Source: ATRIC F/2 TR PK – AQ1109
Earlier this year I presented two models as the experimental design that could help adidas move from being hidden in the back of the store. The Atric F22 and the Kamanda have both been models on my radar and that’s a good thing. The problem is everytime I take a trip to the store, there are so many adidas on sale that instead of buying anything at retail, I pick up sale items. This year adidas is still showing growth, but it is a residual effect of finally gaining ground in the U.S. I see articles on business sites saying adidas is growing faster than Nike. Let’s take a break here:
If you have a child that is 17 and a child who is 10 in three years which child will see the most physical growth? The 10 year old. The 17 year old is reaching the end of their major growth spurts. It amazes me that people are comparing Nike’s single digit growth, when they control such a huge part of the pie, to adidas’ double digit growth when three years ago, adidas was changing CEOs trying to figure out if they would have to sell Reebok. No shade to adidas…
This waterproof Atric looks rugged and is another beautifully crafted and unique design from the Three Stripes. In the last week I took a chance to see if the momentum for adidas was about to change. How did I do this? I went to the store and bought six pair of adidas from the “Trademark” pack.
If you visit the site you know I build analysis on the strength of the resale market for general release products. adidas has not had any resale value for GR sneaker releases in almost a year. The brand love is way down. As I said at the start of this post, every major retailer has adidas hidden in the back of the store. Nike dominates the front of the store and Vans, Fila and ASICS have all been given considerably prime real estate in the floor plans.
I bought the newly released “Trademark NMD_R1”. The shoe has fallen off considerably and purchasing the shoes at retail could have led to me losing 142.03 per pair or 852.15. No one has the money to throw away on shoes, but while most ‘analysts’ use POS, I have to live within the culture to make the assessments that I do.
I sold all six pair in less than three days. (That’s a good thing.)
The blackout version of the shoes sold for 150, 143, 129. (422.00)
The whiteout version of the shoes sold for 146, 139, 130. (415.00)
I spent 852.15 and made 837.00
-15.15 (This is not a good thing, but I love you guys reading this right now and I’m willing to take an L 🙂
Typically, this would tell me that adidas is still trending down. However, what I failed to say up front (why would I trick you? Hey, I need a bit of drama here) I had 20 dollar MVP coupons and rang the shoes up one at a time. That’s a 120.00 discount. I made 104.85. Which direction is adidas trending? The brand is beginning to heat up again. They are still flat. I made an active decision to purchase the shoes. The store I visited hadn’t sold a single pair of the models until I bought them. That’s not a good thing; but if adidas made the right marketing decisions in the next few months they could reignite interest in the brand. If I gave you the prices of the adidas shoes I’ve sold in the last two months, that growth being touted by analysts would have some serious red flags.
The Atric F/22 didn’t sell very well although I liked the design a lot. The shoe was heavy. It’s meant to be because it’s an all terrain design with a sturdy rubber outsole. No one in the stores carrying the shoe could tell me what the shoes were for, so what do you think happened when less informed customers looked at the model? That’s on adidas. There wasn’t any merchandising included with the shoe.
I think the redesign of this F/2 adds a bit of midsole foam and that means the brand is aware of the mistake with the F/22 which can be found on eBay for ridiculous prices right now. I really like this newer version. Will I take a risk on grabbing a few? Probably not. adidas isn’t quite back, but at least they’ve landed on a ledge halfway down the mountain.
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