Tresa Baldas

Detroit Free Press

A little pink sneaker created a big ruckus this morning at Eastland Center mall in Harper Woods.

At 8 a.m., when the doors opened at the Kids Foot Locker for the highly anticipated release of the Girls' Air Jordan 12 Retro Vivid Pink shoe, crowds rushed the gate, broke a lock, shoved and hollered. Police immediately shut the mall down.

At 10 a.m., the store tried to open again and the same thing happened, according to William McClure, the general manager at Eastland Center.

"Both times, it was shut down by the police for public safety ... all over a tennis shoe," McClure said. "It's frustrating. It got unruly, the police shut it down."

Nobody was hurt. But things got so chaotic that Kids Foot Locker agreed not to sell the Air Jordan 12 Retro shoe and posted a sign outside its door.

So the eager crowd went around the corner to Champs, which was also offering the highly-coveted shoe, which sells for $79.99 for older girls, $59.99 for preschoolers, and $49.99 for toddlers. To avoid an incident, the store kept it's gate closed for hours and handed out raffle tickets to people just to get inside the store. At 12:30 p.m. a security guard shouted "if you have a ticket, we are sold out."

Customers groaned, but still hung around -- hoping that perhaps a pair of sneakers might be found on a back shelf somewhere.

Nearby stores, such as Kay Jewelers, chose not to open today to avoid the chaos.

"We tried to do the best we can," McClure said.

"This is ridiculous," grumbled a mall employee whose store was blocked by the line outside Champs.

Erica Bailey, 39, of Detroit, was one of the few lucky buyers who was able to buy the Jordan Retro 12 shoe today at Eastland. She had been at the mall since midnight, waiting for Kids Foot Locker to open at 8 a.m. When the store shut its doors after the crowd got unruly, Bailey went around the corner to Champs, and waited in line until just after noon. By 12:30 p.m., she had her pink and white tennis shoes.

"I just got my shoe!" Bailey said, flashing a big smile. "I've been here since 12:30 in the morning, all night long I stood outside the door."

Bailey was upset at the unruly customers who made for a longer day than necessary, she said. But it was worth it.

"They're for my granddaughter!" she said, smiling.