Projo Biz Blog

The sneaker actually has its origins in New England. The owners of a Boston boutique came up with a design with the color of a boiled lobster on the outside and a gingham plaid lobster bib as the inner lining. The "Red Lobster" sneaker sparked a huge demand, said Rob Asselin, a co-owner of Civil.

Like its real-life counterpart, the Blue Lobster, with its speckled Navy exterior and blue gingham plaid interior, is even rarer. So people camped out at the front door of Civil, the only Rhode Island store to carry them, beginning Monday night.

"Most of it's word of mouth," said the other co-owner, Guido Silvestri, who explained that the store did very little advertising.

Most people went away disappointed. The story only received 18 pairs and they were sold out within 15 minutes. Only the people at the front of the line got a size that would actually fit.

The rest were willing to take any size available, hoping to someday resell them for a big profit, on Ebay or some other venue.

"There's already one of our pair on Ebay," said Silvestri, referring to a customer with a screen name of dirtydek. "He's one of the kids who could get his size, so he bought a pair anyway."

The selling price: $125, not much more than an identical, but non-collectible, pair on the store shelf.

"I'm sure there are shops that are selling them today for $150 to $200," said Silvestri. The store expects to get more, but there's no exact ship date.

Last April, Nike released a limited edition brand of sneakers known as Air Yeezy, which rapper Kanye West designed and wore on stage at the Grammy's. The price on the box was $215, "but most stores were selling them for at least $350," said Silvestri.

"Anything," he said, "is collectible in this era."