adidas is one of my favorite brands. When they are in their bag, the result is considerable growth and an attachment to sneaker culture and regular consumers that rivals any brand. When the company isn’t in their bag and they seem to be operating through too many layers away from the homebase of Germany, the result contributes to difficult moments for the Three Stripes in the U.S. NOTE: adidas already had an extensive relationship with Foot Locker’s stores. At the height of adidas’ growth in the last 8 years, adidas at one point led the front of store for Foot Locker. Nike Basketball and Jordan Brand were pushed to the back. That’s extremely important to understand. In 2017 adidas overplayed its hand. They changed what didn’t need to be changed and then decided to increase pricing on the NMD which didn’t need anything except a better distribution strategy. The brand followed up the price increase and roll out of NMD V2 and NMD XR1 versions of the NMD with a series of EQT Boost sneakers which were priced at 180 and 200 like their flagship UltraBoost. Delivering GRs rivaling their flagship contributed to the eventual promotional era for the UltraBoost and the shoe hasn’t recovered since. adidas dropped Shadow Knit as a new tech… and then added Primeknit to NMD pushing that sneaker’s price to 180. An NMD, UB and EQT Boost all at Jordan Retro pricing led to what you see below. The list of “wrong” is getting long, isn’t it? I’ll stop there and drop a picture here of the adidas section in Foot Locker pre-Covid:
Things to Consider:
- Foot Locker has moved some of its distribution operations to Las Vegas. This infrastructure move doesn’t make sense and places the company at a disadvantage of not being centrally located, but adidas and Foot Locker elevating their partnership, makes this an interesting moment. I must say that Zappos did well in Vegas, but that’s the exception vs the norm. Maybe, with adidas Basketball now in Los Angeles, Foot Locker and adidas are less than two hours away from each other and this can lead to an improved relationship for the two companies.
- As Nike has reduced allotment, one has to wonder if Flyzone at Kid’s Foot Locker and House of Hoops at Foot Locker will be upgraded to a more useful design incorporating a basketball theme from Foot Locker vs a dedicated brand house solely for hoops. Right now, House of Hoops stores look abandoned and lackluster. The Nike product is repetitious. Nike hasn’t really given Foot Locker a leg up to compete with Lids or the NBA Store with jerseys, and the Nike apparel is uninspired, lacks color and this isn’t helped at all by the uninspired signature basketball models from Nike and Jordan Brand. Foot Locker should build out its own concepts and frame the brands within that concept. This would rely on Nike relinquishing the real estate for Fly Zone and House of Hoops and I don’t quite know how that works.
- I don’t really see the basketball models from adidas performing well either. Remember the 250-dollar Crazy BYW Pharrell was marked down to 19.99 in some stores at one point and there has never been (in the south) a real dedicated space to deliver Dame Lillard’s sneakers. Donovan Mitchell’s sneakers languish on shelves and are only available in kid’s sizing most of the time.
- Fear of God is long into its second year and there hasn’t been one collection released in considerable numbers. While a comparison to Just Don’s All City collection, which I’ve found on sales racks, isn’t fair, if the Fear of God collection is elevated in pricing adidas could find itself in a difficult position similar to when they overpriced NMD. Revisiting a Discussion: Will The adidas NMD Lose Resale Like The Nike Roshe Run? May 2017 | Updated 2019 – ARCH-USA
What’s worse is that overpriced apparel and footwear doesn’t work well at Foot Locker. Contrary to how the company is positioned as the source of youth culture for sneakers, the prominence and availability of locations of their stores makes them the first stop in many instances by parents. Parents seek footwear that isn’t overpriced. Will the sneaker enthusiast market react to Fear of God in the same manner they did with All City? All City by Just Don isn’t expensive, but at a comparable price to Nike apparel, the product had to be merchandised in more prominent places in the store to drive engagement. The irony is Foot Locker’s private label LCKR does well. The apparel tends to be on trend and right priced. Even with markdowns the margins are solid for Foot Locker. If Foot Locker can sell more of its LCKR gear than a Just Don collab, what does this mean for Fear of God in Foot Locker?
5. Foot Locker’s investments into GOAT and NTWRK can move towards a strategy that will allow for limited drops with Fear of God. While Greenhouse seems to be dead (Foot Locker’s NTWRK styled drop app) the relationship with those sneaker websites could offer a what eBay has created with Sonra and it’s bigger sellers on eBay; a StockX styled DropX/IPO relationship for apparel and limited footwear collabs. I might be reaching a bit because I haven’t really seen Foot Locker pull together an effective campaign for their private label fashion relationships. As I said, the All City Just Don doesn’t exactly fly off the shelves and the Melody Ehsani drops are so limited they can only be seen as marketing tools for the company which create limited engagement with a specialized demographic.
Foot Locker x adidas is a compelling study. “Herzogenaurach, GM and NEW YORK, May 5, 2022 – adidas AG (XETRA: ADS.DE) (“adidas”), a global leader in the sporting goods industry, and Foot Locker, Inc. (NYSE: FL) (“Foot Locker”), the New York-based specialty athletic retailer, today announced a new and enhanced partnership built around product innovation, elevated experiences, and deeper consumer connectivity. This enhanced relationship will establish Foot Locker as the lead partner for adidas in the basketball category, accelerate energy and hype launches, as well as include the development and expansion of key franchises across women’s, kids, and apparel. Including all Foot Locker banners in North America, EMEA, and Asia-Pacific, the new strategic partnership will target over $2 billion in retail sales by 2025, nearly tripling levels from 2021. In 2022, adidas expects to generate incremental revenues of up to €100 million as a result of the new partnership.” Those targets are extremely aggressive. When I consider adidas Basketball has had solid presentation in JD Sports/Finish Line stores and sales haven’t really been explosive in this manner although Finish Line did an excellent job of merchandising for adidas overall, not in Basketball… these numbers feel like a setup for disappointment. I hope I’m wrong. adidas is definitely filling the space Nike left available after decreasing allotment, but there are a lot of factors to be considered when looking at this “new” relationship. In-Store Visit Series: The Nike Wall is Leaving Other Brands Fighting for Space – Part 3 – ARCH-USA