Nike: Mea Culpa Youa Culpa; Whose gaffe are my shorts?

Description: Activewear shorts, zippered pockets, comfortable cotton fabric, button fly.

Wait- Button Fly? The only other place I have experienced button fly is on Levi’s 501 and some Diesel jeans. In both of those cases, I accept the button fly as an iconic jeans style feature. But on activewear shorts? How does it even make a bit of sense to have this style feature on Nike shorts which are supposed to be functional and comfortable-button fly is neither.

Not to mention, when you desperately need, you know, Number 1, it is nothing short of stupid. And, more than once I have closed the waist button as is the normal procedure and failed to close the others…

OK, I admit, this is my fault for buying the shorts in the first place. But that is what makes the story even worse-they are nice shorts.

It is pretty easy to see from the pictures that these shorts are not new, so why bring this up now?

What made me focus on this are two things: 1. The weather in New York is finally getting warmer and 2. The dysfunctional gaffe that Gap made with the China Map Tee.

I am just wondering when-or IF- these companies will recognize that they are all working in windowless silos. In this case, as in the Gap situation, when the designer offered these shorts for adoption, which manager or managers were responsible for these being adopted and manufactured and should have said, “Wait-these are great shorts and you are ruining the functionality with a feature that has no place on active shorts and which will never increase but more than probably decrease, sales of the item.”

Clearly that didn’t happen. Clearly large companies like Nike are struggling to define their future in today’s market; hence Nike’s agreement to sell their product on Amazon (bad, bad move-most especially because price and the origin of the product, from Nike or third party sellers, are both out of their control).

Clearly it doesn’t have to be this way.  Nike and these other companies are suffering from LCSS (Large Company Silo Syndrome). Good news- it can be cured!  Companies like Nike need to make structural changes in their organizations and their mentality to effect the cure. There is no doubt that major improvements can be made in the efficiency of even the largest company by doing so, and gaffes like the Gap’s China Map Tee and my shorts can be avoided.

Oh. You thought I was going to tell you what changes and how to effect them. Sorry, I stopped giving free information a while ago. Nike, Gap, other large company that wants to take down your silos, you will just have to hire me to find out.

Cross-Pollination in Healthcare; Could this work for Apparel? Let’s play The Match Game

Have you noticed all the cross-pollination in the healthcare industry? You don’t need to be an industry analyst to do so; just being a customer is enough.

Recently I went into my local Rite-Aid which proudly announced that there was a Walgreen’s pharmacy now inside (this Rite-Aid is owned by Walgreens). Rite-Aid has split the baby further in an alliance with Albertson’s, which owns multiple large supermarket chains: Safeway, Vons, Shaw’s, Acme, Tom Thumb, Randalls, United Supermarkets, Pavilions, Star Market, Haggen, Carrs and the New York-based meal kit company Plated (oh, I can’t resist: deliver your drugs with your dinner?). So, soon you may see Rite-Aid pharmacies or clinics or shops in your local food market.

There is more: CVS pharmacies in Target; CVS is also buying Aetna, so soon you can get your drugs and your health insurance in Target. Crazy? Walmart is teaming with Humana and has kiosks in their stores-wonder if WM can Roll Back the price of healthcare?

Above-mentioned giant Walgreens is teaming with United Health Care to open urgent care centers. Here’s an exciting possibility (really!). Once you get treated and a prescription, you get your drugs right there (in Hong Kong, China etc. dispensaries are commonly in hospitals and doctors’ offices).

I am sure the story will continue in the healthcare industry; so, wait, how crazy is it to imagine some of the same pairings in apparel?

I will offer just a few here- the point is, let’s see how crazy this is and what crazy pairings (or threesomes if that works for you) that you can come up with.

Ok, here we go:

1. Nike and Levi’s- Two icons who need help with their identity. Git yer shoes with y’alls jeans.
2. Tommy John and 7 For All Mankind- feel good about yourself.
3. American Giant and Hanes- Feel REAALLY good about yourself.
4. Everlane and Speedo- Life in the fast lane?
5. Victoria’s Secret and Buck Naked Underwear- What happens in Duluth, stays in Duluth.
6. Zara and Burberry- In case the fast fashion makes you dizzy or disoriented.
7. Old Navy and Ralph Lauren- I can’t figure this out either, but there must be something if they can have the same CEO.
8. Sears and Best Made- the hat guy with the earflaps looks like the Sears customer.
9. Macy’s and Uniqlo- In case you can’t find the style you want or that you should be wearing, and that you feel good about the value- console yourself with the discounts piled upon discounts.
10- Levi’s and Buitrago Jeans- Looking for adventure, and whatever comes our way. Jeans as establishment icon, or what they were intended to be since Woodstock?
11- Bloomingdale’s and Bergdorf-Goodman- We built this city on fashion, and now we wonder what is left of our message? Can the two old ladies of NY retail revive fashion r-e-s-p-e-c-t?
12- Macy’s and Chicxulub Crater Yucatan (where the asteroid hit)- Which is more destructive to civilization as we know it? The asteroid 66 million years ago, or Macy’s, who sanitized and neutered the American retail industry?…

Let’s have some fun with this. We need a team effort to make this really funny and provocative. GO for it! I am sure there are so many more ideas!


Thanks to source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucejapsen/2018/05/15/rite-aid-albertsons-well-be-top-5-health-food-and-wellness-player/2/#5ff7a30260d9