"What The Dunk?" Day or: Perhaps The Most Hectic Day of My Life

So, I've been managing this Slam CIty/ Nike SB store in NikeTown London... this past tuesday had been poised to be the most hectic day of my life, but no one could have imagined how fucking hectic it would turn out to be.... We were scheduled to release, arguably, the most highly anticpiated shoe in years- the "What The Dunk", a virtual car wreck of the most über hyped SB Dunks from years past... then at noon we were meant to have a signing with the entire Nike SB team (minus Gino Ianucci, who happens to be on House Arrest back in NY)... followed by the European premier of the Nike SB video "Nothing But The Truth" ... and like any other skate video premier there was the obligatory after-party...

(I know this may seem long winded... but as I titled this post this was "Perhaps The Most Hectic Day of My life"

Dateline: 16th October, 2007 - 7:30am

I show up to work at 7:30 in the am, I'm confronted by a young 'chap' from Kent named Callum (left), it was no surprise to me- he had been sitting in front of that store since 11pm Friday night... and in the words of my late great Grandfather "Chisel" Stajkowski "Thats Re-Goddamn-diculous!!!!".... he had been perched on that small section of concrete on the corner of Regent St. and Oxford St. for nearly three and a half fucking days. Mind you, this intersection is the most heavily trafficed shopping area in all of Europe, not too mention it happened to be an exceptionaly beautiful weekend bringing out even more hoards of people, who were all quite intrigued by the line of crazed people wearing brighly colored all over-print hoodies that had started to accumulate throughout the day...



Behind Callum were the 100+ crowd who had all spent at least a solid 24 hours on the street.
As the line had been accumulating over the weekend reaching nearly 20 people by Saturday night, a good 60 people by Sunday night, and if you didn't make it by mid-day on Monday, the hundred pairs that were to be released would have all been accounted for by the 100+ crowd already waiting. The hype was compounded when more and more people got the word that pairs of the shoe were popping up on eBay for over $2,000.



....the mid-section of the line



... and around the corner where it drew to an end.

It was one of the most rediculously eye-opening sights of my life... I love shoes, as most anyone who knows me will tell you, but "Wow!", I don't love shoes that much... I do have a closet full of Nikes, admitedly, more than I fucking should, but I have never used a shoe message board, bought a pair of dunks on eBay, nor have I ever waited in line for a pair of shoes, let alone for days on end... but to each his own I guess, I do appaud their tenacity.

8:00am


I am first confronted with the shoes in person, an "abomination"... but the 'über consumer' I try keep keep burried deep down in me was actually somewhat excited to be holding these things.



The shoes go on sale! Callum, our dear friend from Kent's tireless, somewhat creepy, love for sneakers pays off, as he is first to own a pair. The massive line had attracted attention from local news agencys who wanted to see what the "Hype" was all about. Roughly six cameras in all.



The security team proceeds to escort these sneaker fiends in a single file line to the cash register...
I managed to sell through nearly 25 pairs when, the most oddly timed, bizarre 'disaster' struck.

8:45am


across from us they have been building a Nike iD studio, so there are shitloads of builders working all over the place. One of these builders manages to hit a water pipe directly over our store!!! A Fucking Broken Water Line?!?!?! You've got to be fucking kinding me... This results in a cascade of dirty stinky filthy water falling directly infront of our front archway. The water then began coming through our vent as well as the light fixtures, directly putting our stock in danger of water damage, including the so called "WHAT THE DUNKS". The water started to rise and we were all promptly evacuated from the building.

9:20am

After being evacuated from the building and then confronted by nearly a hundred deranged sneaker heads who were now standing in the rain, I expected things to get tricky.
Slam City Covent Garden manager, and my boss Henry schools Jordan, Yapski, and myself on the game plan, while we all ate Bacon sandwiches, which happend to be fuckin delicious... but consequently, the game plan was that I try and keep the crowd calm for the next three hours while soaking wet until we managed to sort out a plan B. A task that proved to be quite exhausting.

12:00pm

Plan B was to get this mob of hype zombies to our primary location at Niel's Yard, Covent Garden... Nike hired buses and black cabs to transport everyone... which proved to be a nightmare in and of itself.
After the flood 8-9 pairs of our 95 pair stock had been water damaged... but after having gone through all that, people were still more than eager to by them.

3:00pm

Baines helps asses the damage, while Magee reads a magazine...


A look at some of the damage from the ceiling


Myself and the King of Myspace haircuts, Jordan as we clammer to figure out what the fuck to do next.

We returned to the shop to figure out what the damages were. We got out lucky overall, a few boards were fucked up as well as near 20-30 pairs of shoes and numerous other softgoods. We got off quite easy considering what could have happend. Baines, Magee, Jordan, and myself spent the next four hours trying to get the shop back in some sort of working order...

8:30pm

After a day that would have left me pulling out my hair, if I had any , I finally got to relax and watch the Premier of the Nike SB video "Nothing But The Truth". The video was a bit lackluster, full of pointless skits that no one seemed to find funny, clever, or whitty... I found no redeeming qualities to any of the skits, but most of the skating was amazing.... All I have to say is Wieger Van Wageningen, however you say that... In my opinion the best section in the video by far, which also featured perhaps my favorite song ever "Rush and a Push and the Land is Ours" by the Smiths... fucking Brilliant

10:00pm

.... long fuckin day. Gimme a beer and a spliff, Goddamnit!