The Kicks You Wear, Vol. 240 — ⌛ Time's up for Kasper and Adidas
Kasper Rørsted's 6 year run at Adidas is over. How should we remember it?
What’s good, family. Welcome back to the Kicks You Wear. Thank you so much for rocking with me. Appreciate you!
Yerboi is out here dodging catastrophe. Big shouts to the sneaker gods, man. Crisis averted with the JFGs. That’s that good sneaker karma building up.
Let’s dive into today’s work.
Reflecting on the Rørsted era
Is there something going around in these C-Suite water coolers or what? We’ve got another CEO stepping down from a footwear industry giant in Adidas’ Kasper Rørsted.
The news: Rørsted and the company announced they’ve mutually agreed to part ways earlier this week.
Rørsted will remain on as CEO until 2023 when a successor will be appointed. He will remain in his post until that successor is selected.
The timing: It’s very curious. Rørsted signed an extension with Adidas in 2020 that would keep him on board until 2026. As far as the reasoning, Adidas’ board Chairman Thomas Rabe explained in a statement:
"After three challenging years that were marked by the economic consequences of the COVID-19-pandemic and geo-political tensions, it is now the right time to initiate a CEO transition and pave the way for a restart.”
Between the lines: It seems the company is looking for a fresh start as it learns to navigate our new reality living with COVID-19. That’s reasonable. But it also made me wonder about how we should evaluate the job Rørsted has done so far.
He took over as CEO in 2016 and has given Adidas the best run its ever had.
Rørsted steered the ship during the absolute height of Yeezy’s popularity from 2016 on. They changed what hype and influence is through Kanye West.
As a result, they continuously shattered sales records in the late 2010s.
They also managed to sell Reebok off for $2.5 billion .
On the other hand the company has had lots of struggles culturally to hold any weight and lost many key executives during his tenure with former Yeezy GM Jon Wexler being the elephant in the room.
These last few years have been rocky.
I’m, like, 80% sure Kanye West hates Adidas now.
They also had lots of problems with racism within the workplace.
China sales continue to be a pain point because of COVID and boycotts. Because of that, operating profits are down.
All in all: It’s hard to say these 6 years have been great for Adidas despite their hot start, but this doesn’t really feel like a failure either. Adidas isn’t the same 2017 Adidas, but they’re also still having some of their best years ever.
No doubt they’ve got a long way to climb again. But that won’t be Rørsted’s problem moving forward.
Picking apart the pieces Zadeh Kicks — quite literally
In an effort to try and refund the thousands of people Michael Malekzadeh swindled $70 million in cash from with his ponzi scheme, the court handling his case is selling the remainder of his inventory, according to Bloomberg’s Misyrlena Egkofopoulou.
What’s the news: Nearly 60,000 pairs of shoes held up in Malekzadeh’s warehouse will be placed on sale by David Stapleton, who is the court-appointed receiver on the case.
The court is trying to sell as many of Malekzadeh’s shoes as possible to cover reimbursement for the thousands of orders placed to him.
Stapleton is in the process of figuring out the best way to move the shoes. Moving pairs in bulk is a possibility as well as moving them to a resale platform.
What’s in the stash: Nike (48,339 pairs) makes up a large bulk of the inventory. Following them is Yeezy (4,746), Adidas (4,626) and then what they’re categorizing as “miscellaneous” pairs (1,723).
Reebok was last on the list with 16 total pairs that I just want to know all about now.
Let’s be real: There’s no way they’ll be able to fulfill $70 million in refunds off this stash alone. It’ll take a chunk out of it, surely. But Even if you’re selling 60k pairs at around $300 to $400 a pop, that’s just $24 million.
And in a depreciating sneaker market, some of the shoes he’s held onto won’t be worth that.
Unfortunately, it looks like a lot of folks will be taking a loss from this. What a shame.
Tradeblock is soaring
Since its arrival on the scene in 2020, Tradeblock has quickly risen up the ranks of the everyday sneaker head as one of the better secondary market resources available to us.
Now, it’s clear, the mainstream is starting to notice that, too.
What’s happening: Tradeblock announced it raised over $8.9 million in seed funding from investors.
Its also planning a rolling close to its seed II round and expects an additional $4.5 million by its close.
Why it matters: Tradeblock and other platforms like it are the next evolutionary step of the secondary market. Trades are going to be more prevalent than ever in the coming years.
There’s less demand out there for sneakers because of inflation. With prices sinking, there’s less reason to sell. The next best way to acquire a sneaker is to trade for it. This is what that looks like.
Trading is something sneakerheads have always done — just on a macro level. It’s great to see this sort of appreciation for it and this massive investment in it. Let’s hope to see more soon.
Round of applause: Tradeblock also has 3 Black founders and its staff is 80% people of color. You absolutely love to see it.
My obsession: I’m still stuck on socks, y’all
Big, big shouts to all of y’all for all your suggestions last week on the sock thing. I really appreciate it.
The bad news: I still haven’t found a brand or pairs that really feel like they suit me quite yet. You know, outside of Fruit of the Loom and Hanes and all that.
The good news: I’ve at least picked some brands to take a peek at. Have some orders coming in from:
Apthcry. It’s a little on the pricy side for individual packs, but I feel like the bundles have value.
NoBull. Again, a bit pricey. But they’ve got some good variety in cuts that I really dig.
Uniqlo. I honestly think this might be the one. It’s got good value and Uniqulo always makes quality clothing. Always.
I’ll test the waters on these and follow up in a few weeks after I’ve tried em all. Y’all are the best.
If any of you have any other suggestions, please shoot them my way!
#TheKicksWeWear
Y’ALL KNOW THE VIBRATIONS. Look at all the heat!
First, the homie Brotha D started us off with these Safari Prestos. Absolute bangers.
Then the homie Thanex B Mart came through flexing with ALL the Salehe joints. All of them. I’ve never seen this many at once.
My sis Taylor popped out in the Silver Toe AJ1 keeping it fly as always.
Then the homie Storm brought it, once again, with the Mamba/Mambacita joints and the Barber Shop Dunks.
The homie Young Choi popped out in the Sacai’s speaking my truth. Fall sucks only because Summer ends.
The homie Sumeet came through in one of my personal faves — the Blu The Great AJ1s. That fearless collection was so good.
The homie Candace popped out in the Light Ginger Jordan 14 and these joints look incredible.
Then the homie Pheadra popped out kitted down to the toes with the A Ma Maniére AJ2s. What a fit, y’all.
Then the homie J Mobile took us home in the FroSkate SB highs and MAN I love this sneaker. Gotta get em.
SMOKED THAT. Y’all are the flyest.
Thank you so much for rocking with me family. Let’s do it all again on Monday. Until then.
Peace and love. Be easy. Be safe. Be kind. And we out.
-Sykes 💯
Sykes have you tried Bombas yet? https://www.honestbrandreviews.com/reviews/bombas-socks/