Check out Gentry Humphrey's reaction when Niketalk is mentioned Vol.Kix and The City Interview III

[uniquekickz]

Gentry give us straightforward answers stop beaten around the bush.

 

[soups24]

i know everyone likes to beat up on genrtry....but like my man above said...you got to respect the business side of it...

jb can't have us old cats just buying up the old stuff...he's going to make new stuff for the newer cats...i mean you don't like the newstuff...dn't buy it...

personally..i'm glad it comes out...gives me a break...so im not buying shoes every week...that hurts ...
http://www.ezboard.com/images/emoticons/sick.gif

 

[not a sneak]

Gentry is a very smart business man. He understand both perspectives of "new" and "OG" collectors.

I don't think the mold of the shoe is his fault, but he does give us a great replica of OGs we want.


If NT ran JB it would go out of business. You can't retro the same thing every year. You can't. NT probably doesn't even make up 5% of the totalsales.

 

[sylvestermcgrizzly]

wasnt that serious but thanks for the bid....its always been and will be about the almighty peso

 

[airgolden2123]

I hope everyone on here from the hood does not take offense to it, because my all means I'm not trying to be offensive. It is quite clear however, thatalot of the trends that the younger members of the hood eat up are trends, ideas, patterns, and colors that are the choices of many kids that for examplelisten to Soldier Boi. The young kids from the hood seem to be the kids that make up the focus groups that Gentry mentioned that went "woah" when heshowed the some of the stuff.

This is the exact problem, Gentry is marketing to the sorts of kids that make up these focus groups, and these kids don't want the plainess of the OGs,hence why all the quality and nice colors get scrapped and we get some of the messes that release.

 

[carminejordan]

^I actually agree

but wait.........

 

[eye see soles]

Are these kids from the hood in the suburbs?

It's a known fact that people from the suburbs are the ones who are supporting, emulating, and imitating soulja boi.

But let's not get this thread off track. Fact of the matter is times change and choices of style change as much as the seasons. Next year it will besomething different. You just wait.

 

[israel5ekla]

BRAND JORDAN is not perfect, im not defending them god knows i dont buy the crap they put out, but i do know that i buy what i like and as long as they are putting that product out, im happy.....

 

[super23freak]

Well, now I know how he BS's his way through Brand Jordan meetings.

He comes across that his knowledge of the product and the line is about as common as the next guy's.

It's amazing how he thinks 'fusions' are so unbelievably great and innovative.

He is the 'yes man' and will soon be the 'fall guy' of Brand Jordan.

 

[kingjafijoehoe]

Im no business man yall could go against my word or thoughts but this guy thinks he can make JB like nike which will never happen........especially with only23 signature shoes......because at the end of the day if he wants to continue a long term business with JB hes gunna run out of retros regardless like he wassayin you cant release the same shoe year after year hes almost up........so what hes doing is milking and destroying these classics to lure in the "newgeneration"........p.s. the newer generation would be lured in regardless because they never had a chance to have hares or space jams.......so apposed toexpanding the company by putting time and effort into creating more non signature jordans with their OWN designs they do mix ups because people are going tofall for it( ouuuuuu this part comes from the 6......ouuu this two 3 on the tounge is from the 12's)......just gimmicks......think about it if they cancreate the 1's-17's (i stop at 17 because that was the last jordan i really did like) and i as well as others liked each and every last one(yes i likethe 15s too they look like X-150 fighter jets on my feet kool)........then why cant they put time and effort into creating more good looking jordans andput good and LS colors on those.........it probably wont meen much cause MJ didnt play in them but that just meens thats sad because they cant make newcreations and promote and sell them.......i had alot more to say but i think i wrote enough

 

[eye see soles]

Originally Posted by kingjafijoehoe

Im no business man yall could go against my word or thoughts but this guy thinks he can make JB like nike which will never happen........especially with only 23 signature shoes......because at the end of the day if he wants to continue a long term business with JB hes gunna run out of retros regardless like he was sayin you cant release the same shoe year after year hes almost up........so what hes doing is milking and destroying these classics to lure in the "new generation"........p.s. the newer generation would be lured in regardless because they never had a chance to have hares or space jams.......so apposed to expanding the company by putting time and effort into creating more non signature jordans with their OWN designs they do mix ups because people are going to fall for it( ouuuuuu this part comes from the 6......ouuu this two 3 on the tounge is from the 12's)......just gimmicks......think about it if they can create the 1's-17's (i stop at 17 because that was the last jordan i really did like) and i as well as others liked each and every last one(yes i like the 15s too they look like X-150 fighter jets on my feet kool)........then why cant they put time and effort into creating more good looking jordans and put good and LS colors on those.........it probably wont meen much cause MJ didnt play in them but that just meens thats sad because they cant make new creations and promote and sell them.......i had alot more to say but i think i wrote enough

Jordan will never be bigger than Nike. That like coke zero being bigger than coke; it just won't happen.

And Jordan Brand did try to make original shoes (team jordan) but they just sit. So they have to return to their bread-and-butter to get the cashflowing.

I think Gentry just wants a company that can be competitive and viable for years to come. You can't knock the hustle.

 

[khadafi252]

i wonder if this dude is tired of doing interviews.

 

[neptunesfinest]

As much as I hate this dude I can see why we have shoes like the fusions, spizikes, 6rings etc. Like he said, the 'new cats' buy them up and theyneed to find some way of keeping the brand relevant. He knows he can't rely on retro 3,4,5,6 to carry the brand indefinitely. And with Mike gone from thegame the newer signature shoes are a much tougher sell. That's fine. I get that it's a tough position to be in.
What I can't understand is why he can't release those fusions AND some original mold retros in OG colors with Nike Air? The changes that were made tothe OG's were not changes for the better. It's not like they started using midsole material that wouldn't crack after 5+ years or better leather. They made changes for the worse. I don't exactly see how this is supposed to satisfy anyone but the 'new cats' who don't know any better. Sowhen he talks about striking a balance, I don't see that at all. I see a man whos only goal is to make a profit and show that his company can haveexplosive growth.
This can't be all his fault. There's always pressure from upper management, but when you start making decisions to sacrifice loyal consumers for the"here today gone tomorrow" trendy type of consumer, somebody needs to step back and realize that this is not a viable business strategy for the longterm. Yes, short term his financials probably look great. He's able to give himself a nice pat on the back, but what happens when the 'streets'are saturated with these fusions and the like and people realize that they're wack? Now you've got a real problem because you can't fall back ontoyour loyal consumers anymore. I guess what I'm saying is that you have to play the cards that you're dealt, BUT you don't always go all in.

 

[kam winston]

I took the chuckle as "Yeahhh...I'm familiar with those cats."

It's nothing to trip about.

 

[theassassin23]

i easily see him hating on NT

 

[coolnificent]

Was I the only one expecting him to tap, tap, pull

 

[philaflava1]

Humphrey has single-handedly ruined the Jordan brand. I don't speak out of jealously or immaturity, but honestly. The man is responsible for bastardizing the brand and creating all these Jordan-esqe type knock-outs such as Dubs, Fusion, Spizikes...

He is responsible for many of the horrible colorway choices and decided to use cheaper material in making many of the recent retros to cut costs and increase profits.

Somebody already nailed it, the man in bringing in money and that is all that matters to Nike. From a business sense as long as the money is coming in it doesn't matter how much damage he does. There are more dumb people in this world than smart. More kids 12-18 y/o age buying these horrible new JB sneakers because after all they weren't even alive during the days of him playing on the Bulls. They have no concept what the original III's feel like or how people used to get punched for accidently stepping on your brand new IV's. They're just buying what they think is the hottest thing.

The game is diluted and I like to think of Humphrey as the Suge Knight of sneakers. He had a great thing and greed, ignorance and success ruined what we once loved.

I won't lie and say I don't buy AJ's- I do. I may not love 1 out of the 2 sneakers in the package, but like many of you I still cough up the $300 like we have to cough up $4 at the gas pumps. You just go along with it and its that very attitude that has continued to give this +%$$@%*%+ Humphrey the green light in making all this crap.

I'm at fault and I know it, but until there are more vocal people that can express this in an articulate way and to the higher highs he'll continue to pimp brand Jordan and live life as the groupie he is.

We people need to do is demand for better sneakers. Better quality. Better colorways. Better sneakers. The more they sell the more he wins and we lose. And don't think for a second the workers at Jordan Brand don't lurk on these forums like others. There just needs to be consistency. There needs to be a legion of people, not just one outspoken individual.

Thanks and I hope my first post wasn't the worst ever on these boards.

JG

www.philaflava.com

 

[All Ready]

The real problem is these so called OG's keep lining up buying the new generation crap, which makes the new generation crap twice as profitable

 

[soups24]

not that i'm a big fan of the new stuff...but i remember many of jordan when it came out...thinking..."man...those look terrible"

i think one of the points of jb is to create "aggressive" shoes that really push the envelope (to quote a cliche)...maybe in 10 years..people willlove the fusion and the 6rings....who knows....

 

[supermanblue79]

Maze.
Great interview. There was alot of great information in that video.

 

[philaflava1]

The Fusions are never going to be accepted because its a marketing ploy to get the AF1 crowd and the Post-Jordan era demographic together. I have not seen a respectable person rock the Fusions yet. They are just awful like Polo now with their large horses.

It pains me that people would even buy those things. At least you could make an arguement about the Spizikes because they're all Jordans and some of the best aspects of Jordans.

 

[mazedowner]

Originally Posted by Supermanblue79


Maze.
Great interview. There was alot of great information in that video.

Thank you Sir. Glad that some of you guys learned something from the interview.

A lot of great POVs in here as well. Good to see that the interview stirred up some positive conversation.

The finale of this interview will be posted up soon.

MaZe

 

[gime2purr]

Can't wait to see when I get home,lol

 

[swingshot]

Are the comments around 4:08 meant to be justification for sloppy quality and cheaper materials?

 

[somahc]

haha he definitely knows how we feel

HEY GENTRY your "mixer strategy" sounds like you got too many businessmen involved and not enough artists or real cats who know what's up

your "mixer strategy" is wack and now admittedly unoriginal

Way to kill the legacy of JB. The Goat must not care since the $ is rolling in I guess. It's a shame but that's why I'm not copping many Jsnowadays.

Its seems like without Tinker's influence, every shoe in the last ten years is wack. Go figure.

Props to Maze though for the interview.

We haven't seen somethingthis in depth in awhile if ever from corporate JB, so while I don't like the direction JB is going, at least now I can see some of the (il)logic behindtheir choices............