Starbury
Encyclopedia
Starbury, Inc. is an American
brand
of sneakers and clothing endorsed by CBA
player Stephon Marbury
, and was marketed by Steve and Barry's. The line was launched in September 2006, as a pair of $14.98 basketball shoes to compete with higher priced products endorsed by celebrity athletes. Stephon Marbury and retail clothing chain Steve & Barry's
claim that the products are of the same level of quality as more expensive alternatives.
, popular for on-campus university & college focused retailing. Using all the extra money the Knicks paid him, they agreed to manufacture the shoes in China, and to market them, with a third party involved to prevent sweatshop conditions.
During the clothing lines inception, Marbury went across the United States appearing at malls to do promotion. In addition, he was interviewed by Oprah Winfrey
, Good Morning America
, Good Day New York
, Live with Regis and Kelly
, Rachael Ray
and many other national media outlets.
Marbury is the designer of an initial shoe lineup entitled "Starbury" includes "The Starbury One," a basketball shoe which Stephon wore all season on the New York Knicks, "Starbury Crossovers," a classic "Air Force One"-style shoe which is listed at US$9.98, "Starbury Cyclones," shoes with similar styling to "New Balance" shoes, also retailed at $9.98 USD, and finally the "Starbury SXM," another basketball shoe listed at $9.98. Not only does the "Starbury" brand feature shoes but it also sells low priced clothes. The initial lineup includes varsity jackets, hoodie
s, t-shirts, jerseys, track jackets and pants, dazzle pants, jeans, jean jackets, and warm-up outfits, all under $10.
According to Andy Todd, president of Steve & Barry's, the Starbury line will expand from 50 products to over 200 for Spring 2007. The line will include "The Starbury Two" sneaker, polo shirts, skateboard shoes, and other lifestyle products; all under $15 dollars. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/11/magazine/11wwlnconsumed.t.html
On April 1, 2007, Stephon Marbury released yet another pair of low-price NBA quality sneakers known as the "Starbury Two". This shoe will also be endorsed by current Detroit Pistons player Ben Wallace. Wallace now also has his own shoe, the "Big Ben", which came out on October 29, 2007, according to the Steve & Barry's website. The "Big Ben" also appeared in the music video The Rebirth by Christian hip hop artists Carriers Of the Cross. Other sneaker models which debuted on April 1 include a low-top version of the Starbury II, the "Starbury Team" (a high-top sneaker), the "Crossover LE" (the next incarnation of the low-top "Crossover") and has a "shiny" patent leather
texture to it similar to Bape's "Bape-sta" sneaker, the "SXM Trainer"; the design is radically changed from the first "SXM" model, now a low-top cross-trainer made of nubuck material, the "Cyclone II" (sequel to the "Cyclone"), a nubuck
jogging shoe, the "Bowery" (a low profile casual shoe), the "Surfside" (a nubuck skate shoe), and the "Tornado" (a running shoe).
New shoes include the SSE (Signature Special Edition), Danger, Marquis, Mirage, Downtown, Crib, Rush, Troy, and Trex.
had shown his support by wearing the sneakers in games. Some pairs have managed to sell for almost double the price on eBay auction listings. BusinessWeek named the line one of its best products of 2006. In November 2006, Stephon Marbury and Steve & Barry's announced Luis Da Silva
, also known as "Trikz", a streetball legend and "the world's best ball handler", would join Team Starbury as it hit the road on the Starbury SLAM tour(SM). This tour would allow for "Trikz" to promote the Starbury movement by making appearance in Steve & Barry locations and schools across 120 cities in 60 days to perform his unique style of Hip-hop themed basketball wizardry in front of Starbury fans. While Trikz never played for an NBA team, Stephon Marbury entrusted him to weave the message of the importance of working hard and acting responsibly into his performances. Marbury believed Trikz embodies the values of the Starbury Movement, which Andy Todd, president of Steve & Barry's, said "The Starbury Movement is more than then just about promoting a product line. It's about helping change the world for the better. Trikz is not only a phenomenal performer; he's also a phenomenal guy who kids will enjoy seeing and hearing." The Starbury Collection was the result of Marbury's vision to eliminate the incredible pressure kids and parents feel to spend top dollar on the latest kicks and threads
show 20/20 (edition entitled "Enough!"), hosted by John Stossel
. The segment dealt with the high price of sneakers and the role of Starbury and Marbury as an alternative. During the show, Marbury stated, "If you take my shoe and you take a $150 shoe, cut it down in half, and it do the same exact thing". Stossel put Marbury's statement to the test and a pair of Starbury Ones were brought to Professor Howard Davis, Shoe Design department professor at Parsons The New School for Design
. Davis proceeded to cut apart the Starbury Ones and a pair of "$100 plus Air Jordans" and stated, "They're constructed the same way". Stossel then mentioned that "others in the business" came to the same conclusion. However, Davis never commented on the quality of materials, nor the durability of the Starbury One; only that they were constructed in a similar fashion to Air Jordans.
In May 2007, Bryant Gumbel
had an expert disassemble and analyze the shoes. He determined the materials in Starbury shoes were inferior to more expensive shoes, and wouldn't last as long, but that the shoes were still a better price value.
Consumer Reports
has tested the quality of the Starbury One and Starbury II. The Starbury One "earned decent marks in our earlier tests", according to Consumer Reports. As for the Starbury II, six of nine "men's summer basketball league" players hired by Consumer Reports to test the shoe stated "they would not buy the Starbury II for basketball--they said it provided less comfort, stability, or impact absorption than their favorite shoe". Consumer Reports concluded "our measurements showed that its heel cushioning is very good, its forefoot cushioning is good, and that it's very breathable and fairly flexible" and "The Starbury II would be a fine casual, everyday shoe"
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
brand
Brand
The American Marketing Association defines a brand as a "Name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller's good or service as distinct from those of other sellers."...
of sneakers and clothing endorsed by CBA
Chinese Basketball Association
The Chinese Basketball Association , often abbreviated to the CBA, is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in China.The league is commonly known as the CBA, and this acronym is often used even in Chinese...
player Stephon Marbury
Stephon Marbury
Stephon Xavier Marbury is an American professional basketball player.The , point guard was selected out of the Georgia Institute of Technology by the Milwaukee Bucks with the 4th overall pick in the 1996 NBA Draft, but was traded shortly thereafter to the Minnesota Timberwolves.He was an NBA...
, and was marketed by Steve and Barry's. The line was launched in September 2006, as a pair of $14.98 basketball shoes to compete with higher priced products endorsed by celebrity athletes. Stephon Marbury and retail clothing chain Steve & Barry's
Steve & Barry's
Steve & Barry's was an American retail clothing chain, featuring casual apparel. By mid-2008, the chain operated 276 stores in 39 states. The company was headquartered in Port Washington, New York. The company liquidated all of its stores throughout 2008....
claim that the products are of the same level of quality as more expensive alternatives.
Background
Marbury remembers growing up in Brooklyn, NY, and not being able to afford the latest shoes. Having been inspired by a professor at Georgia Tech, Marbury has for a long time wanted to offer high-quality, inexpensive shoes to future generations of kids and basketball players, so that they would not have his same dilemma. He took this idea to Steve & Barry'sSteve & Barry's
Steve & Barry's was an American retail clothing chain, featuring casual apparel. By mid-2008, the chain operated 276 stores in 39 states. The company was headquartered in Port Washington, New York. The company liquidated all of its stores throughout 2008....
, popular for on-campus university & college focused retailing. Using all the extra money the Knicks paid him, they agreed to manufacture the shoes in China, and to market them, with a third party involved to prevent sweatshop conditions.
Products
Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey is an American media proprietor, talk show host, actress, producer and philanthropist. Winfrey is best known for her self-titled, multi-award-winning talk show, which has become the highest-rated program of its kind in history and was nationally syndicated from 1986 to 2011...
, Good Morning America
Good Morning America
Good Morning America is an American morning news and talk show that is broadcast on the ABC television network; it debuted on November 3, 1975. The weekday program airs for two hours; a third hour aired between 2007 and 2008 exclusively on ABC News Now...
, Good Day New York
Good Day New York
Good Day New York is a weekday morning news and entertainment feature show which airs on WNYW, the New York City flagship television station of the News Corporation-owned Fox Broadcasting Company...
, Live with Regis and Kelly
Live with Regis and Kelly
Live! with Kelly is a syndicated American television morning talk show, hosted by Kelly Ripa. The show has aired since 1983 in New York City and 1988 nationwide. Tony Pigg has been the show's announcer since its inception...
, Rachael Ray
Rachael Ray
Rachael Domenica Ray is an American television personality, businesswoman, celebrity chef and author. She hosts the syndicated talk and lifestyle program Rachael Ray and three Food Network series, 30 Minute Meals, Rachael Ray's Tasty Travels and $40 a Day...
and many other national media outlets.
Marbury is the designer of an initial shoe lineup entitled "Starbury" includes "The Starbury One," a basketball shoe which Stephon wore all season on the New York Knicks, "Starbury Crossovers," a classic "Air Force One"-style shoe which is listed at US$9.98, "Starbury Cyclones," shoes with similar styling to "New Balance" shoes, also retailed at $9.98 USD, and finally the "Starbury SXM," another basketball shoe listed at $9.98. Not only does the "Starbury" brand feature shoes but it also sells low priced clothes. The initial lineup includes varsity jackets, hoodie
Hoodie
A hoodie is a sweatshirt with a hood. The characteristic design includes large frontal pockets, a hood, and a drawstring to adjust the hood opening. They are sometimes worn with sweatpants. Some hoodies have zippers on them to allow easy removal much like a jacket...
s, t-shirts, jerseys, track jackets and pants, dazzle pants, jeans, jean jackets, and warm-up outfits, all under $10.
According to Andy Todd, president of Steve & Barry's, the Starbury line will expand from 50 products to over 200 for Spring 2007. The line will include "The Starbury Two" sneaker, polo shirts, skateboard shoes, and other lifestyle products; all under $15 dollars. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/11/magazine/11wwlnconsumed.t.html
On April 1, 2007, Stephon Marbury released yet another pair of low-price NBA quality sneakers known as the "Starbury Two". This shoe will also be endorsed by current Detroit Pistons player Ben Wallace. Wallace now also has his own shoe, the "Big Ben", which came out on October 29, 2007, according to the Steve & Barry's website. The "Big Ben" also appeared in the music video The Rebirth by Christian hip hop artists Carriers Of the Cross. Other sneaker models which debuted on April 1 include a low-top version of the Starbury II, the "Starbury Team" (a high-top sneaker), the "Crossover LE" (the next incarnation of the low-top "Crossover") and has a "shiny" patent leather
Patent leather
Patent leather is a type of japanned leather that has been given a high gloss, shiny finish. The process was brought to the United States and improved by Newark-based inventor Seth Boyden in 1818, with commercial manufacture beginning September 20, 1819. Boyden's process, which he never patented,...
texture to it similar to Bape's "Bape-sta" sneaker, the "SXM Trainer"; the design is radically changed from the first "SXM" model, now a low-top cross-trainer made of nubuck material, the "Cyclone II" (sequel to the "Cyclone"), a nubuck
Nubuck
Nubuck is top-grain cattle rawhide leather that has been sanded or buffed on the grain side, or outside, to give a slight nap of short protein fibers, producing a velvet-like surface. It is resistant to wear, and may be white or coloured....
jogging shoe, the "Bowery" (a low profile casual shoe), the "Surfside" (a nubuck skate shoe), and the "Tornado" (a running shoe).
New shoes include the SSE (Signature Special Edition), Danger, Marquis, Mirage, Downtown, Crib, Rush, Troy, and Trex.
Initial Reception
Despite Marbury putting up subpar numbers, in 2006-07, the shoes still sold well and even then-teammate Steve FrancisSteve Francis
Steven D'Shawn Francis is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Beijing Ducks of the Chinese Basketball Association. He had also played for the Houston Rockets, Orlando Magic, and New York Knicks...
had shown his support by wearing the sneakers in games. Some pairs have managed to sell for almost double the price on eBay auction listings. BusinessWeek named the line one of its best products of 2006. In November 2006, Stephon Marbury and Steve & Barry's announced Luis Da Silva
Luis Da Silva
Luis Fernando "Trikz" Da Silva, Jr. is an American basketball player and actor. Luis, who has been referred to as "The World's Best Ball Handler" gained notoriety after headlining the 2001 Nike Freestyle ad campaign and been the face of Steve & Barry's Starbury clothing line tour.-Life and...
, also known as "Trikz", a streetball legend and "the world's best ball handler", would join Team Starbury as it hit the road on the Starbury SLAM tour(SM). This tour would allow for "Trikz" to promote the Starbury movement by making appearance in Steve & Barry locations and schools across 120 cities in 60 days to perform his unique style of Hip-hop themed basketball wizardry in front of Starbury fans. While Trikz never played for an NBA team, Stephon Marbury entrusted him to weave the message of the importance of working hard and acting responsibly into his performances. Marbury believed Trikz embodies the values of the Starbury Movement, which Andy Todd, president of Steve & Barry's, said "The Starbury Movement is more than then just about promoting a product line. It's about helping change the world for the better. Trikz is not only a phenomenal performer; he's also a phenomenal guy who kids will enjoy seeing and hearing." The Starbury Collection was the result of Marbury's vision to eliminate the incredible pressure kids and parents feel to spend top dollar on the latest kicks and threads
Findings on shoe quality
On March 23, 2007, Starbury was featured in a segment on the ABCAmerican Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
show 20/20 (edition entitled "Enough!"), hosted by John Stossel
John Stossel
John F. Stossel is an American consumer reporter, investigative journalist, author and libertarian columnist. In October 2009 Stossel left his long time home on ABC News to join the Fox Business Channel and Fox News Channel, both owned and operated by News Corp...
. The segment dealt with the high price of sneakers and the role of Starbury and Marbury as an alternative. During the show, Marbury stated, "If you take my shoe and you take a $150 shoe, cut it down in half, and it do the same exact thing". Stossel put Marbury's statement to the test and a pair of Starbury Ones were brought to Professor Howard Davis, Shoe Design department professor at Parsons The New School for Design
Parsons The New School for Design
Parsons The New School For Design, known colloquially as Parsons, is the art and design college of The New School university. It is located in New York City's Greenwich Village, and has produced artists and designers such as Marc Jacobs, Dean and Dan Caten, Norman Rockwell, Donna Karan, Jane...
. Davis proceeded to cut apart the Starbury Ones and a pair of "$100 plus Air Jordans" and stated, "They're constructed the same way". Stossel then mentioned that "others in the business" came to the same conclusion. However, Davis never commented on the quality of materials, nor the durability of the Starbury One; only that they were constructed in a similar fashion to Air Jordans.
In May 2007, Bryant Gumbel
Bryant Gumbel
Bryant Charles Gumbel is an American television journalist and sportscaster. He is best known for his 15 years as co-host of NBC's The Today Show. He is the younger brother of sportscaster Greg Gumbel.-Early life:...
had an expert disassemble and analyze the shoes. He determined the materials in Starbury shoes were inferior to more expensive shoes, and wouldn't last as long, but that the shoes were still a better price value.
Consumer Reports
Consumer Reports
Consumer Reports is an American magazine published monthly by Consumers Union since 1936. It publishes reviews and comparisons of consumer products and services based on reporting and results from its in-house testing laboratory. It also publishes cleaning and general buying guides...
has tested the quality of the Starbury One and Starbury II. The Starbury One "earned decent marks in our earlier tests", according to Consumer Reports. As for the Starbury II, six of nine "men's summer basketball league" players hired by Consumer Reports to test the shoe stated "they would not buy the Starbury II for basketball--they said it provided less comfort, stability, or impact absorption than their favorite shoe". Consumer Reports concluded "our measurements showed that its heel cushioning is very good, its forefoot cushioning is good, and that it's very breathable and fairly flexible" and "The Starbury II would be a fine casual, everyday shoe"
External links
- http://www.starbury.com
- http://www.oprah.com/tows/slide/200705/20070518/slide_20070518_350_401.jhtml
- Profile of Starbury at brandchannelBrandchannelBrandchannel is a website about branding launched in 2001, with the goal of offering a global perspective on brands. Brandchannel is committed to providing readers with an accessible exploration and analysis of brands...
- Consumer Reports review of the Starbury II