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Nike Trials US Sneaker Refurbishment To Cut Down on Waste

Insider Nike's new Manhattan flagship. Courtesy.

Bloomberg

14 April 2021

Sneaker giant Nike Inc. is trying to keep more of its used shoes out of the landfill — and earn a little extra income to boot.

The sportswear company announced Monday it’s rolling out a programme at 15 US stores to clean and resell shoes that have been returned by customers within their first two months. Dubbed Nike Refurbished, the offering intended to curb waste will be expanded to more US locations later this year, it said.

This model is reminiscent of the trendy thrifting offerings at retailers like Poshmark Inc., ThredUp Inc. and RealReal Inc. — though on a much smaller scale — rather than the high-end sneaker resale business that involves almost entirely like-new, unworn product.

“It’s very different” from actual sneaker resale, said Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Poonam Goyal. “It’s a move to monetise what would have ended up in a landfill or reused as material for flooring.”

By Anne Riley Moffat.

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