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Nike Air Jordan 3 Retro Muslin 8-14 University Red Cement Nike’s Consumer Direct Offense, Amazon and StockX: The Disruption of Sneaker Retail, I recounted the story of a small chain in Mississippi that eventually sold to Jimmy Jazz. I explained how Nike’s CDO, now CDA, wasn’t something that was incidental. I recently talked about another small chain in this post:
As Nike, Inc. Rises, the Continued Taking of Wholesale Accounts Shakes Small Town Shops
My goal was to look at the various reasons small accounts and now big wholesale accounts of Nike have been removed. I couldn’t get that small chain to go on record. I was a witness to the chain’s demise in my book. Neither of those small companies would talk about what happened on record. I know what happened because I saw it firsthand, so I reported it. Trent’s book is the first time I’ve heard a small retailer talk about the frustrations of operating and expanding in sneaker retail. It’s the first time I’ve seen anyone willing to talk about Nike’s DTC while still holding an account with the Swoosh. This may be the boldest business book written. It may also be the dumbest especially with the realization that Trent was able to do something many other Nike accounts haven’t been able to do.
Without going into great detail, I want to share a passage with you from the book:
Since Kanye West and other brands in the industry were leaning more toward high-end fashion, Jordan Brand had decided to add a new layer to their distribution strategy targeted at high-end fashion and called it Tier Zero.
Now, it’s important to point out that Tier Zero wasn’t a new concept as the Nike footwear division had it for years. It was designated for high-end boutiques and it was built to introduce more trendy designs with high-end materials. It was an elite division within Nike but they never really had any super high-profile releases, one or two a year but that was it.
Jordan Brand was about to take that concept, … and turn the industry upside down… Shockingly, my dinner with the Nike/Jordan Canadian leadership team wasn’t only to tell me about Jordan Brand’s Tier Zero plan to fight back against Kanye and Adidas, it was also to tell me that Exclucity wouldn’t be in the distribution plan and wouldn’t be receiving any of the Jordan Tier Zero releases.
In my first discussion of Trent’s book How Sneakers Saved My Life, I explained that his writing was more autobiographical than strict business writing. I didn’t mind that aspect in the first book, but I wanted to read a better crafted brand. In this second book, he broke up passages like this with more information on his mental well-being and it made sense. At the same time that Trent was going through his issues, the resale side of the industry, my side of the industry, was hit with the same issues because of DTC. Trent and I share a parallel story. His narrative is much darker. He focuses on his possible bipolar diagnosis. I would have focused on the depression of feeling like a failure for my family. Trent lost 2million+ dollars during that time. I lost 1 million.
Tier Zero has been tossed around on websites and in discussions on podcasts for years, but never has it been explained so well. Never has a business owner openly explained how both adidas and Nike handle their wholesale accounts. This second book is much shorter and I finished it in a day. While there are some minor problems with the brand, the misspelling of Yeezy early in the book, and other issues, I don’t care who you are. If you’ve wanted to understand how opening a retail location in the sneaker industry works, this is a must read. While the autobiographical aspect is intrusive, I get why he’s doing it. It’s therapy, very uncomfortable therapy.
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Read my review of How Sneakers Saved My Life
