#FactsFriday: Quick Strike (QS) & NikeLab
You may wonder what QS or NikeLab means when it appears in the name of that Nike you just copped, or that one you've been lusting over. Luckily, #FactsFriday is back to explain all of sneaker culture's lesser known aspects.
Quick Strike (QS)
A Nike Quick Strike, or the shortened QS, refers to the manner in which the sneaker is released and the amount of pairs produced. Starting in early 2000, Quick Strike releases happened unannounced and surprised sneakerheads who saw the sneaker for the first time only once it was released. The build of QS sneakers is also better and more elevated than general releases, with more unique takes on the classic silhouettes. 
Not just any store can sell QS either. You have to have a special Nike Quick Strike account which is only awarded to stores who standout according to the strict QS guidelines. These aspects include store location, quality of store, marketing and promotion campaigns behind products, as well as the quality and type of other brands that the store carries. You can expect any store with a QS account to be well-connected to sneaker culture in general. 
Quick Strike releases have lost some of their surprise due to the internet. Often we see leaked QS photos online months before the drop so we know what to expect. In this aspect, QS have lost their “quickness.” But they still sell out super fast due to the popularity of the unique colourways and low production numbers. So quickness is still essential to get that pair! 
NikeLab
If you’re looking for the best that Nike has to offer, then look no further than NikeLab. Being one step up from the QS range, NikeLab applies the highest quality materials and features the most sought-after collaborations Nike has to offer. These collaborations include hyped brands like Comme des Garçons, Supreme, Undercover, Riccardo Tisci, Stone Island, fragment and ACRONYM. NikeLab's overall focus is to reuse current ideas and designs and reinvent them into something fresh, quality-driven and trendsetting.
To achieve the honour of stocking NikeLab, your store has to be a Nike Tier 0 store. Luckily, Shelflife is the only Nike Tier 0 store on the continent. This means if it's confirmed to be coming to SA and its hyped, then theres a high probability we will be stocking it.
