DEATH OF THE INDEPENDENT SNEAKER STORE

At one level, the retail equation is simple. If stores can’t sell enough stuff, game over. Unless you’re Twitter with 150 million investment dollars in the bank, you can’t keep the doors open without revenue. Breaking square or even small profits can’t sustain life on Mars. Needless to say, no matter how much anyone loves sneakers, being in it ‘for the love’ won’t pay the bills, especially after several year’s daily grind take their toll. Still, passion is the reason why many got into the shoe game in the first place – they love their sneakers and still do (perhaps a little too much), despite the intemperate financial climate.

Hikmet Sugoer from Berlin’s Solebox is one of Europe’s leading retailers and the architect of much hype and German sneaker heat. “Nearly every year people are asking me, what I will do if trainers are becoming unpopular? Guess what? I will sell trainers.”

However, as Gee from Patta Amsterdam noted, “The strong will survive and the weaker will have to go. This doesn’t have to be a bad thing, it just means that everybody gotta be at the top of his game.” 

The impending sense of a ‘sorting out’ is inescapable and one which applies to all industries that can’t continuously adapt to uncontrollable variables. Trends now come and go at lightning speed. Hightops are in one moment and lame the next.

Warp speed is symbolised by Google, where businesses are made or lost on the basis of understanding exactly what kids are searching for, which can be analysed and broken down by the hour, let alone days and weeks.

Being in business is tough, even in the good times.