The Nike SB Costco Release Restored Our Faith in Sneaker Drops

We did not wake up on Friday morning expecting to be tracking down Costco product numbers and calling wholesale warehouses across the country. But by 9:20, we were scouring the country for the shock drops that saw hundreds of pairs of Kirkland Signature Nike SB collab Dunks rolled out on pallets in the middle of random Costco stores. In the immortal words of Vin Diesel in the wonderfully terrible 2002 movie xXx, “We live for this shit.”

In a sneaker industry that has slowly started to return to in-person drops and first-come-first-served lineups for exclusive and hyped products after years of online-only releases, sparked mostly by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Costco drop brought back the feeling of the sneaker hunt that we didn’t think was ever coming back.

Chaos Creates Community

When sneaker culture was at its best, line-ups hit stores like Undefeated, Supreme, atmos, skate shops with Nike SB Quickstrike accounts, and plenty of regular old Foot Locker locations when the holiday Jordan drops hit in the middle of the night. Sure, sometimes people yelled, shoved, or got kicked out of line - but at least that meant that people wanted the shoes enough to work for it.

To this day, the best collaborations come by way of boutiques and skate shops, giving local sneaker communities an excuse to get together and celebrate what makes independent retailers unique. In the more recent era of sneaker partnerships, with collaborations often turned over to major mainstream brands like Nike SB’s work with Ben & Jerry’s, Gundam, and Jarritos, the personal connection has grown a bit distant, despite some truly quality colorways.

After enough leaked previews to build hype around the grey cotton Kirkland SB Dunk colorway, the Costco collab fell off of Nike’s release calendar, leaving us all scratching our heads and wondering if the shoe was cancelled before it ever hit skate shops. Instead, Nike SB did something they’ve never done before, and turned a corporate collaborator into a true arbiter of culture.

Bringing Costco to Sneakers… or Bringing Sneakers to Costco

As soon as the first photo of 500 pairs of Nike SB shoe boxes stacked 12 high on wooden pallets next to the Costco optometrist table hit social media, the race was on. Releasing the limited-edition collab dunk like any other seasonal product in the Costco catalog brought the collab to life. Putting the sneakers in the hands of Costco members made for a uniquely hilarious take on wholesale exclusivity, and throwing the pairs to the wolves with no warning made sure the shoe kept its Costco authenticity, however goofy that sounds.

It’s hard to imagine the Ben & Jerry’s x Nike SB Dunk Low Chunky Dunky dropping inside Ben & Jerry’s ice cream parlors, even though they have their own stores just like Costco, or mixing in pairs of the Jarritos Dunks or Gundam Dunks with soda or action figures for traditional retail distribution at corner stores or independent toy stores, but that’s exactly what they did with Costco. Teaming up with a major wholesale retailer used to the same shipping logistics and long lines that plague sneaker shops no doubt made the Costco drop easier, but without any special protocol, the SB Dunk shock drop took Costco employees by surprise just as much as it did sneaker heads.

What Can Sneaker Brands Learn from the Costco Shock Drop?

Bring back the hunt.

By mid-morning, Costcos around the country had been fielding hundreds of calls looking for the SB Dunk drop and, for stores that did get the pair, lines that stretched up and down parking garage ramps and wrapping around the building. The desire to participate in the sneaker chase is still alive and kicking, and hundreds of people are willing to pull up, stand in line, and try their best to cop a pair.

If we ran a sneaker brand, we’d be worried less about the authenticity of the collaborators and more concerned with the authenticity of the experience connected to the story being told.

After all, sneakers are supposed to be fun.

Zach Harris

Zach Harris is a writer based in Philadelphia. His work has appeared in Rolling Stone, Vice, Complex, High Times, and more. He is obsessed with skateboarding and bowling. He is still looking for his first 300. For tips, reviews, and anything in size 10.5 - zach.h@soleretriever.com