Burlington College Students Opening Sneaker Store In Natick Mall

BURLINGTON, MA — Burlington's Spencer Reith, Kenan Wilson and Danny Sullivan began selling sneakers at scale when they were in their sophomore year of high school. So when they found themselves attending college remotely due to the pandemic, they took the logical next step: opening their own brick-and-mortar store.

The three 19-year-old Burlington residents plan to open their luxury retail store, Courtside Kicks, at the Natick Mall this month, potentially as soon as Saturday, they said.

The store will sell new and lightly worn high-end sneakers, ranging in price from $100 to thousands. They have 100s of styles of shoes, including shoes in every size. They also will sell streetwear clothing brands like Supreme.

For all three, sneakers began as a personal interest, particularly the classic Air Jordan 1.

"Michael Jordan was the first to make resellable shoe when he made the Jordan 1 back in 85," Reith said. "Even after all the retail payers were gone, people still wanted the shoe and wanted to pay more than the retail price. That continues to this day."

"As we learned how profitable it can be, our interests turned toward the business side of it," Wilson said.

Shoes like the Jordan 1 come in wide ranges of styles and colors each year, with some models being released in very limited quantities that can result in very high prices on the secondary market. Streetwear brands like Supreme work the same way, with intentional rarity leading to high prices.

The Courtside Kicks online store carries dozens of Jordans as of Wednesday, ranging from the $110 "Air Jordan 1 Low "Reverse Bred" (GS)" to the $2,000 "Air Jordan 1 Retro High "Chicago" (2015)."

When the three first got into selling shoes, in high school, they sold mostly online, although they would sell to friends if they could get a good deal. Over time, they built up connections that help them get good prices on retail shoes.

"We're able to get pairs of almost every single release," Reith said. "We know where to get these shoes and are able to distribute them to other people who want to buy them."

The three Courtside Kicks founders grew up together in Burlington, all attending Pine Glen. This year, while the three are all in college — Reith and Wilson at UMass-Amherst and Sullivan at Penn State —they are learning remotely, which gave them time to set up their store. For now, they're the only employees.

While the pandemic might not seem like a good time for something like a retail store, the three believe otherwise.

"The sneaker business, this has probably been its greatest year," Wilson said.

Social media has been huge for the industry over the last year, as was the recent Michael Jordan documentary series "The Last Dance," Wilson said.

"Those stimulus checks didn't hurt," he added.

Sullivan added that a brick-and-mortar store can make a difference in the sneaker business, and the coronavirus metrics are pointing in the right direction.

"In this specific market, because it's a luxury market, a lot of people like to have that in-store buyer experience," He said. "They like to see these thousands of dollars of items in person, try them on."

Sullivan noted that their store is near the Apple, Louis Vuitton and Tesla stores in Natick Mall, planting it firmly in the "luxury" category.

Courtside Kicks also offers to buy and trade shoes — they will offer cash or exchanges for lightly-worn shoes.

All three founders plan to go back to school in the fall. They have six months to get the store on a good path, at which point they can hopefully hire people to help out, they said.

The store can be found online at courtsidekicks.store and Natick Mall is located at 1245 Worcester St in Natick.

Christopher Huffaker can be reached at 412-265-8353 or chris.huffaker@patch.com.