More $15 Shoes, Please
Posted by Cap in Miscellaneous on March 25, 2007 |
Saw this on Friday night’s 20/20 and thought it was pretty neat.
Launched in 2006, New York Nick’s Stephon Marbury partnered with Steve & Barry’s to promote a line of shoes and clothing bearing his nickname, “Starbury.” Understanding the pressure that inner-city kids face to spend $150-$200 on footwear sold by other companies such as Nike, Reebok, and Addidas, Marbury’s line of shoes will sell from $9.98 to $14.98. To show their quality, Marbury will be wearing these shoes for the entire 06-07 NBA season.
On March 23, 2007, Starbury was featured in a segment on the ABC show 20/20 (edition entitled “Enough!”), hosted by John Stossel. The segment dealt with the high price of sneakers and the role of Starbury and Marbury as an alternative. During the show, Marbury stated “If you take my shoe and you take a $150 shoe, cut it down in half, and it do the same exact thing.”
Sure, the shoes are still made in China, but at least they’re not $150 made in China shoes. And yes, Marbury isn’t exactly a star NBA player (contrary to his own self proclaimation of “best PG in NBA”), regardless, promoting the idea that brand and quality doesn’t always equate to high prices is awesome enough in itself.
9 Responses to “More $15 Shoes, Please”
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March 25th, 2007 at 7:00 pm
I wonder how many shoes he goes through in a season? Do they hold up for an entire season? Is he using them for only the games or for training as well?
But great to see a low-price shoe, time will tell for quality.
March 25th, 2007 at 7:15 pm
yeah I doubt he’s using one shoe through the entire season.. probably uses a couple of them. as for how they fare after use.. *shrug*
according to these b-ball blogs, they quality isn’t as comparable to med/high end shoes. but both blogs do acknowledge that they’re $15 shoes, after all.
March 25th, 2007 at 9:59 pm
From my understanding, most pro players change their basketball shoes every game or at least every week - they are given for free by the companies, so it really isn’t an issue.
March 25th, 2007 at 10:19 pm
LOL at–and it do the same exact thing.”
it do??
ok back to my comment—-i think it’s great he’s doing this! who is he anyway? ok nevermind. :)
March 26th, 2007 at 6:29 am
Most pro players wear new shoes for every game anyway…
$100 shoes usually last longer than $15 shoes (yes, not always, but on average)
March 26th, 2007 at 1:16 pm
I guarantee you $100 shoes don’t last 7 times as long, though. I’d rather get a nice new pair more often than try to stretch the life of overpriced Nikes.
I bought several pair of Starbury’s last Christmas for friends. All I’ve heard are positive reports. In fact, once I wear out the pair I have now, I’ll probably buy myself a pair. Steve and Barry’s has a nice variety of inexpensive shoes. Now if they’d just build a store in Birmingham! I have to stop by their other stores when I’m traveling.
March 27th, 2007 at 10:58 am
I never could understand how ANYONE could be dumb enough to spend upwards of $200.00 for a PAIR OF SHOES! To me the only “status symbol” it would give anyone is to show that you were dumb enough to have spent $200.00 on a pair of shoes.
Nice to see someone kids will listen to is doing something about it and saying “enough is enough”!
March 28th, 2007 at 8:35 am
completely new to this site…I think it’s excellent. The site as well as this idea for sneakers that are a good value. Learned that in Scotland, things aren’t cheap, they have “good value”.
I like Micheal Jordan but that doesn’t mean I want to line his pockets buying expensive sneaks. I’d rather line my own pockets.
Lastly, does anyone know of any sneakers that ARE NOT made in China? Converse High tops used to be made here, unsure if they are still.
jessica
July 23rd, 2007 at 9:34 am
Hmmm? Wonder if the left is $14.98 also?