Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaledition.com/i/907660
106 runninginsight.com © 2017 Formula4media LLC. is nothing new (just ask any of the retail- ers it has dropped in the past few years), the aggressive targets the brand has laid out – and the eye-popping difference between 30,000 and 40 accounts – has turned heads. It comes at a time when The Swoosh has struggled in the U.S. market with both its main line and the Jordan brand, ceding share to the competition and suffering from the same depressed sporting goods and athletic environment that all brands are facing. The new strategy, which the brand is calling Triple Double, is Nike's plan to reestablish momentum. But as Nike looks to consolidate and focus, it is unknown how its plans will affect the broader retail marketplace, already rocked by the bankruptcies and closures of the past two years and stagnant sales. Can Nike's new plan reinvigorate the brand and the many channels in which it trades? Here, retailers, analysts and market watchers sound off on what Nike's plans mean for them, for the brand and for the market as a whole. Dick Johnson, chairman, president and CEO, Foot Locker Inc. "The world is moving more and more toward experiential retail. To be a preferred partner with our vendors, your focus has to be 100 percent on the consumer and on creating great experi- ences that are both digital and physical in nature. Retail is evolving and we have to move with it. We have a constant conversation with our vendor partners about creating that next generation of retail. It's a digitally-led environment. The consumer is consumed by their digital device, but our core consumer still likes to have physical experiences. It's just got be more than sneakers on the wall. The next retail spaces won't look like the last retail spaces. Retail will not get any easier in the future and the consumer expectations continue to rise. You have to have the ability to meet or exceed those expectations if you want to be allowed to Nike (continued) Nike iD VaporMax Flyknit SE