“They killin’ people for J’s, that’s death over designer”.
This lyric by North Carolina rapper J. Cole sums up the state of purchasing shoes in today’s market. It seems like such a trivial task, to buy shoes to wear at your own choosing. But over the past few years, some take this task to heinous levels and decide to take lives over footwear.
For a few Saturdays every month, Nike takes hold of the shopping when they release a pair of their brand new Jordans, commonly referred to as J’s. Customers of all sizes stand in lines for hours outside of malls across the country, hoping to obtain a pair. But the negative aspect of this craze is that some people take this energy and use it for malevolence. The release of Jordans has resulted in riots and deaths across the country for a number of years. As recently as January, three teens were charged with capital murder in Houston, Texas after killing two men over a pair of Jordans. In 2011, it became a much more local issue. Shots were fired inside the Hilltop Mall in Richmond during a release of Jordans during the holiday season. No one was harmed, but the mall is no longer allowing the sale of Jordans in their stores.
While these examples may seem minor, they shed light on a major problem. Everyone has their own right to purchase something as simple as a pair of shoes they like. In response to these issues, Nike and malls across the country has changed the way they release the shoes. Online stores now release the shoes on Saturdays at 5 a.m., but the sites crash as soon as the shoes become available. Malls now hold a “lottery”, a process where possible buyers would get a ticket a day before the release and hope their number is called when the shoe is released in the store. Nike has taken a more radical approach and utilized the social media site Twitter to decide who will get a pair of shoes. Days before they are released, possible buyers have to send a direct message to the store’s Twitter page including specialized hash tags and your preferred shoe size.
While Nike and other malls may feel these are appropriate and safer ways to purchase a pair of Jordans, they will only lead to future problems. But there are ways to make purchasing a pair even easier and more convenient. Increasing the stock online and releasing them throughout the day by size will make the online process much easier and reduce the possibility of the site crashing. Malls should scrap the entire “lottery” process and release them the old fashioned way with extra security in the store and around the mall. These ways are good for both ends of the spectrum. Consumers are happy and won’t have to deal with the frustration and malls won’t have to deal with a heavy amount of controversy.
As a fan of the shoes, I feel the frustration of trying to purchase shoes today, but they aren’t worth dying over. If you buy these shoes, be smart and safe and remember, they’re just shoes.
