Nike Will No Longer Sell to DSW, Urban Outfitters, Shoe Show + These Stores, Analyst Says

By Katie Abel

Published: MAR 25, 2021 2:38PM PT

An exterior view of the Nike Rise store in China.

CREDIT: COURTESY OF NIKE

Nike is cutting ties with DSW, Urban Outfitters, Shoe Show and more retailers as it doubles down on its Consumer Direct offense strategy, according to analyst Sam Poser.

Poser, an analyst at Williams Trading, said that the Swoosh also is dropping Big Five Sporting Goods, Dunham’s Sports and Olympia Sports. It will no longer sell apparel to Macy’s, the analyst said, but the footwear relationship with Macy’s (via its Finish Line partnership) remains intact.

“Nike is moving fast to increase its brand strength, as well company sales and margins,” Poser wrote in a note today. “While we are startled by Nike’s decision to no longer sell [to these] multi-branded retailers listed below, we are not surprised.”

FN has reached out to Nike for comment.

Designer Brands Inc., parent company of DSW, confirmed that the athletic giant notified the company of its decision.

“Nike has shared this news with us. However, it does not change Designer Brands’ current business strategy as we continue to offer a wide assortment from our other brand partners. No single brand is material to our operations, and DBI’s broad assortment across multiple categories is what differentiates our model from many others,” the spokesperson said in a statement on behalf of the company.

Shoe Show also confirmed the move, but said it hoped Nike might reverse its decision in the future.

“We have been a multi-decade business partner with Nike, and we really valued our relationship with them. One of our strengths is that we serve a large customer base that is in large and small cities, as well as in rural communities that may have limited access to internet or don’t engage in online shopping,” said Vicki O’Donnell, chief marketing officer and chief construction officer at Shoe Show. “We have a very large retail footprint of [more than] 1,100 stores in 47 states — and for the past 60 years have focused solely on servicing the needs of the family. We will continue this focus by offering a wide variety of styles, sizes and widths.”

This is the second time in several months that well-known stores are being impacted by Nike’s aggressive push to control its own destiny at retail. Last August, Poser revealed that Nike would stop selling to Belk, Dillard’s, Zappos, Boscov’s, Bob’s Stores, Fred Meyer, EBLens, VIM and City Blue.

That announcement came a few months after Nike said it was moving to the next phase of its Consumer Direct Acceleration, which is focused on increased investments in e-commerce and technology, as well as a more simplified “consumer construct” of its men’s, women’s and kids’ businesses. 

Nike said last week that earnings for the three months ended Feb. 28 rose 71% to $1.4 billion, or 90 cents per share, trouncing the 76 cents per share analysts predicted. Revenues increased 3% to $10.4 billion, but fell well short of analysts’ forecasts of $11.02 billion.

The company saw revenues in North America decline 11% on a currency-neutral basis — due in large part to global container shortages and port congestion delays, which are impacting retailers across the industry.