Thieves steal $200K worth of Nike merchandise from employee store (msn.com)
Writing about these thefts at Nike is becoming redundant, but it speaks to a point one analyst of Nike’s stock has discussed. Nike has too much inventory. When a company is utilizing a push strategy instead of a pull strategy it shows that they are no longer monitoring the market to make corrections. Williams Trading analyst Sam Poser has been critical of Nike’s decision making and notes “Nike’s current C-Suite leaders lack the levels of brand and Nike institutional knowledge that the leaders had in 2015,” when Nike faced a similar situation of too much inventory in the marketplace.
Nike once had a bulletproof system allowing retailers to RTV and the product would be sent to Nike Clearance and Factory Stores, but even with more Nike doors than they had in the past, the removal of accounts under the Nike Consumer Acceleration strategy appears to have backfired as trailers are sitting in storage yards and at their own employee store located at the largest distribution center for Nike in the country. In recent reports from retailers, Nike seems to be facing similar shrinkage issues. As the holiday season looms and inflation begins to tighten budgets, crime will likely be a lot more abundant. When brand distribution centers are being targeted it’s a clear signal of serious issues in the supply chain and evidence that a brand isn’t handling grey market events with precision and control.
