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The Economy’s Great! Let’s Get Accomplishment and Belonging from Luxury Sneakers in Downtown Sioux Falls!

Well, if inflation is really all that bad, the new Preach-es store in Sioux Falls should fail within a month:

“We love shoes and we love street wear and fashion,” Preach-es Owner Jonathon Vazquez said.

The founders of Preach-es are excited to bring the fashion passion to Sioux Falls.

“People are starting to get interested more in fashion and street wear, you can find brands that are a little higher end, a little more sought after and a little harder to get,” Vazquez said.

…Along with high end sneakers, preaches also carries designer clothes, handbags and wallets Bridget Bennett, “New High End Sneaker Store Opens in Downtown Sioux Falls,” KELO-TV, 2022.07.15].

“[R]are sneakers and high end apparel for the everyday consumer… resulting in our customers feeling a sense of accomplishment and belonging”—when milk and gasoline are two bucks more a gallon than they were last year, all I want my belongings to accomplish is to last ten years.

But some people will still spend money, time and gasoline for this marketing hype:

“We traveled from Bentonville, Arkansas,” shopper Louie Cortese said.

One couple drove eight hours to be in Sioux Falls for Preach-es opening day.

“I’ve been wanting to buy my first pair of Jordans for a long time, so why not just drive up and support our friends that are like family to us,” Cortese said [Bennett, 2022.07.15].

Eight hours to shop for luxury shoes that will give your life meaning and purpose—that round trip would have been well over a thousand miles, which at I-90 speeds at $4.50 a gallon would have added over $200 to the price of your shoes. But hey, someone who can spend that much for a shoe-shopping trip can surely afford to put down a non-refundable $100 deposit to schedule a VIP Experience, including a 30-minute stylist session with personal concierge; an hour in the Preach-es VIP lounge with champagne, water, sparkling water, energy drink, TV, and chairs; sized clothes and shoes laid out for sampling; a “discreet private entrance”; and “high-quality photos for your social media.”

VIPs can walk out with great Instragram and black socks for $40, black cap for $55, black t-shirt for $150, and Crocs for $510.

Economics is clearly behavioral, not rational.

14 Comments

  1. Scott Ehrisman 2022-07-17 10:16

    Ironically you can order those shoes online for half the price. I give them 6 months, if that. I buy all my shoes at St Vints. I got $200 pair of NBs for $7 the other day

  2. Richard Schriever 2022-07-17 12:29

    My high-end shoes are steel/composite toed and shock, water and oil proof/resistant. They also must accommodate my bunion. $350/pair. Straight from the maker in Oregon.

  3. grudznick 2022-07-17 12:51

    When grudznick wears shoes, they are high end and comfy indeed.

  4. larry kurtz 2022-07-17 13:05

    Gold is down about 8% and the dollar is strengthening now that what’s his name is nearing house arrest in Florida. Maybe those Minnesotans will abandon their plan to drill near Pactola.

  5. DaveFN 2022-07-17 17:45

    “Vazquez is originally from California but has worked in ministry in Sioux Falls for the past few years and says he hopes this new store is a platform for the deeper soul of their business.”

    Purveyors of ye ole prosperity gospel. “Our father owns the cattle on a thousand hills and so should we.”

  6. P. Aitch 2022-07-17 19:14

    Nobody traveled from the home of Walmart in Bentonville to shop that wasn’t already affiliated with the industry. It’s marketing to rubes and those who believe what they read without analysis.

  7. Mark Anderson 2022-07-17 19:55

    Jezz, maybe I’ll stop ordering my skechers online, sell my 30 different pair of cowboy boots and drive to Sioux Falls. Sound fun.

  8. Arlo Blundt 2022-07-17 21:18

    Mark–I like my skechers, extra wide style, for their comfort and their durability…they are no bargain retail, but its hard for an older fella to find shoes that fit and that don’t break down after a year…if people want to pay for fashion and chic, that’s their business…I’m big on comfort.

  9. cibvet 2022-07-18 00:38

    Still wearing my boots I bought 20 years ago. Just had then resoled for the third time. Quite comfy.

  10. Bonnie B Fairbank 2022-07-18 07:26

    I made a complete and utter haul at the Hot Springs Community Action Center in May when I found a pair of almost new Sketchers for one dallah, GI.
    I was so astonished and happy I nearly squeaked out loud; paid my dollar and left abruptly before the volunteers came to thair senses.
    They actually fit, too :)

  11. Cory Allen Heidelberger Post author | 2022-07-18 08:56

    DaveFN, thanks for mentioning the prosperity gospel. I wonder whether Vasquez was ordained to perform his “ministry” and in which church he ministered. I have trouble squaring the Word of the Lord with the marketingspeak that makes it possible to pitch consumer “experiences”.

  12. Cory Allen Heidelberger Post author | 2022-07-18 09:01

    Scott Ehrisman, bargain hunter extraordinaire! Well done!

    Scott and Bonnie experience real “accomplishment” in saving money. Cibvet and Richard experience real “accomplishment” in investing in boots that work and last, not champagne and Red Bull in a fitting room.

    Fashion is fake. Function is real.

  13. Mark Anderson 2022-07-18 18:10

    Arlo, yeah I now wear Skechers all the time. My old cowboy boots line my upper shelve around our closet. Maybe worn once a year. I now realize that the saying, it’s better to look good rather than feel good was always bull. Bonnie, good buy a dollar for the great wear. Our entire house is made of great purchases from good will. We have a great collection of art that wasn’t recognized by heirs but is now ours. A great Becher photo for 24 dollars. A Matisse print for 75 cents. It goes on and on.

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