Remember Stephon Marbury’s efforts to bring cheap sneakers to the mass marketplace? Following claims from the former Knicks PG that Michael Jordan has, well, blood on his hands, ex-business partner Rodney Henry refutes Marbury’s claim that Air Jordans can be made for a mere $5. From the New York Post’s Marc Berman :
“My knowledge and experience of creating the Protege shoe allows me to definitively say that I don’t care where you’re producing it that no, you cannot make a good, safe, high performance, technical shoe for five dollars,’’ Henry told The Post. “Consumers want quality construction. A $15 shoe is going to hurt your feet. A good shoe with the proper construction is going to run you between $30 to $40. I know. I have already done it at Sears/KMart under my Protege brand.”
Henry, who once produced a documentary on Marbury’s life and is now starting up a new discount shoe company called Ballstreet, said his former Protege shoes cost at least $16-$19 to make.
Henry still believes in Marbury’s campaign to manufacture cheaper shoes, but said he wanted to speak out because Marbury’s inflammatory statements created misconceptions about shoe salesmen – not just Jordan — ripping off the public.