The Kicks You Wear, Vol. 161 — Dolla dolla bills, y'all
Business is booming for Nike. What does that mean for us?
Good morning, family! Welcome back to the Kicks You Wear! Thank you so much for rocking with me this week.
Giveaway details coming Friday! And another treat at the bottom of this newsletter! Stay tuned.
Nike’s boom means your doom?
(Photo by Charles Deluvio on Unsplash)
Nike released their 4th quarter earnings report on Thursday and there were plenty of things to pull from it. But the big one is this: Business is booming again.
The numbers are crazy:
Q4 revenues were up $12.3 billion compared to the year prior, which was a 96% (!!!!) increase. They were up 21% compared to Q4 in 2019.
That’s the first time Nike has ever eclipsed $12 billion in quarterly revenue.
Total revenue for the year jumped by 19% to $44.5 billion.
Nike is anticipating a jump to $50 billion for 2022, per Cara Salpini of RetailDive.
Those are some big numbers. But they’re driven by the story within the story: Direct to Consumer growth. It’s rapidly raising the company’s bottom line.
Nike DIRECT sales jumped by 73% in Q4 and now make up nearly 40% of Nike’s total revenue as a brand.
This is unprecedented growth. These numbers are huge. And they’re great…for Nike. But for everyone else? They might be a tad bit concerning. Especially for the common consumer.
Nike has strategically been peeling back access from retailers and consumers and it’s working. People are participating more than they ever have before.
The SNKRS app grew by 90% in demand with nearly 80% in monthly active users for the quarter, per Salpini writes. That’s huge growth despite consumer frustrations across the board.
This success is just the beginning. Nike probably leans into this a lot harder. Bigger retail accounts cut. Less access for consumers. More exclusivity on certain collections.
You hope that, at some point, the consumer will be thrown a bone. But it’s up to Nike to decide if they want to or not. But if these numbers are any indication? They don’t really need to. For what?
They’ve already got us, hook, line, and sinker.
GOAT Talk
(Photo by Peter Neumann on Unsplash)
Speaking of doom for the sneakerhead, the sneaker resale bubble continues to expand.
GOAT reached a $3.7 billion valuation last week after the company raised $195 million in Series F funding. Those are some really big numbers, but they get even bigger when you put them into perspective.
GOAT group has raised just under $500 million in total after this latest round of funding, per Techcrunch.
They also essentially doubled in value over the last year. In September after a Series E raise, they were valued at $1.8 billion.
That’s a lot of money, yes. But what’s most interesting about this is where the money is going — what these investors are putting their money into.
It’s a resale platform. That’s the most appealing part of sneaker culture right now. It is the root of the culture’s multi-billion dollar valuation. And…that’s sort of sad to see. At least from a consumer standpoint.
The secondary market has its benefits, but by and large, it’s just a vehicle for price gauging the everyday consumer.
Seeing such big investments and such big belief from the outside world into that vehicle is probably a sign for the average sneakerhead that things probably aren’t changing — at least not for a while.
KYW x SNKRHUD
I always say I only expected 30 people to subscribe to the Kicks You Wear — like, ever. To have 3,000? That’s wild. So I’m celebrating with SNKRHUD
SNKRHUD is a space for sneakerheads like us to post and properly appreciate their sneaker collections.
It also prioritizes community. It’s basically a better version of NikeTalk.
They hit me after the milestone and wanted to create some backgrounds unique to KYW’s vibe and, of course, I was down. Here’s a look at 1 of the 3 joints they made.
You’ll be able to pop some of these! Real soon. They’re still in closed beta mode, but we can get you access. Here’s how.
Step 1: Sign up here. It’s pretty quick.
Step 2: You’ll get an invite within 24 hours of your signup. It’ll come with more directions about how the app works and what to do.
Step 3: Post away! Create your KYW DEDSTOCKS and share em with me. I’ll be posting them in a special midweek send, so show off!
This is the part where we give away more stuff. If you share a KYW DEDSTOCK pic with us, you’re automatically entered for a chance to win an original copy of The First Pair by Christyna Pourhabib. The backgrounds will be available on Tuesday.
Celebrate with us and catch a W.
Sneaker Legacies with ESPN
Every sneaker has a story. And ESPN’s new Sneaker Legacies series is celebrating that.
The legend Scoop Jackson takes you through the history of some absolutely iconic sneaker lines and it’s just incredible to listen to. This Kobe episode is *chef’s kiss*.
There are six episodes in total coming over the next few weeks. Kanye West is one subject. So is MJ. So, yeah, I’ll be checking the hell out of this.
What’s droppin, bruh?
Nike Dunk high “Game Royal” — Tuesday, June 29
LeBron 18 “Best 10-18”— Wednesday, June 30
“Lego” Adidas Superstar — Thursday, July 1
Air Jordan 6 “Gold Hoops” — Thursday, July 1
Air Jordan 4 “Tech Grey” — Saturday, July 4
Thank you so much for chopping it up with me! Appreciate y’all, family. Til next time.
Be safe, be well, be easy, be kind. Love.
-Sykes 💯