Shop our wide selection of Calvin Klein at Footaction.
In 2017 I began using the term “Nike Wall” to discuss the DTC play by Nike in relation to the closing of smaller stores that had ‘urban’ accounts with the brand. I began this discussion in 2015 and I continued to look at it closely up until Nike gave a name to their DTC during their October 2017 Investor’s Day presentation. I provided a definition of “Nike Wall” in this article:
Shiekh Shoes Seeks Bankruptcy Protection | The Nike Wall In The CDO Era
What exactly is the “Nike Wall”? In footwear, retail stores are obviously made up of walls of shoes. When you walk into certain retail outlets brands are given space on the wall typically based on the sales growth. If a brand is hot, they get the spot at the front of the wall where browsers can see the shoes and potentially shop. This is why in outlets owned by the brand the shoes aren’t even at the front of the stores. The brand doesn’t need to attract you to the shoes, their shoes are the only ones there.
I bring up the Nike Wall because Footlocker and other sports stores are beholden to the Swoosh. The brand so thoroughly dominates at retail that the majority of space allotted to them gives Nike a store within a store presence while other brands are relegated to the small sections inside of the store or compiled in one location together. As Nike continues to grow their DTC, whether the industry acknowledges this or not, this is a threat to all retail channels in partnership with the brand.
When I get e-mails I look at them differently than most people. This happens because I visit stores often. I wrote last year that Footlocker had an advantage in this current climate of DTC in their ability to develop and launch private labels. While the brand hasn’t done this as effectively as I think it could, what Footlocker as a parent company has done is begin investing in pockets of startups to take care of this issue. The brand in the last year has added Rockets of Awesome, Carbon38 and Super Heroic to its stable of private labels.
Footaction Takes The Lead For Foot Locker In Private Label Push | Business
I do think that the private label play is important, but in the immediate for retailers what is even more important is the relationship with brands not named Nike. I got the e-mail pictured in the header image a few days ago and it reminded me of a shift by Footaction that appears to be taking place in store and online creating a multi-channel opportunity to capture customers who are looking for more apparel options.
Now consider that a person who would traditionally buy Calvin Klein at Nordstrom’s or Macy’s and you have a type of potential reverse disruption happening with Footlocker. Instead of continuing to type I’m going to do a video to show you what Footaction’s click-through page looks like for their e-mail advertisement of Calvin Klein. It looks more a like a anchor store website than a sneaker store page and I think this is an important point of discussion. Video is below.
