This is not a hypothetical. I spoke with several store managers in different locations and the answer is the same, “Since Fed Ex started handling shipping, packages are missing all of the time.” I won’t tie a particular manager to that quote, but the same person stated, “When the deliveries arrive, I have to stand there and make the driver place the boxes with the labels up to make sure everything is scanned. I then have to try and make the driver count off the correct number. On several occasions, the driver has written 19 boxes delivered when only 15 boxes have arrived. It’s been a constant fight since (store name) started using FedEx.” In 2018 a theft ring here in Memphis was cracked:
https://www.wreg.com/news/former-fedex-postal-employees-accused-of-stealing-from-packages/
On sneaker Twitter and in the sneaker media world, there has been an ongoing discussion over stolen sneakers. Take a moment to Google and you’ll find that the dialogue is cyclical. Every few years, there is a flare up in missing packages. When I first launched on Amazon, I used to be inundated with A to Z Claims and I dealt with the process of stolen packages often. Very often, the customer was committing fraud. That was over ten years ago. In the words of Gil Scott Heron, this ain’t no new thing… except it is. I’ve never had managers tell me directly that boxes have gone missing or that drivers are intentionally trying to short stores on drop-offs.
I’ve also never seen so many people at UPS and Fed Ex shipping shoes they should have never had access to in mass quantities. When the Air Jordan 1 Trophy Room scandal broke out, I personally witnessed a couple dropping off over 100 pair of the shoes. I recently witnessed guys selling the Off-White 50 Dunk series, way before the shoes dropped on SNKRS. This is Memphis and the city is notorious for train jumping, but I’ve always thought of that as more myth than fact, until I was offered a list of shoes at my shop. The seller wanted $40,000 for the haul. I passed. (I’m sure someone is saying sure you passed. I keep an active record of every shoe that comes through the shop. I am not open to the public, as the shop is a media company with a recording and video studio. All shoes are sold online.)
FedEx and people inside of Nike’s distribution chain are sharing far too much information for the stories to be just urban legend, obviously, and store managers have never really talked about how it affects their stores before. Missing packages at the store level typically happened with store managers selling shoes early and not telling employees the shoes arrived. Issues with Fed Ex’s shipments are being shared among store managers who have to work with DM’s to find where the problems are happening. Store managers are also having to answer questions about the big sneaker releases, months in advance. Store managers are verifying, that Fed Ex delivery and Nike warehouse people are sharing Style Numbers and discord groups are sharing box labels and information:
My video is definitely not random boxes of stuff 🤣 As I said AJ11 being “cool gray” shipped to companies already 🥶 be ready stock is going to be BIG maybe as big as Oreos 🥴 “footage is from my personal friend of mine 😉 “ I only post FACTS 😘 🤫 pic.twitter.com/5Ot618ZUxb
— 🏆 SNKRS STOCK 🏆 (@SnkrsStock) September 26, 2021
With the prevalence of hype and resale driving engagement, and clout chasing as a reinforcement for bad behavior, you get a perfect storm of issues reverberating throughout sneaker culture. FedEx and Nike are tied at the hip because of Memphis. It’s one of the reasons other companies are hurting so much with the distribution and supply chain issues and Nike can air freight sneakers into their supply chain (This is hearsay from hub employees at FedEx. I can’t quote that statement, but it’s very easy to believe.) What was once a benefit to Nike is becoming what I like to call the crack that can break the dam. Sneaker enthusiasts are becoming disgruntled. The reign of the Air Jordan 1 Mid and Low as sneaker resale boons, has finally slowed. There aren’t many sneakers you can flip directly from retail, but that isn’t stopping new people from buying and trying. Real fans are becoming disenfranchised and as sellers seem to be outweighing buyers, resale sits on a three legged table with a phonebook keeping things stable in a flood.
Perception is reality and negative press can shape the direction of a company long term. Both Nike and FedEx are going to have to deal with consumer worries. While Nike can possibly withstand the bad press, as Amazon Shipping continues its growth, FedEx can’t afford to have millennials share negative press about the company. This is certainly one to watch.
