My good neighborhood friend growing up became an anesthesiologist. Early on in his medical career, as a member of the U.S. Army, he served on a base during the Bosnian War. He also spent part of his residency working in an emergency room in Chicago, which he said felt like being in a combat zone on many nights.
We call each other on our summer birthdays, and I remember the one when I turned 30—the age at which “I could no longer be trusted by those younger than me.” I wasn’t thrilled about this milestone. He, being two years older and a lot smarter, snapped me out of my funk instantly. He said, “Be happy you made it to another year.” His work and his time in the war had shown him that far too many people don’t get to celebrate their 30th. That sentiment has stuck with me every birthday since.
Which brings me (naturally) to some opinions on aging from Springsteen. When Bruce turned 30, he received a birthday cake during a performance at Madison Square Garden. Apparently, he wasn’t thrilled about the milestone, either. He threw the cake into the crowd and sneered, “Send me the cleaning bill!” Decades later, however, when asked how he felt about turning 70, his sentiments on aging were quite different. He seemed at peace with the process. He said, “You’re gathering.” So, it’s not a drag getting old. In other words, you gain as you age. Experience. Wisdom. Memories. Life. You don’t just lose (hair, hearing, health, etc.). That has stuck with me, too. Each year is a new milestone to be celebrated. I don’t hope I die before I get old.
We humans, though, do like making more of a fuss over birthdays when they’re multiples of 10 and 25. Our 25th anniversary of the Plus Awards, celebrating excellence in design and retail, is no exception. In recognition of our silver anniversary, this special issue features five milestone profiles across a wide age spectrum. On the younger end, there’s Zappos marking its 25th anniversary, followed by Fly London hitting the Big 3-0. And at the opposite end is the Maine family chain Lamey Wellehan, clocking in at 110 years, and Birkenstock shattering the longevity expectancy ceiling at 250 years! In the middle is our Lifetime Achievement recipient, Tarek Hassan, founder and CEO of CNCPTS. He launched the revolutionary sneaker-meets-streetwear-meets-luxury chain nearly 29 years ago (not a round number, I know), but his career in retail and branding spans 40 years.
All of our Plus Awards Milestone recipients are trailblazers. Zappos (p. 22) invented online shoe shopping. Birkenstock (p. 28) invented comfort footwear and, according to some sole historians, right and left shoes. Lamey Wellehan (p. 31) didn’t invent the family shoe store sit-and-fit format, but it sure has perfected it over its century-plus in business and set an example on how community engagement breeds generations of customer loyalty. Fly London (p. 34) didn’t invent the wedge or a lot of other styles in its line of men’s and women’s edgy comfort collections, but its steadfast commitment to making comfort cool season after season has generated a lot of buzz (pun intended), and its irreverent marketing has transformed a pest into a powerful brand mascot.
As for Hassan (p. 12), he is one of the OGs of the sneaker boutique format and the multi-billion collab market. He is also widely regarded as the first to combine the worlds of sneakers, streetwear, and luxury under one store format. His list of industry firsts run deep. Above all, Hassan is a curator of cool. I’m talking cool like LL Cool J meets Johnny Depp meets Tom Ford. CNCPTS serves as a mecca for coolness, and Hassan is its Axl Rose–like frontman.
I hope you enjoy reading these Plus Awards Milestone profiles as much as our team enjoyed writing them. Shoutouts for jobs well done to New York Times best-selling author Kathy Passero (Birkenstock and Zappos), Footwear Plus alum and Maine native Petra Guglielmetti (Lamey Wellehan), and our up-and-coming reporter Kiernan McCormick (Fly London). Having written about Hassan since he launched CNCPTS in 1996, that profile is mine—along with any opportunities to visit the inner workings of CNCPTS HQ and hang out with the “cool kids.” That’s a backstage pass I’d never pass up.
