Mina Kimes, “A Hidden Shoe Gallery for Elite Buyers,” CNNMoney, May 11, 2009.

An innovative shoe store in St. Louis has broken the rules of retailing. Its inconspicuous signage and frosted glass front windows cause most customers to walk by without seeing RSole. The inside of the store is dark, lit with only emergency-like lighting.

The upscale shoe boutique targets an urban market of young men (18–34 years) who are willing to spend up to $500 on a pair of Puma, Nike, and adidas. The owner of RSole also owns a casual clothing and sneaker retail store, called Man of Fashion, that sells the same sort of sneakers. But the two stores employ very different designs.

In particular, the swanky RSole displays shoes as if they were artwork, with indirect lighting and LED squares on the floors to guide shoppers’ paths through the store. By emphasizing a unique and expensive design (it cost approximately $120,000), the retailer’s image appears consistent with the merchandise that it sells.

The idea for the notable design came from a store in Manhattan, outside of which a line of people were waiting all night for a sneaker debut. The store’s sign was not visible from the street, and the shoe sold out overnight. Yet the buzz and word of mouth created extreme excitement for the exclusive product, so the less accessible it is, the more customers seem to want it.

In this retail environment, RSole sells more than 2,000 pairs of sneakers monthly. Customers can shop at different retailers—40 percent of RSole’s merchandise also appears in other stores—but they prefer the experience of shopping in a unique atmosphere.