We recently covered the issues that have befallen Chicago-area sneaker shop, Flee Club. The store, started by longtime compadres Darris Kelly and Sabrian Sledge has been the target of numoerous robberies over the course of its brief two-year existence. Shorty after the publishing of our initial article, it was discovered that Flee Club was victim to another robbery and the owners have decided to shutter the store.
In a subsequent sit-down Scott Simon of NPR, Kelly had this to say about the robbery:
It was usually around, like, 3 in the morning, but this time, it was, like, 5:50 a.m. I got an alert from my ADT system, I looked at my cameras, and my clothing racks turned over. People running around in my shop. It’s just a bad thing every time I see it.
It was estimated that the miscreants got away with about $70,000 in merchandise.
Though the duo and Flee Club were able to persevere , but that will not the case this time , with Kelly saying, ” Oh, it’s closed. It’s closed, yeah. It’s just too much”
I’m really at a standstill. I don’t really know what to do. I’m processing things I need, and I’m trying to get my money together. I just probably want to leave Chicago, go to a different city, try to start over. I put a lot into my business, so I know it’s not going to happen overnight, but I just – I don’t think I can deal with this. It’s getting to my psyche.
You know, I love what I do. I love getting people their shoes, getting people fly, getting people their nice clothing, stuff like that. It’s just kind of hard right now. Just determining my next move.
Darris Kelly, co-owner, Flee Club
Kelly is comtemplating his next move. He has a GoFundMe setup and his considering a potential move to Texas to open a new store.
