Left to right:  Kevin Bateman, Ron Olthoff, Dave Duncan, Mario Canon, Nick Cummings, George Leverton, Cheri Leverton, Wanda Lee Rohlfs, and Peggy Bateman.

Grand opening and ribbon cut at Elite Kicks brings in a shoulder to shoulder crowd

[March 03, 2022]  On Saturday morning at 11 a.m. there were shoulder to shoulder shoppers at the new Elite Kicks Shoe Store located at 130 Chicago Street, Lincoln.

The crowd was asked to make way for a ribbon cutting ceremony in front of the checkout counter inside of the store at 11 a.m.

The ribbon cutting was led by Nila Smith of Lincoln Daily News, who asked for the four owners Mario Canon, Nick Cummings, Dave Duncan and Ron Olthoff to take their places behind the ribbon. On hand representing the city of Lincoln was Alderman and Mayor Pro Tem Kevin Bateman, Alderwoman Wanda Lee Rohlfs and City Clerk Peggy Bateman. The owners of the storefront property, George Leverton were also on hand. All those people were asked to join Elite Kicks owners behind the ribbon for the ceremony.

Also present to welcome the new store owners to the community were Andrea Runge of the Lincoln L.E.A.D and Alice Roate of the Logan County Tourism Bureau.

During opening remarks, Smith said she wanted to make three points. First, noting the huge turnout for the event, she said that it was the way every ribbon cutting in the community should be attended. She thanked all those who came out for the opening for taking time out of their day to do so.

Secondly, looking at the four owners, she said, “we’re looking at four young men, young men who have chosen to come to Lincoln or stay in Lincoln or come to Lincoln and make this their home and their place of enterprise. We want to acknowledge the effort and the courage it has taken for them to do what they are doing now.
 

Finally, she said, “Thank you to George and Cheri Leverton. The Levertons with some partners have made a huge investment on Chicago Street. It is greatly needed and greatly appreciated, and we hope they will see great success and many more filled storefronts in the near future.

With the opening remarks completed, Smith turned the floor over to Canon who spoke on behalf of the four owners.

“We are super thankful for the community of Lincoln, how you have supported us. I’m thankful for Nick coming into my life and Ron (and) Dave, the city’s general support in this and George and Cheri. All you guys have helped us. We chose downtown because we want to bring the energy back into the heart of Lincoln. We could have went somewhere else, but us being young and this our first business together, we said let’s bring this downtown, bring that synergy here. We appreciate you guys, and love you all.”

Bateman said that it was an honor to be at a new business opening in Lincoln. "This is close to my heart because it is downtown which is in my ward. I was born and raised in Lincoln and remember when there were businesses in every store. Congratulations to Mario and his partners.”  Bateman went on to express appreciation to the building owners and said that the building has been converted into a beautiful place. He added, “If you had seen it when they started, it has come miles.”

With speeches completed, it was time for the posed picture. Then the crowd roared in response to the request to help with the countdown. When the crowd yelled snip, Canon and Cummings cut the ribbon and the room exploded with cheers and applause.

Selling shoes is a profession that Canon has been in for a while, doing so online. The store will have an inventory on new name brand shoes, as well as gently used shoes at reduced prices. The owners said that as part of their business plan, they will buy, sell and trade shoes. Any item that is not in stock can probably be located and ordered especially for a customer.

On Saturday, the check-out area was busy. While the store was supposed to open for the first time at 11 a.m., shoppers were arriving by 10:30 a.m. and were permitted to go inside. Therefore, even before the ribbon cut, shoes were being rang up and bagged up for happy customers.

Earlier in the week, Cummings had commented that the sneaker business is an $80 billion a year business across the country. The four partners hope to capture their fair share of that business by offered name brand shoes and shoe buying alternatives that will enable a wide range of customers to be serviced locally instead of heading out of town to the larger cities.

[Nila Smith]