Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm from Spain and I mostly see Skechers, New Balance, Nike (doesn't seem to be doing that bad here?), ASICS, Adidas, Puma, Converse, Vans. Lately Salomon. I hadn't heard of Hoka before either, maybe we are behind the times.
While Hoka was originally a French company they have been US owned for a long time, so I think they are just not popular in Europe. The Swiss brand On on the other hand seems to be everywhere all over Europe now and I am surprised you haven't seen them in Spain yet.
Nike exits the S&P 100 after 18 years and a $200B market-cap wipeout
221–230 of 419 posts
Re: Nike exits the S&P 100 after 18 years and a $200B market-cap wipeout
#222I used to get all my running shoes from Nike, the Pegasus line which was always their basic running shoe that was very good overall. These days, I can get what is basically the same shoe from Decathlon for 1/5th the price of last year's Pegasus. Running shoe tech is not some kind of secret thing. Any shoe manufacturer can buy a pair of any other shoes and cut it open and copy it. The only shoes that have anything spe…
Same. I used to run a Pegasus pair to the ground and get a new one (ideally previous year's) without even thinking about it. They were usually cheaper than the competition and worked fine for me so why not. At some point they got just as expensive as a Hoka pair so I tried one and I'm not coming back. I'll try the Decathlon next time :) any particular model you would recommend?
I got a pair of the cushion 500s and they are very similar, just a thicker sole. They have Hoka copies as well, and even have a carbon plate race shoe I'm pretty sure. If you have a big store near you just go in and try a few. They're cheap enough that I actually keep a few copies of the same shoe in rotation and swap old ones out quickly rather than running them dead like I used to do with the Nike's.
Re: Nike exits the S&P 100 after 18 years and a $200B market-cap wipeout
#223Re: Nike exits the S&P 100 after 18 years and a $200B market-cap wipeout
#224There is a great article [0] that has some interesting points about this: - Nike used to be very "male coded" e.g. "Be like Mike" - So much so that they were one of the only companies where men bought more clothes than women - The powers that be wanted to go after the "Adjacent Whale" (explained in the article) that was the female consumer - They ended up alienating their core customer base while competing poorly wit…
There are very-few male-coded places left. I think any Mall is like 80% for women and 20% food court. Beside that, there are jewelry stores, nail salons, spas, hair salons. Drive around the 'burbs and the only male-coded place is probably hardware stores and Pizza Hut
Re: Nike exits the S&P 100 after 18 years and a $200B market-cap wipeout
#225The marketing campaign they launched in April 2023 also deteriorated their brand position. It earned them woke coins, but the NPV of all those future woke coins flows was negative.
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Re: Nike exits the S&P 100 after 18 years and a $200B market-cap wipeout
#226Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm a trail runner in Northern Europe. Hoka has been omnipresent there for the last few years, as has (traditionally) Salomon. Not sure I've seen much Hoka outside of trial running circles here yet. I'm thinking about sneakers used for actually doing sport though.
Same, I associate Hoka & Salomon with running, never would have thought someone would wear them as everyday sneakers.
Re: Nike exits the S&P 100 after 18 years and a $200B market-cap wipeout
#227Earlier quoted context omitted.
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 lov…
Yes, for running mountain centuries and ultras. Karl "Speedgoat" Meltzer broke the Appalachian Trail record in them, and whoever was doing marketing then really blew a big bubble with that result. Trad brands didn't stand a chance against that sole and backstory. https://thewalkahead.com/2016/09/21/karl-meltzer-crushes-at-... https://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-gear/run/clown-shoe-th...
I do a lot of mountain and trail running here in Norway, and I've exclusively used Hoka Speedgoats for the last five years. Their performance is excellent.
(Just walking around any Norwegian town, it seems like the majority of trainers are Hokas.)
Re: Nike exits the S&P 100 after 18 years and a $200B market-cap wipeout
#228Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes, for running mountain centuries and ultras. Karl "Speedgoat" Meltzer broke the Appalachian Trail record in them, and whoever was doing marketing then really blew a big bubble with that result. Trad brands didn't stand a chance against that sole and backstory. https://thewalkahead.com/2016/09/21/karl-meltzer-crushes-at-... https://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-gear/run/clown-shoe-th...
Thats interesting because what your first link tells is that he did change shoes twice as often as normal (every 122 miles instead of every 300 miles), which for me personally would be a clear sign to stay away from these shoes. But ok, I guess many runners are more fixated on their racing clock instead of longevity of their shoes.
Re: Nike exits the S&P 100 after 18 years and a $200B market-cap wipeout
#229Earlier quoted context omitted.
Great link.
i think the people flagging me haven’t bothered to try reading it, they just assume that they know what it says and thats enough. Despite the fact that I suspect many would agree with the core sentiment, no matter which political side you’re on. It argues that greed causes loss of direction, and that large corporations can’t help themselves but to be greedy.
You could have provided more context to avoid that.
Re: Nike exits the S&P 100 after 18 years and a $200B market-cap wipeout
#230Earlier 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.