Nike’s Converse brand of skate shoes has been declining, as sales approach a 15-year low. Converse sales appear to be coming in at an estimated $1.27 billion this year, the lowest since 2012 when Converse posted $1.32 billion in sales, and well under the recent peak of $2.43 billion notched as recently as 2023. Nike may seek to unload the brand to Authentic Brands Group, one of those perennial buyers of brands that had been sliding out of the trendy realm among them Reebok, Dockers, Champion and Nautica. Now I’m just speculating here, but perhaps Converse is dealing with the inevitable problem an arch-support-lacking shoe brand experiences when its longtime consumer ages into their thirties. Perhaps Converse is simply podiatrically incapable of sustaining brand loyalty in the absence of performance-enhancing orthotics.
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