LEXINGTON, Ky. — Casius Smith said he never thought shoes could change his life. 

“I had no idea this was going to happen, but here I am,” he said. 

Smith, 23, graduated in 2016 from Henry Clay High School in Lexington. He enrolled at the University of Kentucky and was a member of the football team his freshman year. A longtime member of the United States Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC), Smith said he always knew his career would be in the military. 

“My senior year, I was about to be commissioned an officer, and I got medically discharged,” he said. “When that happened, I had to figure out what I was going to do.”

It has been three years since he was discharged, but Smith seems to have figured it out, and as the Spike Lee character Mars Blackmon said in the famous Nike commercials with Michael Jordan, “It’s gotta be the shoes.”

Smith has joined forces with his father, Reid, and his father's business partner, Jay Osborne, to operate Remix Shoes, a footwear, clothing and accessories store specializing in high-end and highly sought-after sneakers. Remix has two locations in Louisville, one at the Jefferson Mall and another on Dixie Highway. One in Lexington is currently relocating with plans to open in the future at the Fayette Mall. The business’ growth and expansion is something Smith speaks of proudly, considering how the business began.

“My dad started selling some shoes from his personal collection at a flea market on Seventh Street in Louisville,” Smith said. “People started telling him how much some of his shoes were worth. Some were more than $300. It was less than a year after that when he opened his first store on Seventh Street. It all started from a flea market booth.”

When the Lexington store reopens, which Smith said is scheduled for sometime in the fall, he will be a part-owner with his dad. 

“When it hit me that I wasn’t going to have a career in the military, I didn’t really have a Plan B, or a direction I wanted to go for a career,” Smith said. “The first thing I'd tell anyone who is going through something like that is to trust the process, because everything happens for a reason. I took being medically released from the military as a positive. I wouldn't be in this position now because I would probably be deployed somewhere. If it wasn't supposed to happen, it didn't happen for a reason, so you have to make the best of what you got, and hopefully, you can take that and go places with it.”

Shoes on display at Remix in Louisville. (Casius Smith)

Selling shoes, particularly the ones like Smith sells in his store, is not as cut and dry as it may sound. Many factors determine shoe prices, such as availability and popularity. 

“When people come in, many are not familiar with how everything works,” he said. “I explain it to them like it’s the stock market. Each individual shoe has its own stock. When supply is low, and the demand goes up, so does the price. If a celebrity is seen wearing certain shoes, that can drive the price up another $100 or even higher for the next six months or longer. If people don't know about it, they're very confused about why some shoes get up to $300 or higher. I had no idea myself until I started doing this.”

Smith has always liked shoes, but he admitted he was like any other teenager growing up because his interest in shoes was wearing them. Now that shoes are his business, he has witnessed many customers who have incorporated them into their lifestyle.

“Some people’s entire wardrobe revolves around their shoes,” he said. “Whatever they are wearing gets put together with their shoes in mind.”

The most popular shoe at all Remix locations is the Air Jordan 1 Silhouette in the traditional red, white and black color scheme, followed by the same shoes in black and red. High-end and popular sneakers have scheduled released dates and quantities are limited.

“Everybody loves those, and they are also my personal favorites,” Smith said. “They are $170 on release day, but after release day, you really can’t find certain ones and can be up to $300 or more after release day. The farther from release day and depending on the colors — the Jordan 1s in North Carolina blue is really popular — they can be doubled in price the day after they are released.”