Loyal Fans Withstood a Blizzard for the KITH x adidas Consortium Tubular Doom Release
Should Ronnie Fieg have kept his doors open allowing this to happen?
All throughout the East Coast of the U.S., Winter Storm ‘Jonas’ brought in record-breaking amounts of snow creating hazardous conditions everywhere. However, the release of the highly-anticipated KITH x adidas Consortium Tubular Doom was scheduled for this past Saturday, both online and in-store. While many businesses in NYC decided to close their doors due to the safety risk of employees and customers alike, Ronnie Fieg decided to keep his doors open, leading to an unprecedented, yet expected, line in front of KITH’s retail store. Some criticized the move, reprimanding Fieg for endangering people by encouraging them to travel to the store and subsequently wait outside in freezing conditions. Others credited him for having loyal customers and noted that it was their own choice to put themselves in the precarious situation. With the influx of comments on his Instagram Fieg clapped back stating:
“The reason we didn’t reschedule is because there were people who traveled from different states and people who were staying in the city ready for the drop. It wouldn’t be fair to them to change it up. Nobody forced anyone to come to the shop. I don’t like having people waiting in the cold to buy shoes, I don’t get off on that. If I would have had a full staff this morning, I would have set up the line in the shop but we were undermanned and we did everything we could. Before you say, “fuck this guy” just remember I’ve been doing this for 20 years and I already know the right and wrong things to do.”
Ethics aside, the collaboration sold out quickly proving Fieg’s lasting influence in the sneaker game.
