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Quoted Text

No one should buy $200 sneakers

   Good for NBA star Stephon Marbury and Steve & Barry’s University Sportswear (Tuesday’s Gazette), for teaming up to sell a decent pair of basketball shoes (a k a sneakers) that doesn’t cost the better part of the average family’s paycheck.
   That’s what companies like Nike and Reebok charge for some of their celebrity-endorsed shoes, and like many other so-called status symbols, the price is more a function of what vain people are willing to pay than what the item costs to produce. In other words, there’s a huge markup. And while many people know it, they’re still willing to beg, borrow or steal, literally — or make everyone in the family eat peanut butter sandwiches for a month — to get them. Gotta “be like Mike” or some other overpaid celebrity jock.
   Marbury is a big enough basketball star to have his own line of overpriced sneakers, but because he grew up poor and remembers the pressure his equally poor friends put on him to own a pair of $150 Air Jordans, he decided to take the ball in the opposite direction: His “Starbury” sneakers — which he says are no different on the inside than Nikes, et al. and which he wears when playing for the New York Knicks — sell for just $15. They were introduced a year ago, and have made their presence felt on the market.
   It’s refreshing that at least some kids (and parents) are willing to reject the far-pricier alternatives, even if the Starbury’s — while quite fashionable — don’t have quite the same cache.
   Ideally, of course, kids would reject sneakers and all other garb that’s priced so much higher than it deserves to be. But they probably won’t as long as adults embrace similar symbols of wealth and perceived success (certain fancy watches, cars or handbags).
   In the meantime, parents — even those who can afford the stuff — could do themselves and their kids a favor by just telling them what Marbury’s mother told him when he asked for a pair of Air Jordans years ago: No.  

  
  
  

Finally, and yes, I'm one of those "kids" who "needed" the shoes that were over $100 at one time.  I just HAD to have the Reebok pumps when they were cool...and it did NOTHING for my stature in school.  Go figure.

It's too bad, cause there are a lot of hard working parents who just can't afford these sneakers. I guess walmart would call them the 'have nots', huh?

Quoted from bumblethru

It's too bad, cause there are a lot of hard working parents who just can't afford these sneakers. I guess walmart would call them the 'have nots', huh?

No...the underserved...

.....in the mean time we spend(and are okay with this due to trendiness) $30.00 for a pair of plastic clogs called CROCS.....

......what the hell are we thinking??????????????