Highly anticipated UK sneaker and apparel store met with huge disappointment on opening day

Size?, a famous UK global supplier of the latest footwear and clothing has finally opened its first location in Toronto last week on July 16th. Size? is a retailer known for carrying the latest sneakers, as well as many exclusive collaborations from renowned brands such as Nike, Adidas, New Balance, and Air Jordan.
Since its establishment in 2000, the popular footwear and apparel brand now has 9 stores in different countries across Europe. And now, they have begun to expand their presence outside of Europe, starting with Toronto. With the addition of Size? Toronto, many sneakerheads believe they will help elevate the sneaker and streetwear scene in Toronto.

In March, Size? has announced its plans to open its first store in downtown Toronto, on Queen Street and Ossington Avenue this summer. With no confirmation of the exact date of the opening day, this led to high anticipation as to when the UK retailer will officially be open in Toronto. The hype continued to grow as Size? released many subtle teasers on their newly launched website, siza.ca, as well as their Instagram page, @sizeofficialca.

On Friday, July 16th, Size? finally made a post on their Instagram announcing that their store will be officially opening on this day.
With this news, sneakerheads from across Toronto flocked to the new Size? location and started queuing up hours before the store was set to open. From the video posted on Size?’s Instagram, you can see a line of excited sneaker fans stretching across the entire neighbourhood, lining up in hopes to be among the first ones to get their hands on some heat.
Unfortunately, Size?’s grand opening didn’t turn out as well as expected. Many of those who have waited all day (with some even waited for 12+ hours) were met with huge disappointment, as the in-demand sneakers were already sold out by the time it was their turn to enter the store. Many of those who waited in line expressed their frustration online as they’d watched several instances of people cutting in line, not respecting the store policies, and resellers buying up all the inventory.
This led to a huge uproar, as disappointed customers took their anger to Size? Toronto’s Google reviews. As of writing, their Google reviews have garnered 19 reviews (previously 40+) with an average rating of 1.7 stars.
From the reviews, many of the avid sneaker fans were appalled by the way how Size? handled their grand opening, with some even questioning the ethics of the management because of the misconduct that was happening behind the scenes.
“They are everything wrong with the sneaker industry and not worthy of anyone’s business.” – Eric W.
One commenter said that the store was allegedly allowing individuals to skip the lines (backdooring) and get their hands on the in-demand shoes before anyone else. He also mentioned that Size? was deleting negative reviews to censor the truthful reviews that were exposing its malpractices, as previously they had over 40+ negative reviews.
“People cutting the line, paying security guards, and store staff not respecting the item limits.” – Christopher Graeme
Another angry commenter added that the securities were allegedly taking bribes from line jumpers to enter the store first. He also mentioned that the store staff was not respecting the store policy of 1 pair of sneakers per customer, as many were seen leaving the store with multiple pairs. He also argued that the store’s operations were designed to benefit resellers instead of their loyal customers, as over half the people waiting in line didn’t get a chance to buy what they wanted, while the resellers profited.
The outcry didn’t stop with just Google reviews. Size?’s Instagram posts were also littered with negative comments, with many expressing similar issues as those on Google reviews.
With such a rocky start for their first opening outside of the UK, it’ll be a challenge for Size? to regain the trust of their loyal customers and establish itself as one of the best sneaker stores in Toronto.

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