From right, Herlindo Moreno, 20, and Abraham Vasquez, 21, are cousins and co-owners of The Come Up Kickz, a store in Madera geared toward sneaker collectors. Photo by Frank Lopez

When one thinks of collecting as a hobby, the first things that come to mind may be stamps, coins or baseball cards — not sneaker shoes.

In Madera, two young, self-starting entrepreneurs are making a splash with local collectors with their first shoe store.

Herlindo Moreno, 20, and Abraham Vasquez, 21, cousins and co-owners of The Come Up Kickz, opened their store at 26063 Ave. 17 in Madera last year after selling shoes online for years.

Both are self-professed sneaker enthusiasts, or “sneakerheads.” Moreno and Vasquez said the community has been supportive of the business.

Sneaker collecting emerged as a culture and an industry in the 1980s with the emergence of Michael Jordan’s “Air Jordan” line of shoes and the boom of rap music.

Now into the 2020s, the sneakerhead culture is fully trending, especially after the increased popularity of “athleisure” clothing in the fashion world.

According to estimates from American multinational investment bank and financial services company Cowen & Co., the sneaker resale market could reach $30 billion globally by 2030.

 

The first step

Moreno and Vasquez started reselling sneakers when they attended Madera South High School. As the sneaker trend started to gain popularity, the cousins started flipping shoes full time.

Vasquez’s brother Jaime, 24, and another cousin are also owners of the store.

“We all liked shoes, used to trade and sell to get different shoes. When we realized that there was more behind just wearing shoes — that there’s an industry where you could flip shoes and start something big — we all decided it was a good opportunity,” Moreno said.

They started out with five pairs of shoes, which led to 10 pairs and then 30 pairs. Eventually they had so many they couldn’t fit them in the room they were operating out of and decided to open a storefront.

With combined incomes from selling shoes as well as full-time jobs, the group opened their store in September.

Since opening, they’ve sold about 1,000 pairs of shoes.

 

Dipping toes into the hobby

Though the sneaker-collecting hobby might have its roots in basketball and hip-hop, it is more of a fashion trend at this point.

A shoe company such as Nike will release a shoe at a limited quantity. Once it sells out, it will stop producing the shoe. Resellers — individuals who bought them brand new from a retailer, manufacturer or fellow collector — then resell the shoes for a profit.

Moreno said he has had resellers come to him with shoes they bought 10 years ago as an investment. They were just waiting to resell at the right time.

Because of the popularity of sneaker culture, a rare shoe will be seen as a more valuable fashion accessory, he said.

The most expensive shoes sold in the store was a pair of $1,700 Travis Scott Air Jordan models.

 

Footprint across the U.S.

Different states have more supplies of certain shoes than others. Moreno and Vasquez are constantly travelling to cities including Houston and Chicago to buy shoes. There are also sneaker conventions.

This provides them the opportunity to network in the industry.

“It’s crucial that we go to these sneaker conventions because you never know who you might meet,” Vasquez said. “Its 50 % store owners and 50% who are buying and reselling. Every state has a different market.”

Travel is a constant part of job.

They even have hopes to sell sneakers abroad one day should shipping prices stabilize.

Vasquez is currently a student and plans to continue his education. He hopes to become a professional soccer player.

There are plans for The Come Up Kickz to host a local sneaker event to help create a network in the Central Valley. The event, planned for June, won’t just be for sneaker resellers, but also other local businesses.

The business has donated soccer uniforms for a local school in Madera to help give back to a community that has supported them.

“We are trying to bring more attention to the Central Valley communities, and want the sneaker community to be big here,” Moreno said. “We are here too.”