Nissa Scott started working at the cavernous Amazon warehouse in southern New Jersey late last year, stacking plastic bins the size of small ottomans. It was not, she says, the most stimulating activity. And lifting the bins, which often weigh 25 pounds each, was also tiring over 10-hour shifts.

With its dark, gloomy winters, Seattle is a good place to run a wine accessories store, especially during the holiday season. A few years ago, a wine-themed company called True Fabrications was doing well in Seattle - so well, in fact, that it was running out of space to store its inventory. The owners figured that, to get through their next holiday peak season, they would need another 2,000 to 3,000 pallet positions of capacity, but only for four to five months.

Kevin longed for a pair of Adidas' "pirate black" Yeezys, a charcoal-colored edition of the ultra-hip sneakers designed by rapper Kanye West.