Footwear Insight

8 • Footwear Insight ~ March/April 2025 footwearinsight.com Oofos announced that Angel Martinez has been named to the company's board of directors. Martinez has a long history in the industry as a leader and visionary, including holding impactful roles at Reebok, e Rockport Company, Keen and Deckers Brands. Martinez retired from Reebok in 2001 aer 21 years with the company. He then helped launch Keen Footwear, where he was the CEO and Vice Chairman. In 2005, Martinez joined Deckers Brands as President and CEO, was named Chairman of the Board in 2008 and retired from Deckers Brands in 2016. Martinez joins footwear industry veterans Lou Panaccione and Paul Brown, co-founders of Oofos, Timothy Davis, Michael Harrison, Suzy Biszantz, omas Wolff and John Legere, on Oofos' board of directors. Sneaker and streetwear retailer SNIPES has hired Kelley Walton as its new Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) for the U.S. market. Walton's career includes leadership roles at Amazon Music, the NBA, Under Armour, and LVMH. Walton will hold full strategic authority and budget responsibility for all marketing activities at SNIPES in the United States, overseeing every aspect from brand positioning to consumer engagement and market growth. Outdoor brand La Sportiva announced an elevated athlete partnership with trail running legend Anton Krupicka. As part of this partnership, Krupicka will be involved with the product ideation and feedback process, bringing his extensive experience in the mountains to the brand's product innovation team. Krupicka's role in La Sportiva's product development will focus mainly on running and approach footwear and apparel. He will also represent the brand at major events, lead community engagements, and share his perspective on mountain adventure through storytelling and content collaborations. KNS International, a data-driven designer of branded footwear, whose brands include Journee, Ta, and Vance, announced that it has acquired women's lifestyle footwear brand Birdies. Bianca Gates, co-founder of Birdies will join KNS as brand president. KNS, whose strategy is centered around e-commerce, is backed by private equity firm Centre Partners. n News of Note: Oofos, SNIPES, La Sportiva, KNS BUSINESS TIDBITS ANALYSIS THE FOOTWEAR EYE I n some ways, the Nike brand is like an aging athlete, once a perennial champion, now in training again to prove they've still got it and can win again. Most Wall Street analysts who follow the athletic industry leader believe the company can regain its footing and recover from one of its deepest troughs in years. But they admit the brand's recovery will take both time and patience. It will likely be Spring 2026 before Nike's turnaround strategy is in full mode with a completely updated product pipeline and a marketplace rid of old, excess inventory. "It's our responsibility to grow the overall market," Nike's CEO Elliott Hill proclaimed last month as the company reported a 32 percent drop in quarterly net income, a 9 percent contraction in revenues, and a hey decline in gross margin due to higher discounts, product costs, and higher inventory obsolescence. "Nike's working to return to what made it special: outspending competition with compelling storytelling, R&D, and partnering with others for distribution (a playbook we've seen them execute before)," wrote Simeon Siegel, a BMO Capital Markets analyst. One part of Nike's turnaround strategy under Hill's leadership involves reducing orders for its classic silhouettes such as Air Force 1's and the Air Jordan 1's and moving the discounts that have been featured on its digital platforms to its outlet store network. e brand's classic footwear franchises as a percentage of Nike's total mix are forecast to decline by more than 10 points with their collective units down by double digits in FY26 that begins in June. e strategy is about 'right sizing' the distribution of the popular styles, not sunsetting them. Initially at least, Nike intends to implement its new strategic priorities in the coming months, including new product innovations and stronger premium presentations at retail, in three countries and five markets—the U.S., China, the United Kingdom, New York, Los Angeles, London, Beijing, and Shanghai. But as the plan takes shape and before consumers are introduced to a bevy of new Nike product innovations, there will be more pain to endure. e company has forecasted the largest negative impact on its "Win Now" strategy to occur in its current quarter ending May 31. Year-over-year revenues are expected to decline in the mid-teens, hurt by unfavorable shipping costs. And gross margin is likely to shrink by 400 to 500 basis points due partly to new tariffs on U.S. imports from China and Mexico. — Bob McGee Does Nike Have What It Takes to 'Just Do It' Again?

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