KEN IGE / KIGE@STARBULLETIN.COM
Only 1,500 of these Nike HTM Woven shoes were made -- 500 each of three colors. Ian Ginoza, left, and Eddy Haus sell the pricey pairs ($275 each) at their shoe shop, Kicks Footwear & Apparel, which caters to collectors of rare and reissued athletic shoes.
Much ado To the casual shopper, the crinkled, leathery lump of red, white and black footwear in the display case at Kicks Footwear & Apparel may not be worthy of a second glance, but for Ian Masaki Ginoza and Eddy Haus, the original pair of Air Jordan sneakers deserves its own shrine.
about shoes
Sneakers sneak up in value,
viewed as markers of
America’s urban cultureBy Shawn "Speedy" Lopes
slopes@starbulletin.comAs owners and operators of Honolulu's 7-month-old ultrafab sneaker shop, Haus and Ginoza understand the special allure of classic athletic footwear and believe they've tapped into a booming and potentially lucrative market. The athletic shoe is synonymous with urban culture, they say, and Kicks is one of a handful of stores worldwide catering to the countless collectors of rare and reissued sneakers. A well-preserved pair of first-edition Jordans, for example, can fetch $1,000, and nearly every major sneaker manufacturer issues a number of collectible remakes and special-edition designs each year.
Getting your hands on these coveted artifacts takes research and valuable connections, however, and that's where Kicks can deliver where other outlets fail. Whether the sneaker in question is a hard-to-find reissue or a "dead stock" (i.e., discontinued) item, the retailers say Kicks will exhaust every lead to track down a pair for its customers. "If someone approaches us saying, 'Hey, do you have this shoe?' I want to be able to say we can get it for them," attests Haus, who receives several special requests each week. "I want people around the world to know you're going to get what you want because we're going to try to carry the hardest stuff to get."
KEN IGE / KIGE@STARBULLETIN.COM
An original Air Jordan is among the classic athletic shoes displayed at Kicks Footwear & Apparel on Makaloa Street. A pristine pair of these shoes can sell for $1,000.
Ginoza adds: "What we do is so specialized that you just need to know people. You can't just call up Adidas and ask for this stuff. A lot of what we ask for at some of these companies -- they don't even know it exists."
He points to his pristine white Stan Smiths, the Adidas-made classic known by sneaker enthusiasts as the most-purchased athletic shoe of all time. "You can see we buy this stuff. ... We wear this stuff. We are our customers. We're not just a retailer out to make some loot; we're totally into it."
LAST YEAR, Ginoza, who worked for 11 years as a graphic designer and creative consultant in San Francisco, decided to pool resources with Haus, his longtime friend, and turn a lifelong passion for sneakers into a unique business venture. Drawing on a network of talented designers and in-the-know contacts, they were able to assemble a simple yet elegant Makaloa Street showroom, complete with custom fixtures, glinty hardwood floors and an inventory of shoes never before seen in Hawaii.
From experimental models (Nike's HTM series, made in three colors and limited to 500 pairs each, are Kicks' priciest shoes at $275 a pair) to retro remakes (Nike Dunk and Adidas Proshell among them), Kicks boasts hundreds of styles in every imaginable color and size.
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO
Morgan Costley tried on a pair of Adidas Copenhagens last week at Baddoll Shoes in Portland, Ore. The style, from 1976, was re-released this year.
"You're basically looking at the buyers, the employees, the guys that sell the shoes and mop the floors," says Haus, motioning to Ginoza and himself. "We kind of figured out at a late age that we're never going to work for anyone else."
While neither will retire anytime soon (they're both in their early 30s), business has been steady. Proprietorship also has allowed them the freedom to use their work space as a gallery for local artists on occasion.
"I'd like to look back on this when this is all said and done and say, 'Hey, we sparked something and also gave people a venue to show their (art),'" Ginoza says. "Hopefully, that manifests into something greater. Everything has to start somewhere."
WHILE EXTRAVAGANT cosmetic innovations by some of the bigger shoe manufacturers have alienated customers in recent years, the appeal of classic lines continues to draw a wide-ranging clientele to Kicks, from Japanese tourists to fashion-forward local hipsters.
As Haus explains, it all comes back to the basics. "I don't know if you've seen the new Kobes, but they're outrageous," he huffs, referring to NBA superstar Kobe Bryant's latest flamboyant shoe line.
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO
Seth Longaker holds a Converse Weapon, a 1980 design, one of many retro shoes offered at Oddball Shoes in Portland, which Longaker owns with brother Zac.
"You look down, and it's like you're wearing a bubble on your foot. The average person is intimidated by some of these designs, and more and more, I think, they want a shoe they can just chill in that looks good."
Ginoza adds, "Our core customers are so knowledgeable about what they're looking for that we need to be up on all the trends."
"I dropped all my savings into this because I believed in what we were doing and I knew we could provide a service," Ginoza says. "You just find what your true passions are, and you just follow them."
Kicks is at 1522 Makaloa St., Suite 211. Call 941-9191.
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