Sneakers are one of the few elements of personal style that will cause an otherwise reasonable person to pitch a tent on a busy city sidewalk and spend the night securing a place in line for a pair of Nikes. 

Undefeated manager Jamael Savage knows all about it. He's worked at 516 Hayes St. since it was Huf, a sneaker and streetwear store similar to Undefeated that was owned by skateboarder Keith Hufnagel. In fact, he's been working in shops on Hayes Street for nine years.

Savage became the manager of Undefeated about six months ago, and has a deep institutional knowledge of both boutique retail and the Hayes Valley neighborhood. We stopped by the other day to pick his brain.

Where are you from, and how did you get here?

I'm from here. I've been in San Francisco and Oakland back and forth my whole life.

Which neighborhoods?

Right now I'm in Oceanview, and I grew up in Bayview and Potrero Hill.

Tell us about the transition that occurred when Huf became Undefeated. 

Basically all the sneaker store owners are all friends at some point down the road, and Undefeated was thinking about opening up a shop up here, so when Huf was thinking about closing down, [Keith Hufnagel] hit up Eddie Cruz, the founder of Undefeated and was like 'I got a good spot for you, people already come through this neighborhood for shoes', and he hopped on it real quick.

And when was that?

September 2011.

You were working at Huf at the time?

Yeah. I've been working in Hayes Valley for probably like nine years. I started off at Huf, and then during the in-between stages I worked at Lavish for a minute, and then came back over here. 

The retail landscape in Hayes Valley has exploded even more in the last few years, with shops becoming even more high-end. What are your feelings about this change?

I feel like it's probably going to push out some of the smaller stores. I've already been hearing stores saying their rent's going to go up, or that they're scared once their lease is over. Other than that, I think it's just going to get bigger. I think it's going to be longer than just these two blocks. I think streets parallel to Hayes are going to start picking up. 

What do you like most about managing a business in this neighborhood?

I don't know, I've just been here so much, and I've liked Hayes Valley since the beginning. I've been shopping here since I was younger. Like, I started off as a kid shopping at Huf before, and then one day they just offered me a job. 

What's your take on skate culture in San Francisco despite all this change?

San Francisco is basically the number one skate city, and now you can see the bigger brands are copying skate culture, and that's helped out the skate culture a little bit, and hurt it some.

How has it hurt it?

Just like how any trend gets used up and then people want to stay away from it. 

Like it gets played out?

Yeah.

Why are people so nuts about shoes?

I think there's something nostalgic about them. A lot of shoes are re-releases and you remember having them as a kid, or couldn't get them, and now you're old enough to afford them so you want to get them. 

What about the whole thing with these exclusive releases, and people go kind of crazy about shoes more than any other article of clothing. What's so special about them? Why aren't people waiting around the block for a jacket?

Some people are! But I think the shoes, again, are more of a statement piece.

How so?

Some of them are like crazy flashy colors, or crazy materials ... You can also get more wear out of a shoe then wearing the same jacket everyday.

Have you ever had people camped out for shoes in front overnight?

Yeah. When it was the Huf days, I used to be one of those kids camped out overnight.

Does that ever cause any problems for your business? Are there ever any complaints?

We used to get some complaints, but it was never from any close stores, but it was from like stores down the street. Once those stores closed down, we started letting people camp out again, and nobody's complaining. Couple grumpy old men in the neighborhood complaining, basically. 

Has anything crazy ever happened over shoes here?

Not really, but when we had the Yeezy release, we gave them a one hour time window to get a raffle ticket and it went all the way around the corner. Over 400 people showed up. 

What's your favorite kind of shoe? Do you have a particular brand or style you like most?

Usually Jordan 1s or Airmaxes. They're simple, you can wear them with anything basically.

What's next for shoe culture, which direction is the trend heading?

Now it's going to vintage-style runners and everything, not as flashy colors and the early 2000s, where everything was like bright colors. Now, one of our best shoes are the Stan Smiths. They're basic, and everybody's just toning it down now. 

Why did that shift happen?

I think it's like the whole wave of fashion is just toning down. I also think that some of the people have gotten older, and they're like 'I can't wear this like crazy color shoe anymore.' They grow up and they're like, 'I can't wear this in the office.'

What are your feelings about all the residential development in Hayes Valley? How has that changed the general vibe of the neighborhood?

They bring a lot of snobby people. I've had some incidents with some snobby people in the neighborhood who just moved in and think this is like 'their' city. 

How do you deal with that as someone who's been here his whole life?

I just gotta deal with it and wait for the bubble to burst.

Do you think it will? As someone selling what's essentially a luxury item, do you see any indication that the bubble might burst?

I don't know yet, but it's just gotta happen.

What do you hope to see in this neighborhood, moving forward?

Just more local, smaller stores coming in. I think we need more men's streetwear clothing in this neighborhood. Haight has it, but we don't have anything down here. We got the shoes, but now we just need the clothes to go with it over here.