The Kicks You Wear, Vol. 208 — We all saw this coming, right?
Foot Locker is the first big casualty of Nike's DTC strat. There will be more.
Gooooood morning, family! Welcome back to the Kicks You Wear. Thank you so much for giving me a bit of your time this morning.
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Alright, let’s dig in.
The first domino to fall
We’ve seen how Nike’s Direct to Consumer strategy has knocked some small Mom & Pop shops and sneaker boutiques out. Losing a Nike account can literally put folks out of business.
What’s happening: Now it’s hitting the big wigs. Foot Locker is the first one.
Foot Locker’s shares crashed by nearly 35% after the company revealed on an earnings call last week that no single vendor would represent more than 60% of its business, per Yahoo! Finance.
That meant Nike — which routinely represented over 70% of Foot Locker’s business — pulled a chunk of their product off the wall their DTC strategy.
So far, Foot Locker is the only retailer that has been revealed to have lost this big of a chunk of Nike’s business. At least out in the open, anyway.
Now all of a sudden Foot Locker’s other moves make a bit more sense. This is why you’d do the Reebok deal with Authentic Brands Group to fill that wall space. Maybe you can get another brand to increase its presence as well — looking at you, New Balance.
But let’s be clear. This is the state of play now. Nike’s Direct to Consumer strategy is completely cutting out every middleman that we’re used to — the boutiques and the corporations alike.
Those middlemen are Nike’s competitors now. They perform the same functions. The swoosh doesn’t need them anymore, so they’re cutting their supply. Foot Locker is the only big one we know of now, but they won’t be the last.
Don’t feel bad for FTL. They’ll be OK. They’re a multi-billion dollar entity and they’ll find something to replace Nike with. It might not be as effective, but they’ll figure out a way.
Who we should really feel bad for is the consumer.
The days of walking into a Foot Locker to find a hidden gem or to see a sneaker no one was looking at are dead and gone. They’re not coming back.
That’s not how we shop these days, but it’s nice to have that as an option. The more options the better. Clearly, we’re running out of them.
This is a sacrifice of the consumer experience to bump up the bottom line of a super corporation in Nike that doesn’t even really need a bump. It’s one of the richest companies in the world already.
My question: I just wonder if it’s worth it when you’re continuing to sacrifice the consumer experience to make a bit more.
But that’s another question for another time.
In John Geiger’s defense
This John Geiger case is quickly becoming the most important story of the sneaker world in 2022.
What’s happening: Last week, Geiger’s legal team mounted its defense against Nike’s Air Force 1 lookalike lawsuit with their own countersuit, per Complex. In a 68-page document, they tackled each and every claim made by Nike — one by one — with a defense of some sort.
The breakdown:
Nike’s big claim here is that Geiger’s GF-01 infringes on the trade dress of the Air Force 1 and is a similar enough sneaker to cause marketplace confusion.
Geiger’s defense: Geiger’s team claims Nike’s trademarks are “unenforceable” and because the protections are too vague.
They showed how Nike has deviated from their own specifications with the AF1 for sneakers like Travis Scott’s 2019 version and different versions of the Air Force 1 Experimental.
They also pointed out that companies like A Bathing Ape have variations of the Air Force 1 and haven’t been touched by Nike.
But here’s the kicker: The most important part of all this is what they’re asking for, which is this:
As part of the counterclaim, Geiger is asking that Nike’s Air Force 1 trade dress registration be ruled invalid and unenforceable by law.
They’re trying to knock the Air Force 1 trade dress out completely. That’s a very lofty ask that, if it were to go down, would have some major implications on the sneaker world and the different designs we see.
The results here — no matter who comes out on top — will shift the sneaker industry for years to come.
The Drakes are coming! The Drakes are coming!
The time has come. March 3rd is the date. Drake’s signature sneaker is finally here and, well, it doesn’t look any better than it did when we caught our first glimpse of it. Nonetheless, I am excited for NOCTA’s Hot Mess Step Air Terra.
There are a few reasons why.
First, I want to see Drake’s taste in signature sneakers and design. This is the first sneaker where he’s truly had to create something and I want to see how it goes. Are these a “wow, they look much better IRL” sneaker?
Second, I want to see the public’s reception. Everything he drops works…in music. Does that apply to the footwear realm? We need to see it.
Third, I need a good laugh. I really love the jokes that these come with.
The K Swiss jokes are amazing. Sorry to K Swiss for all the strays over these last few months, btw. But this is funny.
I’ll be honest: There’s a 15% chance I’ll think these are actually nice. In the event that I do, please do not hesitate to roast me. I’ll deserve it.
We’ll see how it goes, though. Hopefully, they’ll make for a fun episode of Special Delivery.
….But why tho?
I’m not quite sure what these shoes (boots?) are and what Craig Green was thinking when designing these things for Adidas. I just know they are unequivocally not it.
That’s literally an air pump, y’all. An air pump. Be careful if you’re ever wearing these. One false step and you’re blasting off again like Team Rocket.
What’s droppin’ bruh?
Nike Dunk Low EMB “Diamond Anniversary” — Tuesday, March 1
Air Max 90 SE “Animal” — Thursday, March 3
NOCTA x Nike Hot Step Air Terra — Thursday, March 3
JJJJound x New Balance 990v3 “Olive” — Thursday, March 3
Air Jordan 6 “UNC” — Saturday, March 5
Thank you so much for rocking with yerboi this morning! I appreciate you and the time that you give. Make sure you and the homies are subscribed so we can get this giveaway popping!
Til next time, family. Peace and love. Be easy, be safe, be kind. And we out.
-Sykes 💯
Quality control issues with foot locker/champs? My past two orders- one was wrong size/wrong colorway and today i received extremely dirty/blatantly used air max genomes that look like someone played a game in them