If you live in the Detroit area, and haven't been to Burn Rubber Sneaker Boutique, you've been sleeping under a rock! I'm not even a hard core sneaker head, but I have an appreciation for all areas of fashion and I can respect the culture. I personally swung by to pick up a stussy tee, and my best friend copped the dopest Creative Rec's in a petite size 6. So it was my pleasure to get to pick the brains of owners Rick and Ro to get a behind the scenes perspective of the hottest sneaker store in Michigan.
DW: Describe how the first meeting went when the concept of Burn Rubber was conceived?
Rick: Burn Rubber was started in 2004 and in 2007 my partner and I got the opportunity to take over the shop. I created the original website for the previous owners and that was how the relationship began. One of the old owners gave me a call and told me that he was selling the shop and asked if I wanted to buy it. I told him of course but I had to go find out if I could realistically do it. I then called Ro and asked him if he would be interested in buying Burn Rubber with me and he said yes. The rest is history.
DW: What were some of the obstacles faced when trying to get Burn Rubber back on track?
Ro: Well with us, we bought the business from the previous owners, so the biggest obstacles were negotiations. Dealing with attorney's and accountants, also going back and forth coming to an agreement was stressful. You have to deal with your thoughts that this is one of the greatest opportunities in your life, but the deal has to be fair for both parties. Just because your right at the foot of your dreams, you can't let anybody get over on you, cause you may be setting yourself up for failure.
DW: What gives your store an advantage over other sneaker stores?
Rick: I would say that one of the biggest advantages over other stores like ours in this area is our accounts. We have some of the most limited sneaker accounts that Nike, New Balance, Puma, and Adidias offer. Another advantage is our customer service, when people come into our store we try yo make them feel comfortable. It's not uncommon to come into our store and find us and our customers joking around and having fun. We enjoy what we do and it is reflected in our attitude towards our customers.
DW: Do you think the streetwear industry is over saturated? And what do you think makes one brand better than another?
Ro:Nah, not right now, but I think it could be going in that direction. It's kinda like hip-hop, everybody thinks because they have a computer and a rhyming dictionary that they have the skills to make an album. With the streetwear industry, people think that because they have a funny saying or some decent artwork, that they should start a clothing line. I think there is a couple things that go into making a brand stand out. First it's design of course, then quality of the product, exclusivity, and marketing. It also helps to have a celebrity endorsing it, but I guess that goes into marketing, lol.
DW: Any future plans to expand or add more BR stores?
Rick: Someday, YES!
Ro: Most definitely, our store is kinda small so we're limited to what we can do. Once we master what we have here, we're going to surprise a lot of people with what we have in the works. Mark my words!
Visit BurnRubberDetroit.com for more info.
-Doni W.
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