we practiced what we call WISHSTRIKE where we release at random,” Jennifer Bruce of Wish ATL explains. “So we could drop a shoe anytime or day after the Nike release date and customers would find out when by following us on social media and being ready to run down to the store once we post that the product is available.”<\/p>\n A similar approach was used last year by KITH. Having worked with New Balance on the “Americana” collaboration, they had the creative control and freedom to put out the product on their own terms.<\/p>\n “For the Americana release, we placed the sneaker out on the shelf without any forewarning or any notification,” Lucas Monroe tells. “We put them out maybe halfway through the day, so that if you happened to be in the area, or just sliding through the shop at that opportune time, you had the chance to be part of something special. That’s part of the fun, both for us and the customer. We get to enjoy seeing people stumble across something crazy, and now that’s a story that customer has for the rest of their life. Switching it up is key, and something we\u2019ll continue to pursue in the future.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Every holiday season (or almost every weekend for that matter), release date product sells out with many people going home empty handed. Aside from people being down about not scoring their favorite pair as a gift to themselves or a gift to a loved one, the insane demand and day-of-value occasionally finds things getting violent. Because of this, many shoppers have blamed the brands. We spoke to the retailers about their stance on whether or not the brands were at fault. Here’s what they had to say:<\/p>\n “I honestly think that burden is more so on the retailer than the actual brands. I do feel as if products didn\u2019t have release dates and were sold when the store received them it would help because you wouldn\u2019t have huge crowds on one day. That might not be the answer but I think it would be a fun change of pace. It\u2019ll be like back in the day when you could randomly walk in a store and see Jordans and dope releases on the shelf.” – Greg Grovey, Snkrs Day<\/p>\n “I don’t hold the brands to any standard. I mean obviously making sure sizes are available is the best route on their part. It’s our job to make sure we can handle ‘our’ releases!” – Matt Tomamichel, Corporate<\/p>\n “I’m not sure about what’s going on in other places but for us I think we have it under control. I think it’s something that the stores have to figure out. The companies are going to provide the product and it’s up to us to figure out the best way to safely get it out.” – Rick Williams, Burn Rubber<\/p>\n “Really, it\u2019s the stores responsibility to ensure the safety of everyone including customers and store staff. I think footwear brands have tried to offer more stock to retailers for releases so everyone walks away happy but at this point it\u2019s just over-saturating the market.” – Jennifer Bruce, Wish ATL<\/p>\n It appears the general consensus among shops surveyed is that the responsibility of a safe and smooth release falls in the hands of the retailers and not the brands.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Many of the retailers we spoke to had some solid advice on how to best handle high profile releases. Here’s what they had to say:<\/p>\n “We believe it all starts with getting the information out. We use our Corporate newsletter to make sure everyone is on the same page. If you’ve ever shopped here you’ve given us your email most likely and it’s became a part of our newsletter. [Also] we remind everyone that we can and will shut a release down if things get out of control.” – Matt Tomamichel, Corporate<\/p>\n “The key for us when it comes to handling lines\/crowds is remaining consistent. Right now we just do the best job we can of making it difficult for resellers to attain multiple pairs.” – Deon Point, Concepts<\/p>\n “I think the best way to prepare for a hectic holiday or sale is to gain respect from your customers. We\u2019ve been around for a while now and people have come to learn that we\u2019re really fair with all our customers and just want the best experience possible. We\u2019re always trying to do things to give back to the community since the community is what makes or breaks you. But so far it seems like that\u2019s working. Other than that, be clear and communicate with everyone what is going on and keep a sale as organized as possible.” – Chris Bone, Livestock<\/p>\n “Something we\u2019ve found successful recently is changing the location of where we may hand out tickets. It’s proven to be beneficial and fair, because those people who haven\u2019t been lingering around the shop the entire day still have an opportunity to get a pair.” -Lucas Monroe, KITH<\/p>\n “Ample product and adequate staffing! Making sure we have the right product in the store, enough of it and plenty of add-ons to choose from. Keeping the team going and motivated for the holiday hustle is a must.” – Jennifer Bruce, Wish ATL<\/p>\n “The best answer I can give is to promote your sales and over staff. Even with large crowds you still want to make sure that every customer is taken care of. It also doesn\u2019t hurt to have extra eyes on the floor in case somebody has sticky fingers.” – Greg Grovey, Snkrs Day<\/p>\n <\/p>\n So, as a consumer, what’s the best way to go about picking up a pair of release date kicks this holiday season? Here’s the information and advice we’ve surmised in regard to the main channels where shoes are sold.<\/p>\n Buying at a boutique:<\/strong><\/p>\n If you’re looking to buy a high profile release from a boutique, you’ve got to know the form of release that will be taking place there. Most shops are consistent with their form of launch among releases and distribute the information over social media, on signs at the store or over the phone. Raffle releases offer somewhat of a slim chance to secure a purchase, but still the safest avenue with the least time spent. First come, first serve drops work well when the shop has plenty of pairs and authoritive crowd control. Make sure you know exactly what method of release your shop will use.<\/p>\n Buying at the mall:<\/strong><\/p>\n Mall-based stores usually get the biggest allocations and sometimes the biggest commotion. What’s important to know is that the individual stores in the mall may not dictate that particular store’s release policy or may not have any say in security or crowd control<\/strong>. Those decisions more commonly fall on the actual mall itself. With that said, some big box retailers are taking more of a streamlined approach this holiday season.<\/p>\n For the Black\/Infrared Air Jordan 6s, Finish Line implemented a ticketing (raffle) policy and handed out tickets last week. Pairs will still be sold online at FinshLine.com.<\/p>\n Foot Locker releases will vary from store to store, but you can get the information for each drop from their Launch Locator<\/a><\/strong>. Both sweepstakes (raffle) and first come, first serve ticketing will take place at various locations prior to the launch.<\/p>\nRaffle<\/h2>\n
Alternative Methods<\/h2>\n
Does Blame for Commotion Fall on the Shoe Brands?<\/h2>\n
Advice to Retailers<\/h2>\n photo via Wish ATL<\/a>\n
What to Know as a Consumer<\/h2>\n photo via Wish ATL<\/a>\n