Joe Girard III’s collection of over 80 shoes founded on the relationship with the mother

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When Joe Girard III was in college, his mother Arleen Girard would take him and his cousins ​​to the mall. This is where Girard remembers getting his first pair of Starburys, a shoe worn by former NBA star Stephon Marbury.

He would ask for these Starburys several times, eventually accumulating six pairs of different colors.

“The only way to get him to go to the store or the mall is if we promise him we’ll go to Dick’s Sporting Goods or Foot Locker,” Arleen said.

Now Girard’s collection has expanded beyond Starburys, and he estimated he had around 70 pairs of shoes stashed in his closet. Girard joked that her mother was always trying to count the number of shoes in her closet, and Arleen said, “there’s over 80 here, I can tell you that.” What started as a desire to match his uniform to his shoes turned into a collection that Girard and Arleen have expanded over the years. Due to his collection, Girard claims to have the best shoe game on the team.

“Benny is pretty close. Symir has good ones. But I think I beat them,” Girard said with a laugh.

Arleen said Girard’s love for shoes started when he was about five years old when he started playing organized basketball. Girard grew up in a basketball family because his dad was a coach, so Arleen said he had an idea of ​​what a basketball player looked like.

Eventually, Girard’s desire to match uniforms led to him needing many new pairs of shoes, as his team colors changed as his basketball career took off. The color palette used to be green and black, then red and black, and now orange and blue.

“It’s a hobby and a passion,” Girard said. “Just something I like to do, rather than picking up cards or collecting cards or stuff like that.”

Friends and family began asking Girard about his new hobby as his bedroom closet began to expand with more and more shoes. But those kicks weren’t just for basketball games. Girard has some to collect, like two pairs of shoes from Jimmer Fredette, another Glen Falls native. But his cousin Trent Girard remembers that Girard also wore certain pairs of shoes for special occasions, like when their high school team won the state championship or to prom.

“When he dresses up in suits and stuff, that’s when he likes to wear his Jordans,” Trent said. “He’s not a dress shoe guy. He likes to wear Jordans with his dress clothes.

But the shoe-shopping process has evolved from walking into Dick’s Sporting Goods and browsing the giant wall of shoes to timing his online orders for limited-edition shoes and even visiting Divine Sole. Saratoga, a local sneaker and streetwear store down the road from Girard’s hometown of Glens Falls, New York.

Last summer, Girard visited the store to check out its merchandise. Store owner Ryan Smalley said he remembered walking into his store and seeing one of his employees helping Girard.

“He knew what he was talking about,” Smalley said. “When people come in they can tell a Jordan in general but they can’t (identify)…all the different iterations of Jordans that have come out.”

Shoes are also part of the close bond that Girard has with his mother. Arleen joked that she freaks out every time she sees how many pairs of Girard shoes have in her closet. She always asks what Girard is going to do with the new shoes, telling him: “we don’t have room for them”. Still, as a mom, Arleen said she’s part of the reason the collection has grown so big.

“I’m probably the worst at it. Because if I’m shopping and I miss him and I see a pair of sneakers, I’m like, ‘Oh, I’ll send him a picture. What do you think of these? “Said Arleen. “So sometimes I’m guilty of that where I might be willing to give him a pair of sneakers without him asking.”

Shoes have always been Christmas gifts and birthday presents for Girard. Arleen was called No. 1 and Girard’s grandmother No. 2 for buying him shoes for various holidays. Her grandmother would always ask her what gifts to give Girard and Arleen’s answer would always be shoes.

Thanks to Girard’s love for shoes, Arleen learned more about shoes than she expected. She said in the past she might have gone to Dick’s and bought a pair of Nikes, but now she’s learned to identify retro Jordan pairs and look for shoes on websites like StockX. She explained that now Girard would send her a wish list of shoes that she could narrow down for a gift.

But many of these shoes have sentimental value for Girard. Arleen said some of the shoes were in “retired mode,” including the shoes he wore to score his 2,000th, 3,000th and 4,000th high school basketball points.

Now the collection in the closet has grown so large that Arleen has had to put the shoes back in the boxes instead of displaying them. Still, she said Girard could easily choose the shoes he wanted by reading the box labels, including his favorites – the Jordan 11 low-tops. Arleen joked that as long as Girard’s foot size didn’t change , he would never need a pair of sneakers “for a very long time”.

“He’ll do something with (the shoes) one day,” Arleen said. “Right now he just likes to keep them, and a lot of them give him memories and we’ll find a good place for them.”