We are reminded of too many case studies when companies who were part of everyday vernacular and culture disappeared. I fear nike is on this precipice. Is Nike tomorrow’s Kodak?
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What stumped me is reliance on growth through the Jordan brand. Jordan meant something to previous generations. My kids don’t even know who he is - much less revere him as a god which previous generations did. What’s the thinking here?
Apparel is a brutal market filled with companies coming & going.
Nike’s only strength is footwear’s high startup costs & we opened the door wide to multiple competitors over the last few years’ mismanagement.
There’s not much room left for us to grow. That’s why ELT tried taking back our partners’ margins by selling direct to consumers.
We’re already culturally irrelevant with the newer generations. It’s going to take decades but Nike is in the process of dying through a thousand cuts.
Financially the company is far from failing. Leadership and cooperate greed is the problem
Kodak was made irrelevant by technological progress. But Nike being a FW Apparel firm, there isn’t much of technological disruption as a threat as much as cultural relevance. It’s already being called a “mid market” fashion brand. if this continues, days of selling on amazon and Walmart ain’t that far.