Jordan Brand is highlighting the holiday drops for 2023. Over the last month the most prominent sneaker in the collection has begun to show up on influencer YouTube channels and on sneaker media platforms. This hints at considerable issues with the grey market for Nike and is reinforced by considerable instances of how shrinkage is becoming a more visible issue for the Swoosh.
In the last year high profile instances of theft in railyards and storage yards, not owned by Nike, indicated an issue with excessive inventory. As recent as a month ago the thefts moved closer to Nike’s distribution center and employee store as thieves robbed the NES location on three different occasions causing the closure of the NES for extended periods of time. The latest closure has lasted two weeks and is still ongoing.
Growing Nike Theft
A Nike store in Texas was robbed. Nike stores in East Los Angeles, have been robbed this year and Nike doesn’t seem to have an answer outside of closing the locations, or so it seems. Nike to permanently close NE Portland factory store – oregonlive.com One resident near the NE Portland store shared photos and information on the NE Portland location and the person stated that the location still had employees working inside of the location. The resident posited that Nike had changed it into a fulfillment center, ”
[T]hey recently painted the building this past winter after they closed the store to the public. I spoke to the guy in the car, he’s sits there all day for security, and he told me they don’t know what’s going on other than they are definitely not selling the building. He was reluctant to give me any detailed information, but once I told him I was just a neighbor that grew up in Portland and missed the store, he was a bit more open.Both cars in the photos are security. They could easily board of the windows and doors to protect the building. The lights and power are on too, and I think it’s for employees that work there. I hope this helps with your story.
Discussions on the issues with the Nike Memphis location are a lot more complex. Ex-employees claim hiring policies showed racist tendencies when a White manager was brought in from another city to lead the store and then fired half of the employees, the majority who were Black. While no one would go on record, the conversation is the Nike Store in Memphis is being targeted out of retaliation for the firing of the Black employees. One respondent stated, “The NES location in Memphis has been around for almost 20 years and it has never been robbed or targeted. A White manager, who isn’t from the city is hired and fires a bunch of Black employees while also targeting Black employees with investigations and now this happens?” A counter position to this is the Nike Clearance Store (there are three Nike stores in Memphis) was smashed through by a car in a burglary less than a year ago. Criminals drove through the front of the store. Without a person willing to go on record and without proof, the thefts at Nike appear to be incidents in a long line of crimes at various retail locations throughout the country.
Neighborhood Beacons
Both NES Memphis and Nike Portland have been labeled as beacons of light in tough neighborhoods. Nike’s ES Memphis sponsors events in the area and welcomes fans of the brand into their location to give residents in the city an opportunity to shop with family friendly pricing. The company has hosted Juneteenth celebrations and is a longtime sponsor of the HBCU Southern Heritage Classic football weekend. Nike’s NE Portland store provided foot traffic and destination visits which helped other local businesses thrive. Nike’s decision to close the Portland location is counter to the brands messaging of diversity and support. The problems in Memphis, if found to be true, are a lot more problematic. Nike closes a beloved store location that was an anchor of a community and Nike’s internal diversity issues lead to shrinkage issues for the Swoosh. The person interviewed in Portland explained that the issues at the NE Portland store weren’t bad enough to close the location and added that he thought Nike was saving money.
Rising Prices
Retail theft could be considered a culprit in the increase of pricing by Nike. A store manager at a prominent retail chain complained that the price of a pack of Nike socks is now 28.00 dollars. The manager also stated that the Air Force 1 increasing to 115.00 dollars is going to hurt business. If Nike continues to increase prices as Nike’s most important season looms and a bevy of hyped Jordan and Nike releases prepare to hit the market, Nike’s attempt at offsetting shrinkage with price increases may become the brands biggest enemy. Theft issues are being blamed for problems with Dick’s Sporting Goods and Target. Could Nike be in trouble also?
