The tennis industry basketball and its market are some of the corners in which perhaps one would never have imagined that the pandamia would be able to affect, but the reality of the ravages of the global outbreak of COVID-19 indicates otherwise.
This is a serious blow to an industry that in the United States alone generated an economic spill of about 70 billion dollars in 2021.
The problem of moving goods and supplies to produce them, of any branch, was accentuated throughout the world with the arrival of the coronavirus pandemic. An example is that a container ship leaving Dalian portin China, to some other port in England, it took 65 days to get from point A to point B.
But nevertheless, in December 2021 those 65 days became 81 and in January 2022 that transfer time has reached up to 85.
Although this issue had already begun to gain notoriety in the automotive industry world, an emblematic case occurred in the field of sports merchandiseparticularly in one case that put the spotlight on this segment.
when the movie was released Space Jam: A New Legacyin July 2021, the film served as a great platform to promote the latest model with the signature of the star of the LA Lakers, LeBron Jamestennis LeBron 19 in the second part of the saga that began in 1996 with Michael Jordan.
The shoe, in the colors of the modern Tune Squadthat is, yellow, red and blue, it was planned to launch for sale in August 2021 through exclusive sales on the Nike app with a global launch in mind for September of the same year; However, the sneakers began to be sold until December 18, already with all the paraphernalia of the film somewhat late.
“We are not immune to the problems that exist with the global supply chain that challenge the production and movement of products around the world”Matt Friend, Nike’s chief financial officer, said on a recent company earnings call. “We expect all geographies to be affected by these factors.”
The week before Black Friday (Black Friday), which kicks off Christmas sales in the United States, Nike notified its retailers that it would be unable to produce several series of upcoming products that had already been ordered.canceling future orders for spring 2022, summer 2022, and balances from 2021 holiday sales.
About 51 percent of the shoes Nike produces are made in Vietnam, while another 24 percent are made in Indonesia.according to information from the same brand.
In 2021, a large number of the fall releases were lost from the schedule after a stoppage, from July to September, created a window of about 10 weeks in which Nike had no production in Vietnam.
The company says merchandise production has fallen by as much as 80 percent from October 2021, but delays are expected to continue until the end of spring 2022.
However, Nike does not navigate alone in these types of current problems. Another company that has gone through these calamities is New Balancewhich despite not having more than 10 years in the design and sponsorship of basketball shoes with NBA players, is biting its nails because it has not even been able to provide its signed players with new tennis stock.
And they couldn’t think of a better way to explain this problem that with two of its flagship players as Darius Bazley, del Oklahoma City Thunderand Jamal Murray, of the Denver Nuggetswho appear in a commercial in which they speak, precisely, of the supply chain issues they are delaying everything, and as a result they have no new sneakers.
“All that freshness, it’s probably in a container in the middle of the ocean”Bazley says in the commercial, while Murray adds: “Product supply problems, you understand.”
Perhaps the next time you walk into a store and see empty displays where there should be stacks of shoe boxes arranged by size and color, It only remains to be patient, because surely, all that freshness is locked up in a container.
