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GEORGE TOWN, Jan 5 — More than six years ago, Mohd Shahril Talib was selling second-hand sports shoes by the roadside and in night markets for side income.
Today, he has two shops selling only vintage sports shoes imported from Thailand, China, US, South Korea and Japan.
The 36-year-old, who also collects special edition sports shoes for himself, initially started with small bundles of used shoes from a local bundle shoe supplier.
“I was selling used shoes after work, at roadside stalls or at night markets,” he told Malay Mail when met at his store recently.
Soon, he started looking for suppliers overseas and found one in Thailand that also have used shoes from China, US and Japan.
“Shoes are my specialty, so I know how to gauge the quality and conditions whenever the bundles arrived in Thailand,” he said.
While many businesses suffered during the pandemic years of 2020 and 2021, for Mohd Shahril, his vintage shoes business took off from doing online live sales.
“I was doing live sales online several times a day and since all the vintage shoes we sell are clean and in good condition, we have a lot of return customers from all over, not only from Malaysia,” he said.
Mohd Shahril opened his first vintage shoes shop, Kenincaliq Bundle, in busy Armenian Street in the middle of the city and despite being a bundle shop, the shoes were displayed neatly in rows on racks.
He said he made sure all the bundle shoes he brings in are washed and in good conditions so most of the shoes on display looked barely used.
When asked about the originality of the brands of the shoes, he said he looked at condition and quality first instead of looking at the brand.
“It is more important to get shoes that are good quality and in good conditions because we can’t promise originality if we look at brand names,” he said.
The shop in Armenian Street sells mostly sneakers and sports shoes while his second store in Bukit Jambul specialises in selling running shoes.
“This shop in Armenian Street has about 3,000 pairs of shoes for men, women and children while the one in Bukit Jambul has about 1,200 pairs,” he said.
He said the shop gets a lot of tourists but he still has online live sales sessions three times a day to sell to regulars and customers from other states and countries.
“I have regular customers from Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand too,” he said.
He said all of the shoes in his shop are priced at below RM150 per pair which is affordable for most people especially for good quality sports shoes or sneakers.
“Of course, I have those special edition collectors’ shoes that I sometimes sell for a few thousands and those are also in demand by collectors,” he said.
Shahril brings in about 4,000 pairs of used shoes each month from Thailand so they always have new stock.
“Customers don’t have to come to our shop, they can watch our TikTok or Facebook live to order our shoes,” he said.