Signing up for raffles at 5 different stores, camping out and waking up early just to stand in line.

All this only for a chance to get that one pair of shoes.This is the life of a “sneakerhead”. The obsession over sneakers has only grown stronger over the years and now it’s at an all time high. From fist fighting and breaking down mall doors to stabbings and even killings, people will go to whatever lengths they have to in order to get their pair.

Many people don’t understand this fascination with sneakers. I myself didn’t fully understand it until I started working for Foot Locker. Some even argue that it has become a problem for some people.

Some of the most popular shoes in the market right now are the Jordan Retro’s that Nike drops every once in awhile. Basically how it works is each store will get a certain number of them. For example at Champs we just got 18 pairs of the Jordan 11 Concords low. They were released to the public on Saturday but Champs always hold a raffle in the store on the Wednesday and Thursday before.

How we do the raffle is we require each person who wishes to enter the raffle to present some form of I.D. Once their name is taken down along with their phone number, and the size they wish to buy. Employees write this down on a ticket and place it in a box. The night before the release we randomly select the winners. If their name is picked, they’re called to confirm that they do, in fact, still want the shoes.

The day of the release we give the people who won the raffle until 12:00 to come and pick up their shoes. If they aren’t picked up by twelve then it goes to a first come first serve system. So around 11:00 a line usually begins to form in hope that people won’t come and buy their shoes.

Now of course there are some advantages to working at one of these stores or knowing someone who works at a store. Every time there is a release a percentage of the shoes go to the employees first. So the employees get first dibs which is only fair.

But what is the reason for this obsession with sneakers? Why would some people spend so much of their time and money on shoes?

“It’s kinda just my thing. I’ve always liked shoes and I probably always will like them.” said sophomore Peyton Mortellite.

People will go to ridiculous lengths to get their pair of shoes. Back in December when the Jordan 11 Gamma Blues were released there was quite a scene in Champs. We opened at 10 and before we had even lifted the gate up people began standing outside the store. We had already done the raffle and called all of the winners, so the people at the store were planning on waiting it out and hoping someone didn’t come to pick up their pair.

So fast forward a couple hours and there was a full blown line wrapping all the way around the store. Now again none of these people were promised a pair they were all there in hopes of being lucky and someone not picking up their shoes. Once the time came where we could start giving the people waiting shoes, we only had 5 pairs left. Two of the pairs were for employees. We sold the last 3 pairs we had and then unfortunately had to inform all the people in line that we were out.

When they heard this some left out of discouragement, but many stayed not believing us. When we told them again that we no longer had any left many became angry. People threatened to jump on the counters, and said the only way their were leaving without shoes was in handcuffs. So we called the mall security which did absolutely nothing. Then we proceeded to call the police.

There was an even crazier scene outside of Kicks USA in the Hamilton Mall two weeks ago when someone was stabbed. Two men in their early twenties got into an altercation while standing in line for the Retro Jordan Snakeskin shoes. The fight elevated and eventually led to one man stabbing the other. At this point the manager of the store jumped in to break it up. The man survived and was not hurt badly. The man who did the stabbing turned himself in a week later.

The obsession over sneakers is continuing to grow stronger with every release for many. Across the nation we continue to hear crazy stories about what people do to get their pair. It has been this way for years now and will most likely only get worse.