footwear

To make a shoe that can be ground up, melted down and reincarnated as another shoe, Swiss sportswear brand On didn’t just need new materials and manufacturing processes. It designed a new sales model. In June, On began shipping the first 10,000 pairs of its latest model, starting with U.S. customers. The Cloudneo is pitched as “the shoe you will never own.” Instead, runners pay $29.99 a month for an endless supply, provided they return worn-out pairs to be recycled. On executives say this arrangement…

Nike Inc.’s quarterly sales were roughly flat and its inventory surged, signs that the sneaker giant is still trying to balance consumer demand with supply-chain snarls.Executives said they were optimistic as the company starts a new fiscal year, because production has surpassed prepandemic levels. They forecast stronger revenue growth for the year started June 1, but said near-term profits would be hurt by elevated shipping costs. Nike Inc.’s quarterly sales were roughly flat and its inventory surged, signs that the…

Buying shoes can be a hard and frustrating thing to do. When you have a fat pinky toe like I do, it dictates how I can dress my feet, which determines the rest of my outfit. While theycan usually fit into a size eight, fitting and being comfortable are two very different things. That’s why I can’t for the life of me understand why Amazon would want to wade into the treacherous waters of foot fashion. The e-commerce giant proudly unveiled its new Virtual Try-On feature in the U.S. and Canada on Thursday, a tool in its iOS…

China’s strict Covid-19 lockdowns are hurting consumer spending for everything from coffee to sneakers and hotels, weighing on multinationals with a big presence in the country and blunting the postpandemic rebound that other parts of the world have experienced. The first three months of 2022 would have been financially stronger “if we didn’t have…the China drag,” said Paul Edgecliffe-Johnson, IHG’s chief financial officer, during an earnings call earlier this month. IHG’s China revenues per…

Under Armour Inc. UA -6.90% said Patrik Frisk will step down as president and chief executive two years into the job and as the sportswear maker is trying to reignite sales. The Baltimore company named Colin Browne as interim president and CEO, starting June 1, until a permanent successor is named. The departure was described as a mutual separation by an Under…

ARDOIX, France—After 15 years of manufacturing entirely in Asia, French sportswear firm Salomon SAS, eager to cut emissions and reduce bottlenecks, decided it was time to start making its signature sports shoes at home. The challenge, in a country where shoemaking died out years ago, was how to build the necessary supply chain. The first phase of Salomon’s solution was to build an automated sneaker factory in this small town near the Alps. It also redesigned its shoes, drastically shrinking its supply chain…