When it comes to running, Nike is in trouble.
The biggest, most historically successful running brand in the world is now getting beat out by the likes of Brooks, New Balance and Asics in terms of running shoe sales.
Runners just don’t seem to connect with the Swoosh’s offering of everyday running shoes, finding its roster of offerings cluttered and incoherent. This is due, in part, because Nike ditched independent brick-and-mortal retailers at the onset of the Pandemic in 2020. For the past four years, the only way the vast majority of runners could get into a pair of Nike trainers is by taking a leap of faith and ordering them direct from the company’s online sales platform. And judging by its slumping sales figures in the past couple of years, this rather calculated gamble that the future would be entirely online has completely backfired.
All of this has cost Nike a lot of money. It’s now trailing much smaller running brands in terms of sales and connecting with everyday runners on a regular basis. And unsurprisingly, Nike, a publicly traded company, has seen its stock price take a nosedive off a cliff.
So the company is making massive changes for 2025: slashing popular shoe models, streamlining its offering, releasing a new “Premium” version of its shoes, and also reportedly cozying up to indie running shops after years of freezing them out.
Will Nike’s bold new direction turn its fortunes around in the running world? Our editor-in-chief Michael Doyle unpacks why Nike is now blowing up its shoe lineup and changing course in 2025 in the above video, a part of our new series on our YouTube channel, “Running, Explained.”
Also, watch our 2025 preview of Nike’s revamped lineup:
