Under normal circumstances, we try to avoid airing our behind the scenes dealings to the general public. We are fully aware that retail is an industry where the fewer people privy to how the proverbial sausage is made, the better. Quite frankly, we don’t believe our customers particularly care what is going on behind the curtain, as long as they leave skipping merrily down Clearway Street and turn the corner onto Mass. Ave, purple bag happily bounding along beside them.
Unfortunately, an incident involving one of our interns has clouded the atmosphere around our latest release, and forced our hand.
It will sound unforgivably clichéd, but we do consider our workplace to be a family environment. Like many others, Terry Blay was welcomed into our family as an intern. A Bodega internship position is not merely an opportunity to experience the inner workings of the business at a major retail location, but often, a trial run for a permanent place in the store. We consider it a source of pride that several of our current staff started off as interns.
We do not relish the opportunity to sling mud, least of all publicly, about the way any of our staff goes about their job, but facts are facts, and we are forced to respond after Terry’s vague claims of mistreatment at the hands of the store. Terry Blay, to put in the kindest of terms, was never an exemplary employee, as any customer who ever waited upwards of ten minutes for him to rematerialize from the stock room with a single pair of sneakers can attest. We are glad to have an informal workplace, but there are limits as to how little work an employee can actually finish before they are simply taking advantage.
These things can be overlooked. Sometimes a bit of guidance is all it takes to help a young employee find a sense of balance in a non-traditionally structured environment. This was, emphatically, not the case with Terry, who seemed to find being asked to complete the tasks that he was hired to do, as an affront. As we now know, this led to feelings of bitterness and disgruntlement for Terry.
Sadly, these feelings manifested as a, fortunately for us, ham-fisted attempt to sell the Bodega x Reebok Ventilators to resellers, and pocket the proceeds. We are glad to report that not a single pair of shoes made it out the back door, and will be ready for purchase on 21 August.
The most unfortunate thing about this situation is that the shoes themselves have ended up being overshadowed. If people want to think of these Ventilators as the “Terry Blay shoes,” that’s fine. We think when they get their hands on the mix of marl fabric, suede and tumbled leather, that they will forget about the harebrained scheme of our former intern in due time. A polka dot shoe, unlike an indifferent sneaker shop employee, is just not something you see every day.
Check the imagery below for a full detailed look.
The Bodega x Reebok Ventilator will release Friday August 21st at 12:01am EST and in-store at 11am. Retail is set at $125.
Words - Dan Alvarez
Photography - Tommy Boudreau
