Winkel stress

CAROLIEN WANTS ANTI-LIMITED AND ANTI-EXCLUSIVE

If you think that only women stand in line for hours for that one guest designer for H&M or the new collection from Céline: think again. Men are just as bad. Maybe even worse.

It all started when my boyfriend gave me a gift voucher for PATTA, the sneaker store in Amsterdam. They were getting cool army print sneakers in on Saturday, so I had to take a look.

Unbeknownst to me, I casually walk to the store on Saturday. To my great surprise, there are four young men waiting at the door. Are they working here? It turns out that the nice army sneakers are a bit more than just nice. They are a very exclusive pair from the Nike Japan collection. Oops. Unknowingly, I am now fifth in line for one of the most exclusive sneakers of the moment. Suddenly, I feel the adrenaline rush through my body. The store door opens and like beasts, the men rush for the sneakers. Like a scared little kitten, I approach the seller: “Do you perhaps have size 40.5?” “Let me check, sweetheart..” Next to me, I hear one of the young men begging if he can buy both colors. ‘We want to make more people happy today, so one pair per person.” I heard that sentence more often last week: at Isabel Marant for H&M, it was five items per person.

The store door opens and like BEASTS, the MEN rush for the sneakers.

The seller comes back with my size, but unfortunately. They are just a bit too big. Like a hyena, one of the men snatches the sneakers from my hands. “This is my size, give them here.” I actually don’t dare to ask anything more…””Do you perhaps have a 40?“ ”Sorry sweetheart, those are already gone in both colors.‘ Next to me sits the culprit, who has both pairs in size 40. He quickly looks away to avoid my gaze. Apparently, the policy of one pair per person does not apply to him. ”He can have both, as a regular customer.” With tears in my eyes, I walk out of the store. My goal wasn’t even to score those stupid sneakers and yet I feel like I’ve lost. Have I proven that it’s purely about the fact that the sneakers were labeled as exclusive and limited? Would I want those Isabel Marant for H&M items just as much if they were hanging in abundance on the shelves and available for weeks? From now on, I will think twice about whether I would find the exclusive item in question just as cool if it weren’t labeled exclusive. That saves me quite a few bad purchases per year. Now I’m going to safely shop online from the couch for the perfect pair of sneakers. I’ve already set my sights on some awesome Nike Air Max Gold on net-a-porter.com Our editor Jet has already scored her pair. Now it’s my turn. What do you think? They were also exclusive. And sold out…