How a formerly homeless sneakerhead built a multimillion-dollar resale empire starting with just $40 to his name

Lopez eventually got off the streets and got a job with a cell phone company, which he left due to illness in 2012. He met his then-girlfriend Joanie Barangan in November that year and moved in with her and her parents shortly after.

While he was looking for another job, he decided to try his hand at reselling sneakers.

In early 2013, Lopez was eyeing a sneaker that he thought could do well on the resale market: Nike's Barkley Posite Max Area 72.

With Barangan's help, Lopez purchased 18 pairs of the shoe when it dropped. He sold them all for $200 over profit.

After this sale, Lopez started getting serious about learning everything he could about reselling.

The website was called Two Js Kicks, and it launched in 2013. Lopez took pre-orders for hyped sneaker releases and levied relationships with different store managers to nab shoes and sell them for about $60 over retail price, on average.

"I didn't know my left from my right, but I just knew that if I undercut everybody, sooner or later people will kind of hop on the train," Lopez said.

Six months into the business venture, Lopez and Barangan split up. Lopez moved into a motel and started selling his own clothes to stay afloat while trying to find another job.

As a last-ditch effort, while sleeping on his friend's couch, Lopez persuaded some of his former buyers to consign their shoes that they no longer wore for Lopez to sell at a trade show. He did so in the summer of 2014.

"I switched it from being the guy that goes out and buys everything to being the guy that you consign with," Lopez said.

At this trade show in the summer of 2014, Lopez sold around 400 pairs of shoes. He also met a Boulevard Mall representative who persuaded him to open a store.

The representative gave him the store — which Lopez said was located in a hallway that had been closed for five years — with the promise of a few months rent-free. The store opened in September 2014, and the business took off.

"The day that I signed the lease I had $40 to my name," Lopez said. "By December 31, I did a million dollars in sales."

Lopez and his wife eventually got back together and co-ran the business. They would even pick up guests and consignors in their own car from the Strip to take them to their store.

"We never really focused on the problems," Lopez said. "We only focused on the solutions."

Year after year, Urban Necessities made more in sales, from $4 million in 2015 to close to $21 million in 2019, Lopez said.

Lopez and his now-wife are currently co-owners of Urban Necessities, which Lopez says he hopes to build into a $500 million business.

In addition to sneakers, Urban Necessities sells other merchandise including streetwear and accessories through two physical locations and an online store.

"It had to be an experience and I couldn't just pin myself to sneakers," Lopez said of the company. "It's just been evolving all of this time."

Read more about Lopez's resale business model and how he makes his money here.