A Look Inside eBay’s Wear ‘Em Out Fairfax Sneaker Pop-Up

Drew Grant

Drew Grant is dot.LA's Senior Editor. She's a media veteran with over 15-plus years covering entertainment and local journalism. During her tenure at The New York Observer, she founded one of their most popular verticals, tvDownload, and transitioned from generalist to Senior Editor of Entertainment and Culture, overseeing a freelance contributor network and ushering in the paper's redesign. More recently, she was Senior Editor of Special Projects at Collider, a writer for RottenTomatoes streaming series on Peacock and a consulting editor at RealClearLife, Ranker and GritDaily. You can find her across all social media platforms as @Videodrew and send tips to drew@dot.la.

eBay’s Wear ‘Em Out pop-up store opened its doors on Fairfax for Memorial Day weekend.
Photo by Joshua Letona

When you first move to Los Angeles, one of the strangest sights is the blocks-long queues of people waiting patiently to get into a handful of micro-boutiques on Fairfax Avenue, where four doors down from the Supreme store you could go for a nosh at Cantor’s Deli.

One line on Friday stretched impossibly long—past the intersection of Rosewood, where it swapped to the other side of the street, young men leaning against the chainlink fences of Walt Whitman High School’s football stadium. If you squinted, it almost looked like the line stretched all the way past Melrose, a third of a mile away.


Every single person in line was hoping to get into eBay’s three-day sneaker pop-up, Wear ‘Em Out. Yes, the “We Sell Your Stuff on eBay” store seen in “The 40-Year-Old Virgin” is now a reality—except for the notable difference that eBay is the one doing the selling, off-platform.

The location’s proximity to Supreme doesn’t seem like a coincidence; the store’s real estate, tiny space and limited selection cultivated an air of exclusivity and scarcity. This can boost hype, but also emboldens entrepreneurial-minded buyers with deep pockets to take advantage of the small supply—snatching up as much stock as possible to resell at a future date.

To combat this phenomena while still trying to stoke the “hype” in hypebeast was the challenge; a “one pair per customer” rule can be enough to thwart some potential buyers from going near the place, while not exactly being the hardest system to game. But Wear 'Em Out had found a different kind of incentive system—offering steep discounts to anyone willing to actually put the shoes on their feet and walk them out the door. The catch was that they’d first have to navigate a short obstacle course of gravel, fake grass and sooty rocks; say bye-bye to the coveted NIB (New In Box) label that bumps shoes up from their retail price to thousands of dollars or more on secondary selling platforms like Grailed, GOAT, StockX, and eBay itself.

“People are treating sneakers like investments,” according to Garry Thaniel, eBay’s general manager of sneakers. “We love our sellers, but wanted to embrace the idea that everything doesn't have to be a business decision. Sometimes it’s just about enjoying them.”

Thaniel was wearing a fresh pair of Nike Air Force Ones, a blinding white sneaker notoriously unforgiving to scuff marks. That’s kind of the point; growing up in Baltimore, Thaniel recalled, come April or May everyone would show up wearing the pristine sneakers only to see them worn out by the end of the summer. The next spring would bring new shoes, and the cycle began again.

Here’s a taste of what was in stock on Friday:

  • The New Balance 2002R "Protection Pack" in Sea Salt ($385)
  • A Nike x Travis Scott Air Max 270 "Cactus Trails" collab ($400)
  • 2 different versions of the Yeezy Boosts: a 700 Bright Blue ($355) and the 350 V2 Dazzling Blue ($415).
  • 4 different Air Jordans: Retro 1 “'Cool Grey” 2021, ($335); Retro 6 "UNC White" ($325); 1 Retro High "OG Patent Bred" ($330); 1 Retro High 85 “Georgetown” ($425);
  • The Union x Nike Dunk Low “Passport Pack - Pistachio” ($650).

Each pair would cost $100 less to wear out the door.

Peak Inside eBay's Sneaker Pop-Up Retail Shop

Photo by Joshua Letona

eBay’s Wear ‘Em Out pop-up store opened its doors on Fairfax for Memorial Day weekend.

While he couldn’t give us any more specifics on the following days’ selection, Thaniel told dot.LA that every collection was put together by Offset, he of the popular hip-hop group Migos.

And what did Thaniel think about moving eBay’s sneaker game to a permanent brick-and-mortar location, a la Amazon Style’s new store on the other side of town in Glendale?

“That would be a great idea,” Thaniel mused. “We’d have to talk internally about it.” He mentioned that eBay’s policy of collaborating with sellers had led to this prime real estate, since they were technically operating in a portioned section of SoleStage’s already diminutive interior.

Leaving the store, a scroll through my phone revealed an interesting development: Gucci, the renowned legacy Italian loafer brand, had just opened its first location in the metaverse.

LA Startups Supercharging Cars and Dating 🚗⚡💑

🔦 Spotlight

Happy Friday Los Angeles!

EVgo Inc., a leading Electric Vehicle (EV) charging company based in West Los Angeles, has seen substantial growth under CEO Badar Khan. The company now operates over 3,400 fast chargers across 1,000 sites nationwide, strategically placed in high-traffic urban and suburban areas to enhance convenience for EV users. EVgo’s model focuses on owning and managing its charging stations to ensure a seamless experience, reflecting its commitment to supporting the mass adoption of electric vehicles and facilitating the transition to cleaner transportation.

In a different electrifying market, Joe Feminella, inspired by his own successful dating journey, launched the dating app, First Round’s On Me in El Segundo with $5 million in funding. This app differentiates itself by requiring users to schedule a date within 24 hours of matching, and after a soft launch in select markets, it expanded nationwide in 2024. As the dating app market faces criticism over algorithmic practices and premium features, First Round’s On Me aims to offer a more genuine and immediate dating experience. Both EVgo and First Round’s On Me exemplify how companies in different industries are addressing their respective market challenges with innovative approaches to improve user experience and engagement.


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      In the fast-paced world of startups and venture capital in Los Angeles, maintaining peak productivity is essential for founders and investors alike. As the hustle intensifies, many are seeking alternatives to traditional coffee that not only provide a sustained energy boost but also support overall health and well-being. The following list highlights some of the top-rated coffee alternatives that can enhance focus and productivity while minimizing the adverse effects of caffeine. These options incorporate adaptogens, superfoods, and gut-friendly ingredients, making them ideal choices for those looking to optimize their performance without the afternoon crash.


      Matcha

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      Dandelion Root Coffee

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      LA’s Data Center Supply Crunch

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      Happy Friday Los Angeles!

      The Los Angeles data center market is experiencing a significant supply crunch, ranking 12th in growth among top markets since 2020 with only 265 megawatts of colocation inventory (data centers where businesses rent space to store their computing hardware and servers). Despite this, demand is surging, driven by AI, cloud, and hyperscaler needs, with AI accounting for 20% of new data center demand nationally. This scarcity is creating a highly competitive environment, with vacancy rates at a record low 3% and asking rents rising 13-37% year-over-year. For Los Angeles, this presents both challenges and opportunities in the big picture. The city's strategic position as a global entertainment hub and its connectivity to international markets through subsea cables make it an attractive location for data centers. However, the limited inventory and rising costs could potentially hinder growth and innovation in the tech sector. To maintain its competitive edge, Los Angeles will need to address these constraints through new developments, such as GI Partners' 16 MW addition at One Wilshire, and by focusing on high-connectivity, high-power capacity submarkets. The city's tech community should prepare for a landscape of increased competition for quality data center space, higher costs, and the need for innovative solutions to meet growing demand, particularly in AI and cloud services. While Los Angeles faces a challenging data center supply crunch, its strategic advantages and ongoing developments offer a promising path forward.


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