Author: qiqi123132
Post subject: www.sneakerinchinayou.com LPO2214
Posted: Today, 16:49
Footwear brought frenzy to malls in Palm Beach County and across the nation today as police quelled scuffles, unrest and even near-riots among shoppers out to buy the crown jewel of sneakers: the Nike Air Jordan 11 Retro Concords.
Officers used pepper spray at the Finish Line store at the Boynton Cheap Louis Vuitton Tie Online Beach Mall, where some shoppers had tired of waiting in line and had begun pushing their way into the store. Two people were arrested and a police sergeant taken to Bethesda Memorial Hospital after sustaining injuries to his head and elbows.
"It's a shoe," said Calvin Cannon, a manager at the store. "They were acting like it was the last piece of meat in the world."
Sheriff's deputies were called to the Mall at Wellington Green after 200 to 300 shoppers - some of whom started lining up Thursday night - pushed into the Foot Locker store when it opened. No problems were reported in the store, although employees said they saw customers scuffling outside it.
The scuffles went to greater extremes elsewhere across the nation. New Affliction Men Hoodies Crowds were turned away from a San Francisco-area store after a gunshot rang out. Customers broke down a door at a store in suburban Atlanta, leading to four arrests. Pepper spray also was used to break up fights at a Seattle-area mall.
The Air Jordan, named for Basketball Hall of Fame member Michael Jordan, made its debut in 1985 and has been updated annually. It has been a consistent hit with sneaker fans and collectors, some of whom never taken the shoes - which retail for $180 but sell on the auction website eBay for more than $400 - out of their box.
Violence has also greeted past releases of the shoes. Some people were mugged or even killed for its early versions.
Nike this evening issued a statement in response to the violence that said: "Consumer safety and security is of paramount importance. We encourage anyone wishing to purchase our product to do so in a respectful and safe manner."
Police were called to the west side of the Boynton Beach Mall around 7 a.m. today to find between 400 and 500 people in a large scramble. Mall security and police officers tried putting the would-be buyers New England Patriots in a line, then escorted a few people at a time into the Finish Line store, which had 130 pairs of the shoes in stock.
All was fine, officers said, until some buyers started pushing toward the front of the line. Arguments fire up quickly, Cannon said, along the lines of "either 'You cut me in line' or 'You have the size I wanted.' They were yelling at employees that they lied about how many pairs we had."
Police deployed the pepper spray after deciding no one was listening to their commands to stop pushing and fighting. Two people, one a 25-year-old Boynton Beach man, were even arrested for resisting and inciting a riot.
By 9:15 a.m., Finish Line had sold out of the shoes, which come in black, white and gray with white soles and a Michael Jordan logo above their heels.
Fifteen miles to the northwest, Palm Beach County sheriff's deputies On Sale Ralph Lauren Sweater were called in to keep order at the Mall at Wellington Green.
People had started lining up outside the mall around 9 p.m. Thursday, sheriff's spokeswoman Teri Barbera said, and some had grown overly eager by the time Foot Locker's doors opened at 8 a.m.
About 200 to 300 would-be customers rushed in, Barbera said. Between 10 and 12 deputies were dispatched to the store to keep order. Once authorities arrived, there were no problems, Barbera said. The store had sold out of the sneakers by 7:30 a.m.
Roy Franklin, a store employee, said customers limited their fighting to outside the store, but it still was a little rowdy.
"It was a bum rush to get them," Franklin said.
The Wellington mall's Finish Line store also was "crazy," said an Cheap Dolce Gabbana Wallet employee who did not want her name released. The store opened around 7:45 a.m. and sold all its Air Jordans within 10 minutes.
"Just a lot of people that wanted the same sizes. People were angry that we didn't have enough sizes to please everybody," she said.
"It happens every year. People flip out, but this is probably one of the biggest it's been in a while."