(Editor’s Note: This is the third in a series of articles on the members of the 2024 Laine Business Accelerator cohort).
If what one person doesn’t want or need is another person’s treasure, then just call Dylan Spencer and his brother, Adam, true treasure hunters.
The brothers are the owners of Solemates Sneakers and Vintage, a collectibles enterprise operating both on the Internet and in a storefront in Allegany at 98 W. Main St.
The business started with the collection and reselling of sneakers, and has expanded into other vintage collectibles, such as athletic clothes.
“My brother and I started collecting sneakers back in high school,” Spencer said. “Over time, that expanded to cruising online to see what the biggest stars were wearing. My dad is a big shoe guy, so it worked out well. I was at a very impressionable age, and we were always checking to see what shoes the big stars were wearing.
“So, we’ve been buying and selling collectibles for the past three years, and we just opened the retail store in February.
“We are a buy/sell/trade business, similar to a pawn shop in the sense that people can sell us their shoes/clothing — if applicable to our inventory — or trade for something we currently have in the store.”
Spencer said that while there’s always been a resell market for sneakers, you have to know what you’re looking for in order to take advantage of that market.
“For a long time, wholesale margins on shoes were too small, and it was challenging to make a profit,” he said. “But we’ve turned a profit in each of the three years of our existence.”
Spencer said having vintage and collectible clothes is an excellent complement for both his online and his retail market. “Actually, our online and our retail ventures fit together nicely,” he said.
“Many people have expendable clothes in their closets that they don’t wear anymore and would be attractive to others in the resell market.”
The hottest seller among athletic shoes for Solemates? “Nike Dunks and Adidas Yeezy Slides,” he said. “They’re popular because they are fairly high-priced at retail, but more reasonable in the aftermarket.
“I look at it as buying a used car in good condition,” he continued. “You’re getting a comparable shoe value without the sticker price. In shoes, instead of paying $150-$400 for new, you’re paying $50-$200. Preowned is a good deal for many people.”
The business sells, in Snyder’s words, “exclusive sneakers, such as Nike Jordan, Adidas Yeezy, New Balance, ASICS, as well as vintage clothing, including but not limited to Buffalo Bills and other sports apparel, Carhartt jackets and pants, 1990s Nike, old concert tees, Disney t-shirts and crewnecks, jerseys and SnapBack hats.”
Spencer says Solemates sells on Internet platforms such as Ebay. “We can reach a more diverse customer base on that, and similar, platforms,” he said. Additionally, Spencer said social media is crucial to its marketing efforts.
“Especially for online sales,” he said. “People can see a glimpse of what we have available and that makes our site appealing,” he said. “Also, the social media platforms influence our store traffic, too.”
Solemates’ presence in the Laine Business Accelerator is crucial to the business’s growth, he said.
“First and foremost, we want to work with people like ourselves — owners who have similar struggles and we want to share their wins with them” he said. “We want to be encouraged and inspired by others in the cohort and learn from them.”
While Dylan has graduated from St. Bonaventure, his brother is still an undergraduate at the university.
“If there’s a message I want to get out there as a result of our experience so far is that like all of the students at Bonaventure now, we were there once, too — and my brother is finishing up there — we want them to know that it’s possible to choose a path for yourself, you can be happy and you can still enjoy yourself. It’s all possible, and we’re proof of that.”
And proof, too, that one person’s trash is another person’s treasure — and business.
This post was originally published on here
