🥳 SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT 🥳

Next Steps For The Neustreet Journal:

To start, we here at Neustreet would like to take a moment to say THANK YOU to YOU - and all our dear readers - who have stuck with us over the years as we have grown as a brand and company.

Good News! You will soon be able to subscribe to a new and entirely sneaker-focused newsletter, packed with unique data & insights on the sneaker resale market.

Neustreet continues to be committed to providing more transparency and access within collectibles markets - through our data & insights, as well as this newsletter, so don’t worry!

The Neustreet Journal isn’t going anywhere. Expect data insights to complement the ongoing news and commentary on the broader collectibles market - all on an updated biweekly publishing schedule.

Please look for a “Neustreet Sneakers” invite in your inbox - feel free to forward it to your friends too! You can get ahead of the pack by subscribing now. 👇️ 

In today’s issue, we’ve got a sneak preview of what’s to come! You may have previously seen some of our data featured on publications like the Business of Fashion, or on our LinkedIn page.

Check it out below…

IN THIS ISSUE:

SNEAKER INSIGHTS
📈 Business of Fashion Spotlight
📉 Sneaker Sales by Brand - Sneak Peak

SNEAKER NEUS
⚾️ PSA Acquires SGC In Card Grading Consolidation
👟 Hoka & Uggs Parent Company Deckers’ New Sneaker Brand
📊 Foot Locker’s Q4 Earnings Indicate Financial Challenges
🔥 A New Salehe Bembury Crocs Clog

SNEAKER INSIGHTS

📈 Business of Fashion Spotlight
📉 Sneaker Sales by Brand - Sneak Peak

📈 Business of Fashion Spotlight

The Business of Fashion recently published an insightful article titled, "The Sneaker Resale Market Is Broken," regarding the health of the sneaker resale market - backed up by our very own Neustreet data!

You can see the significant percentage of major brands and silhouettes that were selling above MSRP have declined in price throughout 2023. Certain hyped releases continue to command massive resale premiums, but many metrics indicate that sneaker resale profitability at a macro level has ultimately decreased.

The experiences we've had at Neustreet tell another story. After talking to entrepreneurs and different businesses across the industry, we have a POSITIVE outlook for the overall growth of the sneaker market, the number of resellers, and in particular are excited by the enhanced competition from younger sneaker brands.

📉 Shoe Sales by Brand - Sneak Peek

We took a look at the best selling sneaker brands across the month of December 2023 and as expected, the top three best selling brands were Nike, Jordan, and Adidas.

However, the fourth best selling brand was Uggs, which may come as a surprise to some people who are less aware of the demand for Uggs on the sneaker resale market. New Balance, Crocs, and ASICS were respectively the 5th, 6th, and 7th best selling brands.

As we continue to track these trends across 2024, we'll keep an eye out to see which brands keep increasing or decreasing in popularity and start producing more detailed insights on different elements of the sneaker market.

SNEAKER NEUS

⚾️ PSA Acquires SGC In Card Grading Consolidation
👟 Hoka & Uggs Parent Company Deckers’ New Sneaker Brand
📊 Foot Locker’s Q4 Earnings Indicate Financial Challenges
🔥 A New Salehe Bembury Crocs Clog

⚾️ PSA Acquires SGC In Card Grading Consolidation

Collectors, the holding company behind leading card grading company Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA), is acquiring SGC Grading. SGC is a small, but significant player in the card grading market that is dominated by PSA.

Based on data from Gemrate, PSA captured 78% of the total market for graded cards in 2023 while SGC was the third largest card grader with 7% of the market. PSA graded 13.5 million items across 2023 while SGC graded 1.2 million times.

Combining these two companies creates an even larger card grading juggernaut that might worry participants looking for more competition in the card market. PSA has also faced controversy and complaints from customers around long waiting times and high costs of their grading services, which may not be solved by this new acquisition.

👟 Hoka & Uggs Parent Company Deckers’ New Sneaker Brand

Deckers Brands, the company behind Hoka and Uggs, has launched a new "super sneaker brand" called Ahnu.

While Decker may not be a household name, they have found recent success as Hoka and Uggs have gained popularity both in the primary sneaker market and the sneaker resale market. 

Previously, Decker acquired Ahnu in 2009 and then shut down its operations in 2019. This sneaker revival is a bold move in an increasingly crowded sneaker market.

📊 Foot Locker’s Q4 Earnings Indicate Financial Challenges

Major sneaker retailer Foot Locker announced their Q4 earnings, reporting a quarterly loss and weak guidance for the year. Foot Locker also indicated a decrease in gross margins and overall sales. The company’s stock has dropped 20% since the announcement.

The physical retail market has been facing challenges for years through a confluence of factors ranging from sneaker brands like Nike going more direct-to-consumer to the modern consumer’s increasing preference for online commerce.

The sneaker retail market and the sneaker resale market are interconnected and the current macroeconomic conditions will test the long-term viability of companies like Foot Locker.

🔥 A New Salehe Bembury Crocs Clog

Famed footwear designer Salehe Bembury is continuing his successful partnership with Crocs by introducing the Saru Clog. This is the first slip-on collaboration and the first of two signature Crocs models from Bembury.

The Saru Clog distinguishes itself with a one-piece upper design, removing the back hinge for a more mule-like form and featuring the recognizable twisting Pollex sole design across all colorways. This is set to release on March 21st through Bembury's website, indicating that Crocs is continuing to double down on their relationship with the designer.

Salehe Bembury has contributed significantly to Crocs rejuvenation as a hot brand, especially on the resale market, and serves as a prime example of successful collaboration translating into more sneaker sales.

Check out the Neustreet X Podcast!

🎧 Daniel-Yaw Miller -  The Business of Fashion
🔘 Writing about Sneaker, Streetwear, and Fashion

Daniel-Yaw Miller is Senior Editorial Associate at The Business of Fashion (BoF). He is based in London and covers menswear, streetwear and sport. Dan is a qualified solicitor, having previously trained at DLA Piper and The Premier League.

He has a Bachelors in History from the University of Southampton and a Masters in Law, Business and Management from the University of Law.

Comments or questions?

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This newsletter was written with contributions from Neustreet Editor-in-Chief Tony McGuire; art generated by Logan Fulcher.