Another Lane 
Founders Chad and Adena Jones are fighting the gentrification of sneaker culture.
It’s no secret that sneaker flipping is a lucrative business — just weeks ago, footwear giant Nike was forced to address the cutthroat nature of sneaker drops after the resignation of VP Ann Hebert, whose 19-year-old son used her credit card to purchase thousands of limited-edition styles to resell. And as streetwear marketplaces such as StockX and GOAT continue to thrive, increasing numbers of savvy shoppers are turning to sneaker flipping as a way to make major cash.
However, as the resale business booms, buyers and sellers are forgetting the origins of sneaker culture, which bears a rich history rooted in Black culture. To help fight the gentrification of sneaker collecting, husband-and-wife duo Chad and Adena Jones launched resale marketplace Another Lane. Instead of proliferating anonymous buyer and seller profiles akin to those on eBay, Another Lane encourages interactions between users, helping bring community back to a scene rife with bots and shady backdoor deals. It’s a business model that empowers those like Adena and Chad — two Black Brooklyn natives — to reclaim sneaker collecting from footwear companies controlled by mostly white executives. “Our voices were what created this space,” Adena told Bloomberg. “To have our voices and our faces missing from certain spaces is just too much.”
Head to the Another Lane website to learn more about the platform and sign up.
