VintageByFaded (Joe Garcia)
By Joe Garcia
Mel Lofton of VintagebyFaded wants to encourage anyone who is into vintage, sneakers or street wear to go after reselling because now is the time to do it.
“I look at it as a community–being involved with everyone that’s (selling vintage), and then they’re working with people…It’s just better that way,” Lofton said.
In an effort to give Lubbock-area residents the exclusive sneakers they want, DeVon King, founder of The Players Hub shoe store–located at 1101 Main St., said his love for sneakers led him to open up his own store with his partners.
“Why not bring an exclusive sneaker store down to Lubbock because Lubbock will really go for it,” said King. “Lubbock is growing now so why not put something like that where Lubbock is expanding more.”
Like King, Lofton said he too had a love for sneakers at a young age, but along with sneakers, his passion for vintage clothing grew.
“I’m a big fan of Travis Scott and A$AP Rocky, and I saw some of the tees that they were wearing, and I couldn’t find them,” said Lofton. “I found out that they go to thrift stores, so I was like ‘Oh that’s. cool they go to thrift stores.’”
Grant Owen from Milestone Kicks said he got into high-end clothing when his mom got a job in Singapore because they take fashion seriously.
“I got a taste of for what the shoe game was my sophomore year of high school. That’s when I got my first pair of Jordans,” said Owen.
King, Lofton and Owen said they all got into reselling when they found out they could make a profit.
Lofton said he used to resell streetwear such as Supreme or Gucci before he started reselling vintage clothing. The change occurred when someone told him vintage resell was more profitable.
Milestone Kicks (Joe Garcia)
For King, the idea for his business venture grew while working at a mainstream sneaker store.
King said he and his older brother used to serve as managers of Finish Line and Footaction respectively. He said he was always asked if they had exclusive sneakers in stock at his store.
King said the questions he was asked prompted him to open up his own exclusive sneaker store to accommodate the needs of the people of Lubbock.
Looking at the financial aspects, Owen said what started as passion became driven by profit when he learned he could make money holding onto select shoes.
“I really started reselling when I realized there was money in the game,” Owen said. “You could just hold the shoe and the value goes up or you can buy a shoe and try to sell it the next day for more.”
Out of all three businesses, The Players Hub is the only one with a physical store. Lofton and Owen said they have hopes of opening up their own store in the future.
“The more Lubbock continues to grow, the more money we have to spend and the quicker the resell game will grow,” said Owen. “I think the next 5, 10 years we will probably see two, three, four or five shops here.”
For more information, find VintageByFaded, Milestone Kicks, and The Players Hub on Instagram.
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