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Starbury 1 shoes sneak onto kids' feet
Sportswear - Knicks guard Stephon Marbury says he'll wear the off-the-shelf $15 shoes all season

Thursday, September 14, 2006
HELEN JUNG
Nike may dominate the basketball sneaker market with its $175 Air Jordans and $110 Zoom Lebrons, but it's a bargain-basement shoe selling for $14.98 that's stealing much of the media attention these days.

A new line of basketball sneakers endorsed by New York Knicks guard Stephon Marbury is selling as fast as the 140-store Steve and Barry's retail chain can stock them, according to a company executive. The chain is billing the shoes as an affordable on-court alternative to the best offerings from Nike and Adidas AG.

Marbury, who said in a phone interview Wednesday that he remembers not being able to buy expensive sneakers as a child and wanted to do this for "the kids that couldn't afford to spend $200 for the shoes that were being put out."


He believes they're such high quality that he plans to wear a regular, off-the-shelf pair of the Starbury 1 basketball sneakers all season long.

The sneaker, which has been on sale since mid-August, has its skeptics. Although the shoe may rival others in the $45-$65 price range, "I don't buy into their claim it's as well made as a Jordan or Nike," said Ernest Kim, a senior writer who reviews shoes for Sole Collector magazine under the name Professor K.

"It cannot possibly be a performance basketball sneaker," said Matt Powell, a footwear analyst and contributing editor of industry newsletter Sports Executive Weekly. "We have a good idea of what the cost components are of a Nike shoe. There's no way you can make a quality shoe for $15."

Well, actually less than $15. But Howard Schacter, chief partnership officer for Steve and Barry's, which is selling the shoe exclusively, said his company makes a profit on every one sold.

Schacter bristled at the assertion that the shoes are not performance quality, challenging critics to cut through the shoes for themselves and compare them with others. He added that the company, which predominantly sells nonbranded T-shirts, hoodies, capri pants and other apparel but has no stores in Oregon or Washington, can afford to offer such a low price by strict cost management.

So far, stores are selling out fast, he said. The company found that inventory expected to last a month was gone in three days. Marbury and company have also taken the show on the road, visiting communities throughout the United States.

Marbury hasn't always advocated for lower-priced shoes. Earlier in his career, he signed with basketball apparel and footwear company And1, which marketed a signature line for Marbury priced at $85 a pair.

And Marbury isn't the only basketball player who has proposed the idea of a cheaper alternative to the $175 Jordans. Miami Heat center Shaquille O'Neal has long endorsed a line of basketball sneakers selling in the $30 to $35 range at Payless ShoeSource designed as an affordable performance shoe.

The bottom line, said Powell, is that with such limited distribution, it's unlikely that the Starbury line of sneakers will gain any significant market share from the Nikes and Adidases of the world. And with sales for the highest-priced basketball sneakers continuing to rise, there still appears to be a strong market out there for the top-of-the-line models.