Morons working in shoe stores

[Shwa3 Ma3]

Dude did seem like he was full of himself...but at least she knew they were airmaxes. People that work in these stores should at least be up on the names &nicknames of shoes...especially the retros. And in some shoe stores...it's been proven that the employees have NO CLUE.

Case in point...couple weeks ago, I wandered into my local finishline and was greeted by a female that worked there. I asked her if she knew when the Agassiswere dropping. She looked at me as if I was speaking french. I then said...I mean the Air Tech Challenge 2...is your store getting these? The girl said shedidn't know. That I should check back in a few days or so. I then responded with an "Ok...I'll check back cause Finishline is suppose to begetting the Agassis. As I turned to leave the store...a kid in the back of the store that heard me say the word "Agassi" hollared to me..."Yo,We got em right here." He had 2 pairs in his hands...and was just putting the shoes on the wall. I thought to myself..."Ain't this a @#$%...

I was just about to miss out cause this dizzy chick didn't know the name of a shoe...but the lil' youngin' did!!! My pair was bought with thequickness.

So...my opinion is...Anyone working to sell a product should have SOME knowledge of what they're selling. You as a consumer shouldn't be all snobby ornothing...but...it's not out of the norm to expect an employee in a shoe store to know something about shoes. They don't have to be a sneakergenius...but know the hot products. And don't gimme that..."oh it's not important " crap. It's their JOB to know this. Suppose Iwasn't in the store...and I would have called to get the 411 on those Agassis. I would still be home thinking that Finishline didn't drop em'yet...to have shorty tell it!!!

 

[shuhbonkboo]

Originally Posted by brndlyl

I really hate when I go into McDonalds to talk about Japanese coby beef and all I get is blank stares. Those idiots.

coby

I want some Kobe (Ko-bay btw) not some generic electronic brand

Anyway, as far as the topic goes, I agree that employees should have basic knowledge of the products of they are trying to sell. And from her ability torecognize Air Max is good enough.

 

[typecast3]

i'm lovin this talk

but for real this is almost every industry

you get rude talk at the drive thru

you get people at customer service phone lines that dont know what you are talkin about

people dont take jobs seriously cus the jobs are stagnant wages and not that great

you shoulda hit that dude

 

[knivesdesu]

Haha, come on guys... I get that an employee should know the name that appears on the box of the shoes that are on the wall (even though that is a streachslightly), but you really think these poor minimum wage employees need to know about every nickname you give a shoe??? You ask for Aggasi's or carmines orsomething like that and get mad when the girl doesn't know what you are talking about? $8 an hour doesn't cover the countless time they'd have tospend outside of work browsing nerdy sneaker sites trying to figure out what super cool nickname you guys have given to a particular shoe.

Not to mention you guys have researched and obsessed over every aspect of any shoe before you even head into a finishline or footlocker, and most times itseems like you head in there looking to argue and prove your "superior" knowledge... It'd be like if I was a gourmet chef and I liked to go intoMcDonalds and complain about the fry chef's technique. Give these people a break, they are trying to get buy on minimum wage, and probably hate their job(especially dealing with annoying customers like the OP all day). They don't know, and aren't interested in being "educated" on the longhistory of any given nike model because it is unnessecary information for them. You aren't doing anyone a favor by walking in there and "droppingknowledge" that is probably inconsequential and boring to most shoe store employees, you are simply wasting valuable time they could be making commisionoff an actual customer and not some nerd who came in just to complain about "butchered retros", you don't get enough of that on NT??? Come onnow.

 

[ilhe1s]

All I have to say is know what you love and love what you know! Instead of pushing someone down, lift someone up. Teach don't Preach! Should of taken amoment to explain instead of complain!

 

[inine5]

why should chain store employees know the nicknames of shoes, that's just stupid. Nike or whatever brand doesn;t apply a TM nickname to shoes, onlysneaker-geeks on NT and ISS apply nicknames to shoes. the average high school kid working at FL is likely not a sneaker geek, so if she never heard of"agassi" or didn;t know "Sir Charles" played ball in these shoes, then it;s fine....now if knowing nicknames of shoes should be arequirement, then tell FL or whatever to make that a requirement and only hire people that can associate nicknames with sneakers.

this is ironic though, how some people act all snobby and complain how "dumb" chain store employees are, and then when they go shop at Supreme, DQM,etc... they complain how "snobby" those sneaker boutique employees are towards them.... it's funny how people are.

 

[Shwa3 Ma3]

You ask for Aggasi's or carmines or something like that and get mad when the girl doesn't know what you are talking about?



Not mad at all. But yes...a shoe store should know what a Agassi is...especially if it's in their store. That is NOT a nickname...that's the person theshoe was worn by. That's like not knowing who Jordan is. Why even work in a shoe store if you know nothing about shoes?

Now nicknames are one thing. I would never follow a nickname...but Nike Air Trainer 1s are Bo Jackson's. You should know this. You should know what aBarkley is. Damn...you should know what a Chris Webber is...especially if Nike retroes these shoes repeatedly. That's all I'm saying. Know the peoplewho wore the shoes.

There's no reason in the world that I should go to a shoe store and ask for the Penny foams...and an employee should respond, "Uh...Who isPenny?"

 

[soleaddict34]

I love shoes as much as the next man, but son, it ain't that serious. smh at you for that elitist attitude.

 

[throwedindagame]

I love going to stores with an OD elitest attitude, sonning the workers, then leaving without making any purchases

 

[strongmind3]

Originally Posted by sneakermane

You ask for Aggasi's or carmines or something like that and get mad when the girl doesn't know what you are talking about?

Not mad at all. But yes...a shoe store should know what a Agassi is...especially if it's in their store. That is NOT a nickname...that's the person the shoe was worn by. That's like not knowing who Jordan is. Why even work in a shoe store if you know nothing about shoes?

Now nicknames are one thing. I would never follow a nickname...but Nike Air Trainer 1s are Bo Jackson's. You should know this. You should know what a Barkley is. Damn...you should know what a Chris Webber is...especially if Nike retroes these shoes repeatedly. That's all I'm saying. Know the people who wore the shoes.

There's no reason in the world that I should go to a shoe store and ask for the Penny foams...and an employee should respond, "Uh...Who is Penny?"

like wally said earlier if nike doesnt take the time out to point out the history of a retro and who worn them why and how would and employee suppose toknow? the difference between jordans and the other shoes you pointed out is that the name jordan is on the box. retro cards are produced to show the historybehind the shoe. Now if you expect an employee to know who wore the "Ait Tech Challenge 2" then you're reaching because nike isnt advertising theshoe as agassi's so why should a retailer employee?
Now one thing i agree with you about is that she should have known that they had Air Tech Challenges in. you should always know what new productyou're getting in.

 

[Shwa3 Ma3]

Now one thing i agree with you about is that she should have known that they had Air Tech Challenges in. you should always know what new product you're getting in




That's my point. She knew nothing...even when I asked her about the shoe by the name on the box, "Nike Air Tech Challenge". I guess sheshouldn't have known that either, huh iNiNe5? But low and behold...the kid working with her knew what shoes I was referring to. I'ma go back to thatstore tomorrow and give son a tip...cause evidently he's performing above & beyond his duties...and pay grade.



Another example is when the Bobbito Garcia Hi's wheats dropped. Try calling a local spot and ask for that shoe. You'll get..."duh...Bobbito Who?Wheat...like brown wheat?". What are you suppose to do? Of course...ask for the Wheat Nike Air Force Premiums Hi's. Cause like iNiNe5said....THAT'S THE NAME ON THE BOX. Then you'd get the answer..."Huh yeah...we got the new wheat premiums in...come on in. But when you get there,your pissed cause it's a 3/4 brown air force that the rep was referring to. What the @#$%!

But once again...knowledge of a shoe is not important.



I'ma agree to disagree...but how many times have you called a store asking about a shoe by the actual name on the box...and the store rep STILL doesn'tknow what the hell you talking bout. I know it ain't just me.

 

[jbv1]

Whoa guys come on they're only shoes

You get what you get & find out the rest on your own. I think I am fortunate when I run into a shoe store employee who knows his/her stuff & we canchat & talk shoes for a bit.

PK (product knowledge) is important for these guys but blame the store manager if you're looking to vent - with the high turnover with most retail stores& taking into account her age of course she probably would not know the "street name" of the shoe in hand. That is where an EKIN or moreknowledgeable employee could step in to cement the sale, & mitigate any possible customer complaints or issues.

Wally is on point with the retro card/little blurb card that at least could tell the average layman the history or previous endorsee of said shoe line or style- but all that carded glossy paper would most likely cut into Nike's profits.

NIKE: Bring back the hard plastic NIKE shoe tag/keychain thingies - man I miss those...

 

[fnltayfly]

Ok listin to this....So the girl had NO knowledege that they were the barkleys!! Big ++@%$% deal! Why does she have to be a moron?! Beacuse she doesnt have theNike Retro knowledge down to a science!! Giver her a break!! Shes prolly like around 16-18. Like some employee's there there prolly just for the discountand to have some spending Money! Like many people said atleast she knew enough that they were air max's!!

I've seen cases like that happen, because i work at finishline! I've seen sneakerhead try and son some innocent employee because they didnt know what aJordan LS (Lifestyle) shoe was?!! I know its their job to know but not every employee gives a flying rats #!$ about a LS Shoe or a Nike retro!!

If your gonna ask about a shoe that tsome employee's has no knowledge of, ask a manager to ask the stock guy if they know if and when there getting aceratin shoe!!....Point Blank!

 

[agthekid]

Only thing I hate about shoe stores is they don't want to help and the stupid customers that think you work there.

Customer: Aigh my dude you work here.
Me: No, do you not see I have on a red LRG shirt. Do I look like a cotdamn referee.
Customer: Let me get these in a size 12.
Me: *+%%*!!! I don't work here motha $!+%!$!!!

 

[sircharles59]

Who cares if they know WTH they are talking about?I mean really.If I go in looking for a certain shoe they either have them or not.Most of the time not.Buttere will always be a new shoe out the next week.So why stress.

 

[dunks r nice]

Originally Posted by abernja

You're the one that sparked the dumb comments. You already knew before you went into the store that you probably wouldn't talk to somebody that knows about shoes. All you gotta say is I'm just looking and none of this woulda happened. If you're gonna talk about shoes, wait til you run into somebody that knows their stuff. Showing off your shoe knowledge to a girl who is just looking for a paycheck isn't gonna help in anyway.

 

[nobody133]

another thing you have to consider with a shoe store, is they arent well versed necessarily on the more stylistic shoes. they are taught, for the most part,about the performance aspects of a couple major shoes, and to be nice.. that's basically it. try asking about a running shoe (not a retro running shoe) andthey'll be able to tell you a lot more

 

[nikestatus]

no reason to tout your sneaker excellence.

 

[SneakerProSr.]

Originally Posted by Nike God

My point is this: I expect someone who does a job to know the product or service that he or she is responsible for.
If I am a waiter, I'm expected to know the menu.
If I'm a air conditioning repairman, I'm expected to know how an AC unit works.
If I work in a shoe store I should be expected to know the shoes.

How would you like to walk into a Walgreens, hand the parmacist the prescription for an allergy pill, and get birth control instead?

When shoe stores start paying like the pharmacy then maybe.

 

[johnnycage202]

Originally Posted by WallyHopp

i keep telling myself, they need to release retro cards and have brochures and displays with the famous names associated with many models. tell people the jordan designer designed these also or something. or that the shoe was a signature model of Charles Barkley.. does that name branding cost Nike money? do kids these days care that almost every famous athlete of its time wore this particular model. If they dont know who a Bo jackson is, why not inform them?

these really arent just shoes they are retroing, but life stories. they need to throw in the human element.

tell me why I should buy these 93-94 barkleys that He wore in the nba finals against the bulls on the highest stage in the world. Godforbid they hype their own product up.

Not only do I agree, but I believe that adding a "human element" can be also be accomplished by replayin' the original commercials to coincidewith the retro release...

http://niketalk.com/topic/65479

["Flashing Lights"] But what do I knooow?? [/"Flashing Lights"]

 

[servejays4jays]

aw well poor little FL worker. atleast she knew they were air max.. no screw that! if someone says something to you. and you know they might be right . and itcould be possible you shut up and accept it. you dont have to turn your knowledge of something in just cause someone has none of it. if someone tells you aduck can pull a truck shut the hell up and hook the duck up!. DIG?

 

[eyes of hazel]

When shoe stores start paying like the pharmacy then maybe.
Exactly. It's retail. Please.

Hypebeast cats in every sense of the word moanin' and grownin' about jack.

Especially if you IN a HOOD and been going to the same stores for years. You already know what to expect, or should.

Walk in... Don't see what you looking for... walk out... Especially if, as a so called "sneakerhead" kat who shops in the same area stores, youdon't have the character to connect with the manager(s) and eventually have THEM calling YOU everytime a new product drops.

Maybe its me...

 

[green rhino123]

I called a store to get the Air Tech Challenege II. Woman on the phone said they had my size, a few pairs. Called back an hour later - gave a different girlthe item #/name and she said they don't have those and never did.

She wanted me to hang-up and go away. I asked her to look out back - she sighed in agony - and then put me on hold for like 10 minutes. Got back on the phoneand begrudgingly admitted they do have them. She seemed put out that I asked her to look, almost angery I would question that they had them - when I fact theydid.

I don't try to impress these people but I hate when they are arrogant & ignorant at the same time.

 

[typecast3]

okay here's another scenario:

you got your limited whatevers on and you walk in there and those guys are on your ballz like yo yo what is that! i went in there with structures on last nightand these guys were like oh wow dude them stabs is so hot! and tellin me how they collect shoes

okay thank you good night

 

[Shwa3 Ma3]

"Hypebeast cats in every sense of the word moanin' and grownin' about jack."


Wanna-be non hypebeast cats moaning and groaning about what the next man is moaning and groaning about. Comedy...