Photos by Ralph Freso
Supply and demand.
And trust.
Those are three tenets of Marcus Lund’s blossoming 507 Distributions company.
Lund, a sophomore business administration and management major at Grand Canyon University, has learned to adjust to the needs and trends of sneaker and clothing consumers while building a strong relationship with more than 130 store owners and producing about $3 million in revenue in 2025.
“I would have no clients at all if I wasn't trustworthy, you know what I mean?” said Lund, who recently received more office space for his booming business at Canyon Ventures, GCU’s startup business accelerator. “Obviously, that's a big part of any business, but everyone knows me as the guy to come to for this stuff.
“You know what? They don't know me as the guy that, ‘oh, he sometimes has it’ or ‘I don't know.’ But they know me as this guy. So whenever someone they know needs it, they send that person my contact. … All these people wouldn't refer me if I wasn't trustworthy. You know what I mean? That's probably the key foundation of my business as a whole, and especially because I don't do any paid marketing or anything. I don't pay for any of that.”
Thanks to Lund and his system, he could command as much as $2,500 for a pair of Nike Travis Scott sneakers or Sean Wotherspoon Air Max shoes.
“I've been doing a lot of more volume now, versus hard-to-get ones,” Lund said. “I can sell 100 for 20% (profit) versus one for 20%.”
Lund’s system has expanded to the days when, as a 13-year-old in Rochester, Minnesota, when he would merely collect shoes and occasionally stand in line just to make $200 buying a few pairs of shoes for resale.
“I thought why wouldn’t I just keep doing this over and over, instead of spending $600 on one pair of shoes to wear? I figured that’s kind of dumb. Why would I want to throw this hard-earned money away?”
The capital that Lund built allows him to pay his team of people to source shoes that he can make money on. He gradually has built a thick network of stores as well as a connection with StockX, a direct consumer service where the shoes are authenticated and shipped to the customer.
“What impresses me the most is his long-term vision,” said Tim Kelley, entrepreneurship chair at the Colangelo College of Business. “He's not trying to cash out early, and he literally took every dime and reinvested it back in to build up the significant level of inventory that was necessary to maintain the relationships with the actual big buyers that have really become his staple now.
“And he's one of those few, perhaps only, curators of the that genre of whatever you call it, fashion, that they trust his selection skills and he can deliver at scale, which is amazing.”
When Lund started, he would visit the renowned Mall of America in Bloomington and stand in line (occasionally with his mother and friends whom he paid) to buy shoes from Foot Locker and Champs Sports.
“It's basically supply and demand,” Lund said. “All these people want the shoes, but either they can't get them, they don't want to sit in line for hours, or there's just not enough pairs go around for everyone.”
Lund slowly realized he could make money from buying and re-selling certain brands. Converse was a popular brand at the time, but Nike designer shoes were on the upswing, and he focused on what shoes he could monetize the most.
“I went to a private high school so I couldn't leave school during the day, but I'd have my parents call me out if there was a drop that I needed to be at,” Lund said.
During his freshman year, Lund bought 12 Halo Edition Xboxes at a Best Buy store and ended up netting $250 on each console.
“My parents helped me out a lot, because they trusted that I knew what I was doing,” Lund said.
Lund always possessed an entrepreneurial mindset. He and his older brother, Tommy, ran a toy store out of a tree house during the summer months, promoting their business with signs placed throughout the neighborhood. He also supplemented his income by dog sitting and mowing lawns.
Lund also learned to adjust to consumer desires. He has recognized the demand for expensive shoes like the Travis Scotts has declined, although collectors still want them.
“But the cheaper stuff is really where I've been making most of my money,” Lund said.
For example, he held a pair of women’s Nike running shoes, one of 350 pairs that he purchased for $117 apiece and resold for $140.
“That adds up decently, like a $7,000 profit.”
Nike remains the most popular brand, with Adidas and ASICS gaining more popularity among the shoes Lund buys and sells.
“And if something dies out really quick, you got to sell it for a loss, but that's with everything.”
Lund has recovered from his share of losses. At an IDEA Club meeting in February, Lund did not buy insurance on a shoe purchase that cost him $20,000, and he was victimized by a scam in October in which he lost more than $100,000.
“I had to bounce back from that,” Lund told IDEA Club members. “It’s helped me see things from a different perspective. Money is important, but it’s not the point of what I do. I try to help as many people and help God."
Several GCU students can be seen around campus wearing Fear of God Essentials apparel sold by Lund.
“A lot of people value high quality clothing,” Lund said near Fear of God bags containing hoodies and pants stacked on chrome wire shelves in his office. “Most people don’t care what shoes they have on. But a lot of people value high quality clothes that are going to last. So that's why it's been really good for me, at least, is when I sell it, I know that these people are either going to come back, or the stores are going to keep buying more because they sell out of it so quick.”
Lund took a chance by buying 5,000 pieces of clothing as a junior in high school, but he generated $150,000 in revenue the first month.
“That's when I really knew that I could keep going with this,” Lund said. “Because obviously the demand is super high, and I had the supply.”
GCU News senior writer Mark Gonzales can be reached at [email protected]
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