Kevin Franz is a true sneaker head. The Edina junior owns many pairs of shoes, customizes his own, and occasionally spends up to $500 on a single pair.
In February of 2011, Franz started his collection once he saw the Lebron 8 All Stars. After purchasing the expensive pair of shoes, Franz found out they were very rare. This finding started his interest in shoes. “I joined a couple sneaker blogs to talk about shoes. From then on I just got caught up in the hype,” said Franz.
Franz collects mostly basketball shoes but also has a few skateboarding and running shoes. Franz doesn’t like to brag about how many shoes he has. Instead, when asked how many shoes he has, he replied, “Not enough.”
“I look for historical, classic shoes, like something that Jordan wore. I also base it around shoes that just look nice.” Franz’s shoes range from prices between $120 a pair, to upper $500 and $600’s. “My most expensive is probably the Jordan 11 Concords,” said Franz. He buys his shoes with the money he earns from working at Five Guys. “My parents buy NONE of my shoes,” claimed Franz.
Franz admits that it is not easy to purchase a pair of rare shoes. “On December 23rd in the middle of winter I got in line at Studiiyo 23 in Uptown at 12 a.m. and waited until 12 in the afternoon at subzero temperatures with no sun for this pair of shoes.” The reason? “The Jordan 11 Concord is known to be the most iconic Jordan.”
Another sneaker head, sophomore Chris Enriquez brought customization into Franz’s life. Enriquez started a company called CE Custom Kicks. With a website (cecustomkicks.com) and twitter account up and running, his shoe customization was public. Franz was Enriquez’s first customer. With one shoe done, Enriquez handed over the paint to Franz because he did not have enough time with hockey. Franz shut down the business, but still customizes for himself.
Although Enriquez is done with customization, he has a new business involving shoes. Sophomore Tyler Nanne describes Enriquez as “Mr. Crabs from Spongebob. The only difference is Chris likes the money so much more.” Enriquez has a connection in the shoe business and is able to sell fake shoes. “For years he has made a profit out of these fake shoes. Our whole Bantam A hockey team bought shoes last year,” said Nanne.