On The Ferryman Speaketh
We recently paid a visit to our boy Matt Lee, who is currently holding down the sneak-tip in Perth Amboy, New Jersey. The undistinguished Dirty Jerz shoe store on Smith St. in fact houses some Limited Edition and Energy Account gems, as well as some sharp throwback finds available through a healthy flow of consignment kicks.
We chopped it up for a minute as he explained keeping up on the family business and how he [nearly] lost 100 grand of his parent’s loot on limited kicks. And they weren’t even for himself....
How long have you been in the sneaker game and why did you start in the business?I been working here since I was16 years-old. It’s a family business, and I had always helped out before but was never serious about it until sixteen or seventeen. My whole family owns sneaker stores, everywhere from Connecticut to Pennsylvania to New York City. I took over fulltime from my parents for about a year and half now I started being more serious about it, going to the shows and the driving out to the meetings.
How did things change after you took the business from you parents?The vibe of the store was more Generally Releases, whatever sells. After I got in, we opened so many different accounts, Schmack, Greedy Genius, all the exclusive market. There is definitely a different market, different people coming in. Now we get a lot of that premium market.
What are some of the challenges/the hardest part of owning your own sneaker shop from day-to-day?Just keeping up! Trends move too fast, and you make one mistake, its $20,000 down the drain. You gotta make sure you do your research and stay on top of what’s hot.
So since you took over, what has been your biggest mistake?When I first started, I’d be like ‘WOW this shit is so hot, we gotta cop these,’ but no one was gonna pay 200 for a pair of AF Ones when they don’t know what we were about.
So I bought 36 pairs of one style, and I moved two at $200 dollars. I sat on roughly $100,00 dollars of liability, maybe $20,000 after it was all said and done. I did whatever I could to pay that bill. I was pushing it everywhere, to consignment shops and back-dooring stuff on e-bay, and just doing a bunch of shit you’re not supposed to do. Because when you’re dealing with 20 plus vendors, and you gotta pick what’s hot here and there, it’s tough. But, you learn.
So, as a Korean family-run business, how has it been operating in a primarily Black and Latino Urban Market?When my parents first started, they hated it. It was “Chino this, Chino that, give me a discount, give me my shoe." But for me, I have never had a communication problem, there’s more of a respect. For my parents, it was like they were just trying to take my money, they just want a sneaker. But now, I think it’s more of a friendship, and I think that me and my store associate with the market better. There’s an appreciation they have, in that we have something they want and we’re here to provide for them. Also, I think there’s an actual understanding of the history of the sneaker.
As the Sneaker Store owner, what are your favorite brands besides of Nike putting out the freshest kicks?Adidas, and I actually love Reebok. No Jordans though, I hate the way they fit, I own 7 pairs, never worn one [laughs].
