Police pepper-spray shoppers as Nike shoe release prompts nationwide mall chaos
Across the country, the long-awaited release of Nike retro Air Jordan basketball shoes resulted in fights, arrests, and the use pepper spray as police attempted to calm frenzied shoppers on Friday, many of whom had waited outside stores overnight.
The Air Jordan XI Retro “Concord” sneakers, costing $180, are based on a design that first went on sale in 1995.
Adding to frenzied demand from fashion-conscious shoppers and sneaker collectors, some stores have been given as few as 12 pairs each.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45777268/ns/us_news-life/
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gratuitous
(82,849 posts)I seem to recall that some of the commentators on the teevee machine were saying that Occupy had to pay for the increased police presence to monitor their bad selves. I wonder if those folks are going to demand that Nike pay for all the extra cops needed to keep order at their little sales riots?
CJCRANE
(18,184 posts)It would cut out the middle man.
Marrah_G
(28,581 posts)Once upon a time I had a friend who grabbed my friends key chain and commenced to spraying herself in the face with mace. When asked "Why the heck did you do that?" her reply was, "I thought it was perfume".
Yes, she is blonde !
(XOXO AE!)
marasinghe
(1,253 posts)Marrah_G
(28,581 posts)marasinghe
(1,253 posts)
SoapBox
(18,791 posts)...I want a refund on my money.
Quartermass
(457 posts)
dixiegrrrrl
(60,161 posts)and a can of pepper spray!
Xtraneous
(94 posts)Hey, but you get the cheapest price and without the hassle of dealing with real people! Way to go!
BeHereNow
(17,162 posts)Only shopping in family owned businesses, eating at family owned restaurants.
There are several family owned businesses on the internet too.
Also, several sites that I purchase from are providing jobs for people
who handle the order.
There are so many things that are only available on the internet that I use.
Sacred wood, herbs, fabrics, beads, clay.
Not easily found in a corporate mall.
I don't think shopping in malls is a good way to support my local tax base.
The shops are full of crap and the employees are miserable, and paid low wages.
Only exception I can think of is Nordstroms.
They are actually a great company to work for and specialize
in unique and well made merchandise for the most part.
But most of what I have in the closet is from thrift stores- nice stuff too!
BHN
Xtraneous
(94 posts)You can come up with all the excuses you want about how shopping on the internet may possibly, but very highly unlikely, contribute to your local economy. Sending all or even most money out of town is what is breaking this country. Thrift shops, mostly non-profit, non-taxpaying. Well, actually, throwing money to non-profits will pick up the slack in homelessness services needed to make up for lack of shelter, food, health, jobs from the demise of the local businesses. Even the low wage part-timers will need to partake in those services too.
Don't take my word for it. Look to the experts... www.the350project.net
BeHereNow
(17,162 posts)I'm sure the family owned businesses I frequent
and my Credit Union, doesn't mind my business at all.
And some how- I doubt my $10.00 internet purchases of Palo Santo
are breaking the economy-
As a matter of fact, since they are a US based company,
some one has a job because of my order.
And Goodwill employs disabled people- got a problem with that too?
BHN
BeHereNow
(17,162 posts)No riots at the second hand shops.
Just really good stuff for CHEAP!
BHN
Uncle Joe
(65,137 posts)Thanks for the thread, IDemo.
the blame falls solely on the out of control animals that can't contain themselves.
Not the police... not the retailers... not Nike and not "corporate consumer brainwashing".
Uncle Joe
(65,137 posts)non-stop corporate consumer brainwashing magnifys and aggravates the mental illness that drives people to stampede and/or fight one another over a material item.
There is no way this kind of mass programming couldn't create adverse affects on society, self-worth and esteem have become intricately tied to a brand name, at least on a subconsious level.
That's why people are willing to pay more for a brand, they become emotionally attached to it and the advertisers; spending hundreds of millions if not billions of dollars over the past half century have known this.
At some base level we all have our own Pavlov's Bell.
rocktivity
(45,006 posts)
Those Air Jordans weren't cool when they WERE cool! And they're charging $180??? You're supposed to LOWER the price when you're overstocked!
rocktivity
former9thward
(33,424 posts)People are rioting because there are so few available. Some stores were given just 12 pair to sell.
rocktivity
(45,006 posts)Not to be worn, but to be preserved in order to INCREASE their value! See you on Ebay!
rocktivity
dixiegrrrrl
(60,161 posts)from the story:
"The new shoes are already being advertised on eBay with asking bids of as much as $605."
BeHereNow
(17,162 posts)That sells past edition clown shoes- unbelievable prices.
WHO the fuck would burn their money on such ugly silly sneakers?
Here is the link from MilesC:
http://www.flightclubla.com/p.php?fc=la&c=aj&i=011085
People are insane.
BHN
IDemo
(16,926 posts)Because your opponents will be doubled over with laughter as you drive to the basket.
jmowreader
(53,194 posts)You don't wear $180 patent-leather basketball sneakers to play basketball, you wear them to make a "fashion statement." The statement, of course, is "I have $180 to spend on a pair of ugly shoes."
No, you spend the $180 on the ugly Jordans to wear OFF the court, and then you spend $30 on a pair of Chucks to wear ON it.
IthinkThereforeIAM
(3,308 posts)... you beat me to it. If you want a pair of hideous looking shoes to wear, hit your local crazy days sales, you can always find some neon lime green nylon Converse running shoes for $3(1979 price) (I bought a pair back in the day, thought they looked hideous, and they did, but some folks said, "nice shoes!" just because they were a top brand) or one adjusted for inflation, like $15 now days. Which reminds me why I love visiting my dear old aunty in Denver, between medical reasons and pleasure, I seem to always hit town when the big sporting good stores have a crazy days liquidation.
Let fad mongers keep paying through the nose(both by money and blood) for their hideous, "masterpieces", I will gladly pay LOW/BOTTOM dollar for a pair of decent looking Fila, Adidas or even Coleman camp slip ons.
BeHereNow
(17,162 posts)Hell, I be doubled over with laughter on the street
if I saw some one wearing them.
BHN
Historic NY
(40,037 posts)
0rganism
(25,647 posts)stupid cops for counting on pepper spray to solve all their crowd-control problems
stupid shoppers for rioting over a shoe style choice
and a big ol' STUPID with a dash of ~~evil~~ goes out to Nike for their aggressive marketing campaign followed by under-stocking, no doubt intended to push up the price
RebelOne
(30,947 posts)My first thought was that some people are so stupid.
mahatmakanejeeves
(69,854 posts)falalalalalala, etc.
Xipe Totec
(44,558 posts)Marrah_G
(28,581 posts)
dotymed
(5,610 posts)they wouldn't pepper spray THEM.
MADem
(135,425 posts)
Tanelorn
(359 posts)
RKP5637
(67,112 posts)the corporate machine.
i_sometimes
(201 posts)a few sheep at 150.00 for two, money well spent. I can wear them eventually!
RKP5637
(67,112 posts)
knitter4democracy
(14,350 posts)Depending on the breed and the quality, that could be serious money well spent. 
i_sometimes
(201 posts)rather small and very tame. I have a weather and a ram. They were a local girls' 4H project and she bred the ram and needed more space. Best lawnmowers ever. I tether them about the yard and turn them loose for browsing the black berries, funny how they prefer to browse weeds!
My daughter was after a horse but it turns out-and I am quoting her, "two sheep equal one horse!".
The wool is very fine and while I know nothing at the moment about shearing, I do know how to card and spin.
knitter4democracy
(14,350 posts)You can get a lot out of Shetlands. Are they double-coated (meaning they have guard hair) or single coated?
i_sometimes
(201 posts)I haven't a clue! I think they are double, I went out and carefully looked the coats over and there are taller, thinner hairs with less body and lanolin, the shorter hair is tighter and fuller bodied. The shorter hair is about 4inches at the shoulders, longer towards the tails.
I am new at sheep, these boys came up for sale and I had been looking at goats and smaller ponies but these browse well, are very hardy and the wool is sought after locally.
I read up what i could before picking them up but I have a ways to go. I have kept stock of all types, these will be for wool and eventually meat some day after I find replacements. I love that they are docile, walk on leads very well, are very quite and easy to keep. I did hooves today, that was fun! Easier than a donkey!
I need to find out what to do about their tails. They both still have them, some say dock, some say don't. One guy, Squiggy, get poop all over his and I have to bathe him daily...ugh!
knitter4democracy
(14,350 posts)They're worth more to handspinners if they have more than one color or aren't all white. Spinners are big into colored Shetland fleece. 
Shetlands are great sheep--hardy, healthy, great wool.
i_sometimes
(201 posts)Lenny is mostly grey with some black around his face, Squiggy is multi colored, dark grey, some brown, some black. I am feeding them lots of veggies as per a woman in San Diego who advises such for a healthier animal and a better coat. I will have them pose for us in the morning! Merry Christmas!
knitter4democracy
(14,350 posts)What lucky sheep.
If you haven't found it yet, try joining Ravelry.com (it's free and like Facebook for fiber people). There are groups for sheep people on there where you can get great advice for everything from vet care to what to do with the wool.
sarcasmo
(23,968 posts)
obamanut2012
(29,369 posts)And that is rare for me to say.
There were actual RIOTS in many places, and even gunshots in at least one. FOR EFFING SHOES! Wait a few weeks and get a pair. It's like a first edition book, where you want the first printing.
Out of control consumers. For a Nike product.
emilyg
(22,742 posts)doors to store were broken, mother left her small children alone in car to shop, near riots.
obamanut2012
(29,369 posts)It's for SHOES, not gold bullion. and, pretty ugly shoes, imo.
octothorpe
(962 posts)
raouldukelives
(5,178 posts)As the slave labor who makes them.
MADem
(135,425 posts)They are hideous--as ugly as they were the first time they came out...
No accounting for tastes.
Corruption Winz
(616 posts)If you're fighting over ugly, $180 sneakers, I think you deserve to be pepper sprayed.
PavePusher
(15,374 posts)
edgineered
(2,101 posts)jmowreader
(53,194 posts)but it seems to me the people who were rioting over these shoes needed to be pepper-sprayed for lack of fashion sense. Or beaten with rubber chickens. Or something. God, these are ugly shoes.
WHEN CRABS ROAR
(3,813 posts)
TahitiNut
(71,611 posts)Insane.
WHEN CRABS ROAR
(3,813 posts)jmowreader
(53,194 posts)Add to that the $10 they probably pay Michael Jordan to use his name, $5 for transport to the store and $5 for advertising expenses.
That leaves $140. The store probably pays $150 per pair, so the company is left with $110 profit.
You know what's gonna be in the Beaverton, Ore., newspaper on January 5, right? "Nike has laid off 10 percent of its U.S.-based workforce. Although Nike posted record profits in the quarter that ended Dec. 31, company officers said 'lackluster' profit margins and sales that did not meet expectations led to labor reductions. In other news, the six Nike executives who served on the so-called 'workforce realignment commission' who chose the employees that would be terminated received $100,000 bonuses for the difficult task of throwing all those people out in the street."
WHEN CRABS ROAR
(3,813 posts)marias23
(379 posts)Consumerism is a religion people. These folks are acting like fanatics of other faiths everywhere.
alp227
(33,283 posts)and Sandler concluded that 2011 was the year of Pepper Spray...but it seems that in this case because of violence among the shoppers the spray was justified, heavily justified.
Quantess
(27,630 posts)I am so inadequate without them!!!
potone
(1,701 posts)Nothing about this story makes any sense to me--not the shoppers who stayed up all night to buy the sneakers, nor the police pepper spraying them.
PavePusher
(15,374 posts)and got it just about spot-on. From "Stranger..." onwards, his societal predictions were so accurate it's riveting.
and-justice-for-all
(14,765 posts)all that for shoes??!! American FAIL.
If people can not control themselves and act like pychotic neaderthals for shoes, then they should be peppered spayed.