Westlake freshman runs shoe-resale biz
As dress codes relax, sneakers are walking into more acceptable settings than ever before, and limited editions are a hot commodity.
Sensing an opportunity, Westlake High School freshman Jake Butler, 15, and venture capitalist Mitch Johnson recently launched Front Row Sneakers, their mostly online company that resells designer athletic shoes.
“We bonded over shoes,” said Johnson, who discovered their mutual passion for sneakers as a result of a friendship between their families.
Johnson is the CEO for Keller Capital and a business incubator coach at Westlake High. Jake is a budding entrepreneur, but not in the business incubator class because underclassmen can’t take it, so Johnson took him under his wing.
“I invest in the shoes, and Jake’s job is to run the company,” Johnson said. “Jake does all the research and the work. I just show up, and we talk sneakers, which is what I don’t get at home. Jake fulfills that for me.”
“Mitch has guys he knows who can get some really exclusive pairs of shoes, which is awesome, because I could never get my hands on these releases,” said Jake, who sells them and splits the profits.
It’s simply a mutually beneficial relationship.
“Jake has shown an amazing ability to market and sell these exclusive sneakers to people all over the country ... using social media outlets like Instagram, and also leveraging the latest venture-backed technology platforms like Goat and StockX,” Johnson said, noting the platforms use a live bidding system that resembles stock market trading.
“Companies put out release dates for all types of shoes ... and if we think a shoe will have more demand than inventory, that’ll create more of a spread . ... We go after any shoes that we can sell for more on the resale market,” Butler explained.
“He’s sold pairs “from $52 to $940, with $940 being our biggest sale to date. I created an Instagram (@frontrowsneakers) that has all of my current inventory on one page, so people can check it out and ask about the shoes.”
In a couple of months, the company has earned almost $4,000.
Looking through their inventory in a local storage facility is a fascinating cultural experience. Boxes of special-edition celebrity sneakers line the shelves. Many of the approximately 250 pairs of shoes are works of art and definitely not your basic P.E. variety. Jake’s favorite is the colorful Pharrell’s.
Some of their profile clients are collectors in their 20s and 30s, who might “want to keep sneakers in their house like art or baseball cards or wear them,” said Johnson.
“People started realizing there were such limited editions, that they could make money in the resale market,” Johnson noted. “Then came technology. Before, you had to wait outside in the cold and rain, but now you have technology, so you don’t have to do that.”