The Catalog That Raised a Generation of Sneakerheads (Eastbay Founders Art Juedes & Rick Gering)

About this episode

Nick interviews Art Juedes and Rick Gering about the founding and impact of Eastbay on sneaker culture.

There are companies that sell shoes. And then there are companies that shape the way an entire generation experiences them. Eastbay was the latter... and most people have no idea how improbable the whole thing was. Art Juedes and Rick Gering started Eastbay out of a store in Wausau, Wisconsin. Two coaches with 16 years of combined college education, zero business courses between them, and a vision that shoe stores in this country were failing athletes. No one specialized. No one had inventory. No one knew what they were talking about when you called. So Art and Rick decided they would be the ones who did. What followed was one of the most consequential stories in sneaker history... one that most of us lived through without ever knowing the people behind it. In this episode of Outside The Box, Nick sits down with Art and Rick to talk about the moment Nike pulled 40% of their business overnight because Eastbay was too successful at mail order, how Shaquille O'Neal showing up to a Nike meeting in all Eastbay gear helped get them the exclusive back, the tent sales in Wausau where Air Jordans moved out of a parking lot and lines stretched for half a mile, Kevin Plank pitching Under…

People in this episode

Host: Nick

Guests: Art Juedes, Rick Gering

Topics covered

• sneaker culture
• business history
• entrepreneurship
• Eastbay
• Nike
• sports marketing

Keywords

• Eastbay
• sneakerheads
• Nike
• Shaquille O'Neal
• Air Jordans
• entrepreneurship
• catalog

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Eastbay, Nike, Under Armour

Products: Air Jordans

Places: Wausau, Wisconsin

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