High-end shoe chain Sneakerboy has opened its latest store, in the luxury precinct at Chadstone Shopping Centre, with a space for customers to sell their old shoes alongside the latest styles.
A quarter of the new store is dedicated to a ‘sneaker exchange’, where customers can display, buy and sell sneakers among each other with Sneakerboy acting as a moderator.
Sneakerboy founder and creative director Chris Kyvetos said establishing the exchange was a response to seismic shifts in the market.
“In 2017 consumers no longer need the retailer to shop as they are trading amongst themselves, none more so than sneaker consumers,” he said. “They trade on forums, social networks and at swap meets and this is growing at a rate of 25 times retail growth.”
Rather than ignore this trend Kyvetos said Sneakerboy evolved to embrace it, just as it did when ecommerce was becoming more popular.
“In 2013, we were saying that if people are going to shop online, we’d rather they do that in our stores than in their bedrooms,” said Kyvetos. “Now we say that if they are going to buy sneakers off each other we’d rather they do that in our stores than in the carpark.”
Nelson Mair, managing director of Sneakerboy’s parent company Luxury Retail Group, said the exchange is part of the retailer’s desire to provide an immersive customer experience. He said this, along with “the best sneaker edit in the market”, has fuelled Sneakerboy’s growth over the past two years.
“[The exchange] was a logical extension of our model as ‘recommerce’ is growing at an incredible rate, and by providing a common space and passionate sneakerheads to act as moderators we futher enhance Sneakerboy’s leadership position.”
A large crowd gathered at Chadstone Shopping Centre for a Sneakerboy giveaway.
Sneakerboy’s Chadstone store launched after a multi-million-dollar fitout and has seen more than 15,000 customers through its doors each week since opening. It sits among international luxury brands including Valentino, Celine, Dior and Balenciaga, selling sneakers from many of the same labels as well as limited-edition kicks from Nike and Adidas.
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