The PRJ Test Run 2.0 arrives designed by a woman out of NB’s new design team team made up of apprentices in their Foundry is an amalgamation of 90’s aesthetic and futuristic design using Fresh Foam. Men’s version pictured above.
Source: Test Run – Limited Sneaker Releases – New Balance
New Balance has taken the time to deliver another dope concept in their second PRJ Test Run series. This post isn’t really about the shoe although I will drop pics of the model and I’ve linked to the shoe. The model dropped about two weeks ago (mid March 2019) Today is March 31st. The two models featured, one men’s and one women’s, are limited in numbers which typically amounts to quick sell through and a model climbing into resale territory.
This model hasn’t hit resale. Adara, the designer, did a lot of things right in the creation of the shoe. She captured the chunky sole aesthetic that’s currently popping with many brands. She created a lightweight, minimalist upper utilizing hardly any branding… especially the intrusive N found on most New Balance models. The overlays feature graphics and the colorways are striking for both the men’s and women’s models.
There has been a lot of buzz in the sneaker industry about the increase in shoes designed for women. While everyone else is now picking up on this trend and writing articles, I wrote the post above over a year ago. I’ve been discussing women’s footwear on the site since I transitioned it from a sneaker company to a business sneaker analysis site in 2015. In the post above I explained that these initiatives by the brands are not exactly as they seem. While people are discussing that shrink it and pink it has long been the modus operandi of brands, that really isn’t true. As evidence I’d like to present my old Amazon account where I have the products broken up into women’s footwear and into the various categories. Over 199 products in women’s, 4 pages of products on my Amazon store, 50 results per page, and 5 out of 50 products on the page are pink. The same is true for each page result. This store operated from 2011 to 2017. Even when a brand like Nike did shrink it and pink it on a popular model like the Women’s Air Jordan 1 Valentines Day 2017 the model sold out instantly and now resells at 400 dollars a pair. In other words, shrink it and pink it actually works in some instances.
What does this have to do with Adara’s design for New Balance? In the article above I explained that I realized something that I think the industry knows, but they aren’t sharing. Women are “patient shoppers”. My theory is founded in hard facts that are supported by the closure of Foot Locker’s Lady Foot Locker chain as I discussed in the previous post. I can also use my own store sales as proof. I continue to find possible evidence in the release of footwear like this Testrun PRJ 2.0. Below are the pages for the men’s model and for the women’s model. Note the broken sizes on the pages:
While there isn’t any means of deciphering who is buying the men’s version of the PRJ 2.0, what is clear is that the black version with pink is the better selling model. There are only a couple of sizes remaining in stock. What’s even more interesting is the men’s model is selling above retail in some sizes on third party marketplaces. The women’s model doesn’t have hardly any broken sizes on a limited release shoe. It also doesn’t have any resale value which is an indicator of interest.
New Balance is one of the few brands that creates both men’s and women’s shoes at an almost equal rate. Which leads me to another test. I searched New Balance for the number of recently reduced shoes and men’s footwear has about 110. Women’s footwear has 92. Honestly, this doesn’t mean much at all and without hard evidence what I’m writing here can be considered a stretch. We don’t have the stats, but we do have common sense. Even in sale items there are hardly any broken sizes in women’s shoes. In men’s shoes you can find more broken sizes.
My wife and I were talking a few days ago. She made a statement about bras. Her statement was that she preferred sports bras over traditional bras. I told her that there was a war waging for the boobs of America. Yep, I said boobs. I told her that brands were fighting to create the best sports bra. She asked a few questions and I showed her prices of sports bras on several brand sites and even went to my site where I discussed this in detail. When she saw the prices she said what I already knew about buying sports bras, “I’ll go to Marshalls.” I know this is about shoes, but here is the thing being overlooked by brands the majority of women aren’t sneakerheads. They are women like my wife who manages the household budget. My wife shops intensively for every item we get . She researches, finds the best price and then makes the purchase. She isn’t like me. She isn’t impulsive. She is a patient shopper and brands need to find a way to create products that trigger that checkout line mentality in women or they will find themselves creating products destined to be bought 3 months after they hit the sales racks.
One thought on “New Balance Test Run PRJ 2.0 Allows for a Quick Look at my “Patient Buyer” Theory”