The Kicks You Wear, Vol. 425 — Times are changing
Nike is officially raising its prices in June. How much will it matter?
Goooood morning, friends. Welcome back to the Kicks You Wear. Thanks so much for reading today. I appreciate you.
I recently organized my sneaker collection and, well, I shockingly don’t have as many pairs of Jordans as I thought I did. Gotta change that. Trying to pick up a pair of Jordan 4s this weekend. Somebody plug me in. Them White Cements are CALLING.
Let’s dive in.
The tariff hike is here
We’ve been asking questions for weeks on end about the tariff war's impact on the footwear industry and how the big brands might react to it.
Nike has answers for us.
What’s happening: Nike is reportedly raising the prices on most of its products starting in June after its fiscal year ends on May 31, per Complex’s Brendan Dunne.
The price increases will range from $2 to $10. The increases will hit products sold directly from Nike as soon as next week. Nike’s wholesale partners will follow suit in July as Fall 2025 inventory trickles in.
There will be exclusions. The company still wants to keep some of its more affordable products affordable.
Jordan apparel and accessories, kids footwear and apparel, and all footwear $100 and under won’t be subject to any price increases.
Nike also isn’t raising prices on the Air Force 1 that currently retails for $115.
Don’t get it twisted, though. That price has already been raised from $90 as recently as 2022 up to its current price.
The why: Nike isn’t explicitly calling out tariffs as the reason for this increase. It’s obvious why — say tariffs are he problem and the president whines about it. Instead, the brand says this is simply a regular inflationary price hike.
“We regularly evaluate our business and make pricing adjustments as part of our seasonal planning,” Nike said in a statement.
We’re not stupid, though. We can feel the way the wind blows. There’s no such thing as coincidence in this business. It’s no mistake that these increases are coming following Donald Trump’s tariff announcements over the last few months. What we’re seeing here is Nike preparing itself for an unstable market and the consumer paying for the increased cost of importing goods.
The results: Over the next few months, we’ll see price increases on some of our favorite Nike products. A pair of Dunks, for example, might jump from $125 to $135. The Jordan 4s dropping this weekend that I badly want would retail at $235 instead of $225. You get the drift.
The next question is whether this all matters. Will these price bumps actually impact turn Nike’s target consumers away?
I expect this to play out in two ways.
The first: There’s a scenario in which this doesn’t really move people. Many of Nike’s most fervent consumers — sneakerheads like you and me — probably won’t be dissuaded by this. Another $2 to $10 is annoying, but we desperately want these products. There’s too much muscle memory there. We’re willing to pay two to five times more for certain sneakers on the resale market. You think the price of a cup of coffee is turning me away? Not happening.
The second: This will bother the casual Nike consumer. Another $10 on a pair of Panda Dunks is obscene. They’re probably not going to be willing to pay that, simply because they don’t want the product badly enough. They don’t need that latest pair of retro Jordans coming out — they’re probably fine with the sneakers they have.
Nike is likely hoping that keeping the Air Force 1 price steady and freezing the $100-and-under products at their set prices will help keep some of those consumers.
Why this matters: We’re about to see which of these two consumer bases holds Nike up the most. Are sneakerheads obsessed enough with limited product to keep the bottom line steady, or will Nike’s inevitable slippage in passive shoppers be too much?
If I were a betting man, I’d pick the latter. Hype does have a halo effect on the rest of the brand that makes it more appealing to the masses, but stock is too low for it to move anyone’s bottom line.
JD Sports welcomes comp
You’d think that JD Sports might be worried about its competition a bit with Dick’s Sporting Goods’ surprise $2.4 billion acquisition of Foot Locker.
But, nope! Apparently, JD is just fine with it.
What they’re saying: JD Sports CEO Regis Schultz spoke about the deal between two of JD’s biggest rival brands during the company’s earnings call on Wednesday.
Not only did he say JD Sports isn’t at all bothered by the move — he called it a positive! Here’s more from Footwear News:
“We see [the acquisition] as a positive,” Schultz told analysts on the company’s fiscal 2025 earnings call on Wednesday. “I think that competing with a distressed retailer [in reference to Foot Locker], and not knowing what they are doing, it’s not a great place to be. And I think we have seen that through discounting. [There was] erratic discounting at the end of the quarter.”
The read: When you first read that quote, it certainly sounds like there’s a false sense of bravado there that makes you roll your eyes — especially since the company’s first quarter was a bit weaker than expected with slow sales.
Schultz is telling us that he’s totally OK with two of JD’s main competitors joining forces and potentially becoming a juggernaut while the company is also trying to hold down its own fort as tariff wars and consumer hesitancy plague the sneaker market.
Right. Riiiiiight. Sure. Everything is fine.
Yes, but: The more I thought about it, the more I kind of bought into it.
Maybe this is me simply buying what Schultz is selling here, but he’s right. While competition in this case might mean another player planting a flag on the real estate JD has its eyes set on in the footwear market, he’s not wrong in saying that a healthy Foot Locker is better for industry business overall.
With Foot Locker steeply discounting the products, there was pressure for JD to do the same with its brand.
While steep discounts are great for us as consumers, businesses would prefer to sell things at MSRP to keep their own bottom lines healthy.
That’s why Schultz mentioned that Dick’s Sporting Goods is a “full-priced operator.” If DSG consistently sells at full price, then so can JD and all of its brands.
The bottom line: While I don’t think that means that JD Sports should be so confident and welcoming to its newly formed rival, I do think it’s an overall positive spot to be in for the industry.
DTC is really dead
The direct-to-consumer era has been dying down for the last couple of years, but I think we can officially put it to bed today.
Here’s why: Nike and Amazon are working together again. Amazon told the Associated Press it “will soon begin sourcing a much wider range of Nike products directly to expand our selection for U.S. customers.”
This will be the first time the two companies have worked with one another since 2019.
The backdrop: Nike and Amazon have had an up-and-down relationship.
Nike and Amazon launched a pilot program in 2017, allowing the sneaker company to establish a brand registry to sell its products through Amazon and weed out counterfeit sneakers on the platform.
By 2019, that plan was scrapped as Nike embarked on its consumer-direct offensive. Nike completely cut Amazon out of its picture.
Fast forward: Now, with Elliott Hill working to reestablish Nike’s wholesale partnerships, these two are back in cahoots with one another.
That’s a BFD. Amazon is the world’s largest online retailer with 310 million users in the United States alone. Nike is the footwear industry’s leader. A partnership between these two should work wonders for Nike’s business, even considering the footwear market’s current chaotic state.
The other side: While Nike should benefit here, the independent sellers on Amazon who’ve filled the void selling low-cost Nike products on the platform have now had their worlds rocked. Amazon sent a notice that Nike items on the platform would soon be delisted and is giving users until mid-July to sell through their remaining inventory.
That’s a rough go for the little guy there without much notice. This is how things work when two giants get together. Unfortunately, there’s bound to be collateral damage.
Flowers to Dapper Dan
Only Dapper Dan could make Sherwin-Williams cool.
Dallas Wings rookie Paige Bueckers linked up with Dap and Sherwin-Williams to celebrate a shade of purple they’re calling “radiant lilac” as the “loneliest color of 2025.” This is supposedly the least popular color, according to the company.
I don’t know about all that. All I know is the fit is fly.
Paige wore a lilac purple and orange bespoke tracksuit designed by Dap during the tunnel walk before her game against her hometown Minnesota Lynx.
A look:
I’m always here to show love to Dap, without whom the fashion industry would not be as culturally relevant as it is today. How the man fused hip-hop and fashion is one of the most significant contributions to the fashion industry today at large.
Now, his fingerprints are crossing over into the world of professional sports. Absolutely love to see that.
Mystics, please do this next.
#TheKicksWeWear
LET’S GET IT!!!!
First, the homie Matt got us started with the Georgia AE 1s. Shoutout to the Bulldogs.
The homie Saoirse popped out in these EXCELLENT Questions. What a phenomenal shoe. I’m so glad hoop shoes are popping again.
The homie Waterloo and his partner stepped out in these HEATERS. This is too sweet.
My guy Josh came through with the Foam Max joints. The Duncans! Nike, please bring this back. We are begging you.
The homie Vivid Dope came through with A WHOLE LOT of heat. I know that bug when I see it my G.
Then the homie Rich sent us home with these CLASSIC SBs. These are the Pusheads, kiddos. They really don’t make em like this anymore.
Y’all are the flyest out.
That’s a wrap, folks. Thanks so much for reading. I appreciate you for giving me a bit of your time.
If you have any questions, comments or concerns, feel free to hit me up via email at mikedsykes@gmail.com or shoot me a message here via Substack.
Have a fantastic Memorial Day weekend. Peace and love. Be safe, be easy, be kind. We out.
-Sykes 💯