In news that no one would have predicted just several short years ago, Adidas has jumped Jordan Brand to become the No. 2 seller of sports footwear in the United States.
This is a big deal, and especially considering Adidas fell behind Under Armour in combined footwear and athletic apparel sales in 2015.
Adidas has overtaken Jordan as the #2 brand in U.S. sport footwear. This is an achievement I never thought I would see in my lifetime.
— Matt Powell (@NPDMattPowell) September 18, 2017
According to The NPD Group’s most recent data, Adidas’ retail sales shares for athletic footwear grew to 13 percent in the month of August — more than 50 percent from its previous level.
This is monumental growth for the brand, but it’s also been in the works for a while. Thanks to a slew of impressive celebrity endorsement deals — most notably their partnership with Kanye West — and a forward-thinking approach to new product, Adidas’ presence in the United States has been steadily increasing over the years with successful products like the Ultra Boost, Yeezy line, and NMDs.
What’s most fascinating: Adidas’ rise isn’t indicative of a boom across the board in the industry
In fact, quite the opposite.
Adidas continues to experience monstrous growth despite a dip in the overall market for basketball shoes. Adidas basketball was up 40 percent in August — one of the largest sale months of the year — while Nike, Jordan Brand, and Under Armour basketball all suffered declines during that same period.
It’s no secret that Adidas’ success is coming at the expense of other brands, most notably Nike and Jordan Brand, the traditional giants of the space. In May, Adidas surpassed Jordan Brand in market share with a record 13 percent before dropping back down to 11 percent during the summer.
For decades, Jordan brand made its name and money by owning the retro sneaker slice of the pie, and while they still sell well, that doesn’t appear to be a sustainable strategy going forward. Consumers are gravitating toward the creative and fresh new styles of Adidas, and a once-exclusive market for Retro Jordan resales has become more saturated over the years.
Whether Adidas can sustain this level of unprecedented growth remains to be seen. But if we’ve learned anything from the changes in the athletic footwear market over the last few years, it’s to expect the unexpected.
