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Nike exits the S&P 100 after 18 years and a $200B market-cap wipeout

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Re: Nike exits the S&P 100 after 18 years and a $200B market-cap wipeout

#91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> In my entire life it felt like the Nike/Adidas duopoly was unbreakable, and then it felt suddenly that Hoka was everywhere. Man, I'm in such different circles than everyone. I've never heard of Hoka and I don't know any sneakerheads. Everyone I know is into Keens, Toms, or Sketchers.

i think one can be in Sketchers but who is into Sketchers?

I have some Skechers slip-ins that I love. I live in Japan where you have to take off/put on shoes all the time at home, restuarants, doctors/dentists, gyms, etc, so they are incredibly convenient. Also very comfortable, and constructed about as well as a pair of Nikes costing twice as much.

I am unapologetically into Skechers. Though I do try to seek out the ones without that big ugly "S" on the side.

Re: Nike exits the S&P 100 after 18 years and a $200B market-cap wipeout

#92
post #43

I feel like athletic shoes have mostly become what they were always meant to be: athletic shoes - you know, for doing something athletic , not just for going to Costco or McDonalds or whatever else. Back in the 90s, athletic shoes, like Nike, were for everything ; they were the default shoe style. Now people wear Crocs or flip-flops or something else, not necessarily athletic shoes. So now the market is smaller for N…

Athletic shoes are still popular for streetwear. But it's a fickle market where style trends count for a lot more than performance.

But even in streetwear Nike wasn't really keeping up with the trends of more maximalist sneakers.

Re: Nike exits the S&P 100 after 18 years and a $200B market-cap wipeout

#93

Nike's destruction over the past 5 years was really surprised and until I read up about the whole "direct to consumer" fiasco it really helped me understand another trend I was a bit confused about. About 2-3 years, it felt like, out of nowhere everyone was wearing Hoka and On brand sneakers. In my entire life it felt like the Nike/Adidas duopoly was unbreakable, and then it felt suddenly that Hoka was everywhere. Wh…

> In my entire life it felt like the Nike/Adidas duopoly was unbreakable, and then it felt suddenly that Hoka was everywhere. Man, I'm in such different circles than everyone. I've never heard of Hoka and I don't know any sneakerheads. Everyone I know is into Keens, Toms, or Sketchers.

Hoka blew up in the running space, like, ten+ years ago. The first Cliftons were pretty novel for being extremely plush. Light-ish weight maxi shoes weren't really a thing before Hoka popularized them. Now every running shoe brand offers something in that space.

More recently I think they've been adopted by the "active retiree" crowd? They're nice to walk in.

(I owned some of the original Cliftons myself. Did not love the flimsy tongue or cheap insoles that would slide around and crumple under your toes.)

Re: Nike exits the S&P 100 after 18 years and a $200B market-cap wipeout

#94

I had a good 15+ year run where I only ever wore Nikes. Then I wore my first wide toe-box shoes and haven’t bought Nike since. Looking back, Nike was never very good about offering different width options on most of their shoes. And I still don’t think they offer wide toe box shoes.

Can I ask what you switched to? I also spent 15 years running in Nikes, mostly Structure, Pegasus, Invincible 3. I tried to stop buying so many american products 2 years ago and went for a pair of On's which are now reaching the end of their life. I can't say I'm super happy with the On's like I was with my Nikes. Might just go back

Re: Nike exits the S&P 100 after 18 years and a $200B market-cap wipeout

#95
post #4

Sneakerbots killed it for everyone. Priced out the demand IMO too early. But also, people only have 2 feet.

> Sneakerbots killed it for everyone Ultimately I think artificial scarcity/limited production for products offered online is a futile and erroneous venture. The bots exist because the product is valuable. The product is valuable because it's artificially limited.

yes, but people will only pay up to a certain price for a sneaker if they are not collectors and only consumers. and as we now see, a shoe business is not running that well, if it mainly caters to resellers and collectors.

i can remember a few instances about 5 years ago when I was really interested in a nike shoe "drop", but didnt win in the shoe lottery to purchase the show. the result? i just stopped looking at Nikes completely.

Re: Nike exits the S&P 100 after 18 years and a $200B market-cap wipeout

#96
post #8

Lots of bad marketing moves by Nike - wonder which middle management genius' idea it was to put that big ass poster right on the facade of a historic building, if anyone remembers. And their manufacturing quality has gone down the drain. Their sneakers fall apart in months while German brand sneakers still manage to retain their quality.

Not going to argue with you about the quality of German brand sneakers, I wear Adidas myself, but Nike still has several models that score well enough on runrepeat.com.

yeah, i dont think the quality of the shoes were ultimately the problem. consumers care more for trends than quality.

Re: Nike exits the S&P 100 after 18 years and a $200B market-cap wipeout

#97
post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having gone through this process what surprised me was that they were advising along brand lines: “Brooks are sturdy, ASICS are narrow shoes, Hoka have thick soles and a lot of bounce”. They didn’t have differentiation within a same brand.

I just want some regular running shoes that don't look like they have a 3" thick sole, with a 1" protrusion coming out the back. Most running shoes look goofy has hell these days, and for what purpose I don't have a clue.

There are tons of non-maxi shoes around still.

Re: Nike exits the S&P 100 after 18 years and a $200B market-cap wipeout

#98
post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>until I read up about the whole "direct to consumer" fiasco it really helped me understand another trend I was a bit confused about. In Switzerland, every decent sports store now has a whole treadmill with some sort of gait analysis thing and a dedicated guy that is going to pick a shoe for you based on that + your running level. Anecdotal evidence, but 80% of the time I see someone buying running shoes in Ochsner t…

Having gone through this process what surprised me was that they were advising along brand lines: “Brooks are sturdy, ASICS are narrow shoes, Hoka have thick soles and a lot of bounce”. They didn’t have differentiation within a same brand.

Could still be the same company though, if they were smart.

Re: Nike exits the S&P 100 after 18 years and a $200B market-cap wipeout

#99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>until I read up about the whole "direct to consumer" fiasco it really helped me understand another trend I was a bit confused about. In Switzerland, every decent sports store now has a whole treadmill with some sort of gait analysis thing and a dedicated guy that is going to pick a shoe for you based on that + your running level. Anecdotal evidence, but 80% of the time I see someone buying running shoes in Ochsner t…

Couple that with the fact almost everyone seems to run now, and that running shoes/trainers have become acceptable fashion in all but the haughtiest of occasions. In the 90s, running wasn't even really a thing. A few people went "jogging" for exercise. Otherwise it was a proper sport in which very few partook. Trainers were predominantly worn by children. Adults wore "real" shoes. Something changed in the past ten ye…

What happened but not in the last 10 years (it happened before) is that 1990's children became adults and kept using trainers (personally I don't wear anything else). But this doesn't explain why Nike died this death. We will get some MBA story about in the future, I guess.

Re: Nike exits the S&P 100 after 18 years and a $200B market-cap wipeout

#100
post #92
post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Athletic shoes are still popular for streetwear. But it's a fickle market where style trends count for a lot more than performance.

But even in streetwear Nike wasn't really keeping up with the trends of more maximalist sneakers.

Nike actually had a good run with the Air Max in that segment, but as someone already said: trends are fickle
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