From kindergarten classmates to business partners: Salinas duo steps up the game for shoe lovers

Starting a new business is always a gamble, particularly during a pandemic, but two childhood friends from Salinas managed to overcome and thrive.

For best friends Fabian Maciel and Daniel Castaneda, this year has been nothing short of successful at their shoe store Retail Boyz inside the Northridge Mall.

In just seven months of being open, the 21-year-olds hit a huge milestone with more than $1 million in sales to customers all over the country.

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Their styles have already gained mass popularity among thousands of their social media followers and have even been purchased by celebrities like 49ers player Deebo Samuel, Lil Sheik, Spencer Rattler and famous TikTokers.

So, how are they doing it?

Well, these aren't typical shoes. Their designs range from exclusive lines of high-end brands like Off-White, Yeezy, and Nike which they say are not so easy to find in other stores or online.

Rare styles like the purple and gold "Kobe" Nike sneakers, Jordan 1s and even their Off-White Dunks, which had only 50 pairs produced, are readily available inside the store.

"If you looked online, then you might get scammed or get some fake ones, but here we go through a buying process so they're certified authentic," Maciel said. "You don't have to pay all the online fees. You don't wait a whole month. You can try them on and take them home the same day."

The hustle

Another notable and successful aspect of the business is the reselling of previously owned shoes. Retail Boyz purchases and refurbishes rare sneakers.

Maciel and Castaneda explain that process is what got their journey started.

They had known each other since kindergarten and shared similar fashion interests through high school. The team began reselling items on Instagram when the pandemic started, Maciel said.

"We went to a similar store in San Jose and we liked it. We had a dream to start our own," he said. "Then we just kept expanding, got more followers and sold more shoes. We tumbled our money and then we got our store here at the mall."

Castaneda says the hustle began when they were just teenagers.

"My mom couldn't afford to buy me clothes, so I would just work to buy my own clothes, wear it a couple times and just sell it," Castaneda said. "That's how I would keep myself with clothes on my back. It started with the brand Supreme that I liked and … then I would sell it to buy other brands I liked and then it kind of just snowballed from there."

Maciel says he was one of Castaneda's first customers.

"I would buy his shoes," he said. "I had to recycle cans and sell them just to save up."

Small dreams can come true

It's not just the shoes that are making a statement.

Northridge Mall General Manager Susan Causey says the shopping experience alone has gained some notoriety.

"It is quite a unique store and won a visual victory award through ICSC in New York this year out of hundreds of entries for their great merchandising and visual displays," she said. "It’s quite an honor."

Retail Boyz credits itself for its keen eye for fashion, and also features items like BAPE clothing and Dunk shoe styles that were popular in the early 2000s, but are making a comeback.

"I thought it was going to take longer but seven months was pretty fast. I feel pretty good about that," Maciel said. "People noticed us because they haven't seen something like this before."

The business partners want to make sure that even the small dreams, like owning an exclusive pair of sneakers, can come true for everyone.

"People buy these because they want to feel like they fit in, just like I wanted to fit in as well," Castaneda said.

To check out their merchandise, visit their Instagram page @retailboyzshop.

This article originally appeared on Salinas Californian: Retail Boyz in Salinas steps up the game for shoe lovers