Nike’s Lack of Innovation Caused Sales Drop, Says JD Sports CEO
adidas and New Balance, by comparison, are “doing very well.”
JD Sports CEO Régis Schultz is pointing the finger at Nike for the UK retail chain’s decrease in sales, Bloomberg reported first.
During the company’s recent earnings call, Schultz reported that like-for-like sales had fallen 3.1% during the last quarter of 2023, although the retailer anticipated an upturn in the coming months due to the soccer championships and the Paris Olympics.
Asked by analysts about JD Sports’ relationship with Nike – who had reported last week that sales were down – Schultz blamed the brand’s supposed lack of innovation.
“Nike has been so successful but they just stopped a little bit bringing in new stuff,” he said. “At the same time adidas is doing very well, New Balance is doing very well.”
The CEO went on to say that shoppers quickly “get bored” with a brand’s rotation.
“If you don’t bring in new stuff, new product, new innovation, new color, I think the demand is suffering,” he added.
Amid the sales slump, Nike has been angling to reduce its costs while investing in more priority areas such as running. In February, the company laid off 2% of its global workforce.
