The Kicks You Wear, Vol. 340 — The hot seat cools down...for now 👀
John Donahoe can relax a bit now.
Goooood morning, folks! Welcome back to the Kicks You Wear. Thank you so much for rocking with me today. I appreciate you taking the time.
It’s March Madness time, folks! Is your bracket already busted? Mine definitely is. I don’t know what it looks like, but I know I picked Kentucky to advance in at least one round. Whatever, tho. The fun is in the failure, I guess.
Let’s rock.
Hit pause on the downfall
All eyes (or ears, I guess?) were glued on Nike’s Q3 earnings call on Thursday following its tumultuous Q2 call in December. That’s when Nike announced its decision to “streamline” the company and focus on whatever “innovations” it had planned.
That streamlining ended in the brand cutting about two percent of its workforce, which doesn’t sound like much but is around 1,600 jobs, per Reuters.
The cuts were from many sectors in the company. The brand lost folks ranging from the rank-and-file to high-level executives.
Fast forward: On Thursday, Nike announced its revenues were up to $12.4 billion, just edging the company over Wall Street’s expectations of $12.28 billion. I guess the cuts paid off. Hooray?
Let me be frank: The numbers from earnings calls typically don’t intrigue me. A company like Nike makes billions on billions. If the brand misses a mark or two by a few hundred million or so, it doesn’t really matter to me. Especially when you had to cut jobs to get there.
But… It felt like a lot was riding on this call. Reports about market analysts discussing a potential leadership change at Nike emerged this week. The feeling I had earlier this year about a potential change seemed to be coming to fruition.
Here’s more from Footwear News’ Shoshy Ciment:
“In a note to investors last week, Morgan Stanley analysts led by Alex Straton also noted the possibility for a leadership change at Nike, given stunted progress in its DTC plan. This, Straton said, could be a potential positive catalyst “that could reignite bullishness on the stock” over the next twelve months.”
My thought: A shift in leadership still feels a long way away in 2024 — especially as the company tries to restructure itself. But had this call gone bad? Whew, boy. All bets would be off.
Analysts don’t just talk to talk. They are the people Nike’s shareholders care the most about. And if analysts are questioning the job Donahoe is doing at the top, that signals a shift is more possible than I initially thought it was.
Moving forward: Today’s call will probably stave off any heat on Donahoe, but there’s still much to monitor here. The company’s revenue outlook for the year is still not where it wants it to be.
The company is still focusing on that innovation shift moving forward.
Air Max Day is coming up and the Air Max DN will be key. We’ll talk more about that on Monday, but Nike has a lot riding on that shoe.
The company is also cutting down on classic styles like the Air Force 1, Donahoe says, to shift resources into newer models.
Let’s see where things go from here.
J Cole is going independent
J. Cole is back in the sneaker game again. This time, though, it looks like he’s doing things on his own.
The news: The rapper is dropping an independent signature sneaker called the Dreamer 5000 through his Dreamer brand. Nice Kicks broke the news here with an Instagram post.
The backdrop: Apparently, this has been a thing for a while. We all just missed it. Cole appeared on the cover of NBA 2k23 while wearing these. I thought they were the next version of his Puma signature model back then. Clearly, I was wrong.
Zoom out: J. Cole went platinum with no features on 2014 Forest Hills Drive. We’ll see if he can do the same with his sneakers here. It’ll be a tough path.
Rappers with sneakers aren’t unique anymore. We’ve seen this from names ranging from 50 Cent and Jay-Z to Travis Scott with Nike. What is unique, however, is Cole doing this on his own. That’s been done before, but it’s normally the path less taken.
A ton goes into selling your shoe from design to marketing to distribution. That costs money.
When working with a sneaker company, those bills are paid by that company. Cole will earn more in sales here, but it’ll also cost more out of pocket.
He should be fine if his fans show up for these like they show up for his albums.
How do you feel about J. Cole’s new signature shoe? Let me know in the poll below. I’ll share the results on Monday.
Business is boomin’ on the green
Everybody is playing golf these days and the footwear industry has been gifted with a major tailwind because of it, Footwear News’ Stephen Garner writes.
What’s happening: Golf was a perfect pandemic hobby for a lot of people.
It’s a naturally socially distanced sport that happens outside and constantly keeps you active. Exactly what people needed back then.
They flocked to the sport in droves, Garner writes. In 2023, a record 45 million Americans participated in the sport.
During that time, Golfcore exploded in the fashion world with brands like Nike building entire streetwear collections dedicated to the game’s aesthetic.
That’s why golf brands, both new and old, are flocking to get into the footwear market. We’re living in the big golf boom, folks. Here’s Garner with more:
“This spike in participation has translated to a big bump in golf shoe sales, too. According to Circana’s retail tracking data, golf footwear saw $407.8 million in sales in 2023. And while dollar sales did decline 1 percent last year versus 2022, the market is still 48 percent larger compared to pre-pandemic 2019 when the category reported $275.8 million in sales.”
I’m not sure if golf will keep growing like this. But I do know one thing: As long as it does, the big brands (and little ones, too!) will remain tapped in.
Catch me out there on the green this summer.
READ MORE: More Americans are playing golf and shoe sales are booming
This is how you sell a pair of basketball shoes
I know, I know. I can’t stop talking about the AE 1. But can you blame me? This sneaker is incredible. And Anthony Edwards probably sold a million more pairs on his own Monday when he obliterated John Collins with this disgusting dunk.
Look at this, man.
Sometimes, the story for a sneaker builds itself. I don’t know what Adidas had planned for the Georgia Clay pair of AE 1s.
Whatever it was? Scrap it. Center it around this. It’s that good.
#TheKicksWeWear
Y’ALL KNOW WHAT TIME IT IS! LET’S GET IT.
First, the homie Greer came through with the Sneaker Politics Sambas. These joints are too sweet, man.
The homie Eric came through with the Questions repping Michigan State for the tournament. This is a good look, homie!
The homie Xavier came through with these SICK Mizuno joints, man. I need a pair.
The homie Jay came through with the A Ma Maniére Air Ship. Amazing picks. These look dope on foot.
The homie Karli came through with the Waffle Dunks. YES I’m calling them the Waffle Dunks. Stop hating SB purists 😂
Then the homie Juan took us home with the Brain Dead x Asics Gel-Nimbus 9. WHAT. A. PAIR.
Y’all smoked that, man. Good stuff. Gooood stuff.
Thanks so much for rocking with me today, folks! Appreciate you! I hope you have a fantastic weekend.
Let’s chat again on Monday. Until next time! Peace and love. Be safe, be easy, be kind. We out.
-Sykes 💯
Great read! Gotta send you some /// golf kicks for the journey!