'That blew up, and then the lines started forming': TikToker saved her dad's struggling shoe shop with viral videos

AnnaMarie HoulisSat, August 15, 2026 at 10:00 AM UTC

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A viral TikTok helped save a struggling family’s shoe shop — and turned the owner’s daughter into its new social media manager.

For 34 years, Rachid Lazraq ran Rich Collection Italia, a small shoe shop in the Shoreditch neighbourhood of East London. But in recent years, the family business had fallen on hard times. Gentrification had transformed the neighborhood, rent was rising and many of the independent shops that he’d once called neighbors had closed their doors.

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“When I was younger, the business was doing well, but especially towards my teen years, the business started struggling,” Rachid’s 25-year-old daughter, Zineb, told People. “The whole street where my dad’s shoe shop is was full of other shoe shops like his … But, over the years, they all started closing down because the rent prices were really high, so they weren’t able to sustain the business.”

By this year, Rachid was considering closing up shop himself. That was, until, TikTok took his business in the other direction.

One viral video changed the trajectory of the business

In May, a French TikToker posted a video calling Rich Collection Italia a “hidden gem.” The clip attracted more than 300,000 views, introducing thousands of people to the store and its stash of distinctive, Y2K-inspired footwear.

The video quickly caught the attention of Zineb, as well.

“We’ve all helped save my dad’s shop from falling victim to gentrification!” she wrote in a TikTok post about the social media movement. “This has been life changing for our family, and it’s just the beginning, thank you.”

Many of Rachid’s longtime customers, many of whom were older African shoppers, were visiting the area less frequently. But until Zineb saw the TikTok video, she had never realized how appealing her father’s shoes could be to younger shoppers, as well.

With a background in journalism and video editing, she decided to make her own TikToks to showcase the store and its retro styles.

The response was immediate. Zineb’s videos went viral.

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“That blew up, and then the lines started forming after that,” she told People. “So I continued making more videos, and very quickly I realized, ‘Oh, this is my new job for now.’”

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From struggling to an overnight social media sensation

The demand became so intense that her father needed help managing the crowds.

Zineb had turned her father’s struggling brick-and-mortar business into a social media sensation. Now, she’s taking it day by day, and learning the ins and outs of the business to help her father keep up.

She has also been working on expanding the store’s online presence, including a TikTok shop and a website, after receiving messages from potential customers around the world.

“I’ve had messages from all around the world that people would love to buy my dad’s shoes,” she told People.

After all, around 5.2 billion people use social media across the globe, and about 82% of shoppers use social media platforms to both research and discover new products. Another 80% of consumers have actually purchased products in direct response to content they see on social media. That percentage is even higher among Millennials and Gen Z, who tend to trust influencers more than brands.

“By building out a strong and authentic online presence, businesses have an opportunity to collaborate and leverage creator communities and social platforms that are equipped to provide more genuine buying and service experiences,” Brent Leary, partner at CRM Essentials, said in a statement supporting an Oracle study.

The new online presence of Rich Collection Italia has ultimately allowed the Lazraq family to bring in new stock — something Zineb has said her father has not regularly done since pre-pandemic times.

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Source: “AOL Money”