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    Walmart is getting a bump from a surprising cohort: Wealthier shoppers

    Walmart is drawing more online sales from higher-income shoppers, as it expands its online assortment, remodels stores and grows its membership program, Walmart+.
    Households earning more than $100,000 made up 75% of the company’s market share gains in the fiscal third quarter, Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said on the company’s earnings call in November.
    Yet some investors have questioned whether Walmart’s traction with affluent shoppers has staying power as it prepares to report fiscal fourth-quarter earnings, especially if the sticker shock of inflation cools.

    Shoppers at a Walmart store in Secaucus, New Jersey, U.S., in March 2024.
    Gabby Jones | Bloomberg | Getty Images

    Walmart is known for its low prices and no frills approach.
    So it may come as a surprise that wealthier shoppers are helping to fuel the retailer’s growth.

    For more than two years, the discounter has noticed more customers with six-figure incomes shopping on its website and in its stores. Households earning more than $100,000 made up 75% of the company’s market share gains in the fiscal third quarter, Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said on the company’s earnings call in November.
    Those newer and more frequent customers have helped support the company’s aspirations to sell more higher-margin items, such as clothing and home goods. They are driving Walmart’s e-commerce sales, which have grown by double digits for 10 consecutive quarters. And they can boost the retailer’s newer revenue streams, such as subscription-based membership program Walmart+ and its advertising business Walmart Connect.
    As Walmart reports its latest earnings on Thursday, Wall Street will be watching whether those upper-income customers are sticking around, after market share gains helped the retailer’s shares soar about 83% in the last year. Yet some investors have questioned whether Walmart’s traction with affluent shoppers has staying power, especially if the sticker shock of inflation cools.
    In an interview with CNBC, Walmart U.S. CEO John Furner acknowledged that the retailer has gained and then lost upper-income customers before, such as in 2008 and 2009 during the Great Recession. Affluent shoppers stretched their dollars at the big-box retailer, but then ultimately returned to competitors.
    This time, Furner said the gains will last because Walmart can save shoppers both time and money with e-commerce options.

    “It’s different because we deliver to you at the curb [of the store],” he said in the late January interview. “We deliver to your house. We deliver to your refrigerator. That whole Supercenter, which is an amazing retail format, is available in an hour or two for a large part of the country and growing really quickly.”

    Walmart has expanded its delivery options, including direct to fridge deliveries. Home deliveries are a key perk of its subscription program, Walmart+.
    Source: Walmart

    Delivering growth

    Walmart’s expanding digital services have helped convince higher-income shoppers to give it a shot, said Brad Thomas, a retail analyst and managing director at KeyBanc Capital Markets. Some of those newer or more frequent customers have joined Walmart+, a subscription-based membership program that includes perks like free home deliveries. Walmart+, which launched about five years ago, is Walmart’s answer to Amazon Prime.
    Walmart has not disclosed the program’s membership count, but it has reported double-digit membership income growth in each of the past four quarters.
    Thomas said e-commerce options wipe out a potential hurdle for affluent shoppers: a potential stigma about shopping at the big-box stores themselves.
    “There’s a customer in America that doesn’t think of itself as a Walmart shopper,” he said. “They think of themselves as a Target shopper or a Publix or a Whole Foods shopper and through the app and through the delivery capabilities, they can remain a non-Walmart core shopper, but get all the benefits of getting the branded items at Walmart prices.”
    As inflation forced shoppers of all incomes to hunt for deals, some wealthier consumers realized they can get the same national brands like Tide detergent or Bounty paper towels from Walmart cheaper and often faster than at Amazon because of Walmart’s nearby stores, he said.
    Walmart’s website and app have increased their selection, too, as the company has bulked up its third-party marketplace. Starting this summer, the company began offering premium beauty brands through its website, including hairdryers from T3 and perfumes from Victoria’s Secret.
    Shoppers can now find handbags from Chanel and Louis Vuitton, too. Last month, Walmart announced a deal with resale platform Rebag, which sells the items through Walmart’s marketplace.

    At Walmart’s flagship stores, similar to the one in Teterboro, NJ, the company plays up a lot of its exclusive brands such as activewear brand Love & Sports, and Beautiful, a kitchen and home decor line developed with Drew Barrymore.
    Melissa Repko | CNBC

    Yet as Walmart tries to keep those customers, it wants to encourage them to shop in person, as well. Walmart has stepped up investments in its stores to freshen its look and counter negative perceptions that higher-income shoppers might have.
    Walmart has sped up the pace of remodels for its more than 4,600 stores across the U.S., with plans to revamp about 650 locations per year, an acceleration from a prior cadence of 450 to 500 per year, said Hunter Hart, senior vice president of Walmart Realty.
    Remodeled stores have brighter lighting, wider aisles and mannequins, said Alvis Washington, Walmart’s vice president of retail brand experience. The stores also feature Walmart’s newer and more fashion-forward brands like Scoop and Free Assembly, and national brands that shoppers would recognize, such as Reebok.
    The discounter launched a new grocery brand, BetterGoods, last year with colorful packaging and creative flavors that looks similar to merchandise that shoppers might find at Trader Joe’s or Target.
    Walmart U.S. CEO Furner said some of those changes have drawn upper-income customers to the company’s stores and app.
    He said Walmart’s market share gains with affluent shoppers have come from online and in-store shopping, but added curbside pickup orders showed early signs of popularity with those customers. Even before the pandemic, Walmart saw that people who shopped with curbside pickup bought more higher-priced items, such as prime beef and seafood, Furner added.
    He said that still rings true: Walmart sees more premium items in the shopping baskets of customers who buy online, get home deliveries or use curbside pickup.
    Washington said Walmart treaded carefully with its store redesign, realizing it could risk its reputation for low prices and resonance with core customers, who typically have lower incomes. It promoted newer brands, but mixed in familiar staples, such as folded piles of inexpensive bath towels and denim.
    “Having a great, elevated experience and great value aren’t mutually exclusive,” Walmart’s Washington said, recounting the company’s approach. “So when we looked at this, it’s like, how do we do both and make sure we can gain new customers and maintain the customers that we have?
    When comparing remodeled stores to the rest of the fleet, Washington said higher comparable store sales reflect that customers like the different look. Walmart declined to provide specific numbers, saying it won’t release sales numbers until it reports fourth-quarter earnings.
    Walmart’s customer mix for its U.S. e-commerce business hasn’t changed, even as it attracts higher-income shoppers, according to an analysis by market research firm Euromonitor. About 34% of Walmart’s online customers in the U.S. last year had incomes of $100,000 and above, which is roughly flat compared with two years prior.
    Michelle Evans, global lead for retail and digital shopper insights at Euromonitor, said that indicates that Walmart is also gaining market share from lower- and middle-income customers.
    Walmart still has a smaller share of higher-income shoppers than some key rivals: 49% and 48% of online U.S. shoppers at Target and Amazon, respectively, have incomes above $100,000.
    Amazon remains a formidable competitor, especially when it comes to wealthier shoppers and general merchandise categories, Evans said. But Walmart’s biggest edge is its grocery department.

    Francesca and Sam Frink, who live in the Chicago area, started shopping each week at Walmart after signing up for its membership program, Walmart+. As two working parents, they said they appreciate saving time by getting groceries delivered to their home.
    Courtesy of Francesca and Sam Frink

    Grocery gains

    One of Walmart’s newer, higher-income shoppers is Francesca Frink. The 30-year-old lives in the Chicago suburb of Park Ridge, Illinois, with her husband, Sam, 1-year-old son and their English setter. The Frink family’s combined annual household income is more than $200,000.
    Last fall, Francesca Frink signed up for Walmart+ after her mother-in-law ordered a stroller from Walmart’s website and got it dropped at her door three hours later.
    Initially, she said she hesitated to order fresh foods from Walmart. She bought packaged items like pasta and flour. Yet over time, the couple began ordering a larger portion of groceries, dog treats and even clothes for their son from Walmart.
    The Frinks have stopped going to their old grocery store, Kroger-owned supermarket Mariano’s. They estimate that their weekly grocery bill is about 20% cheaper.
    Previously, the couple said they avoided Walmart because their nearest store is outdated. Yet Sam Frink said the game has changed with curbside pickup and home deliveries.
    “You don’t have to go in,” he said. “That’s the biggest thing.”
    Francesca Frink said home deliveries from Walmart, included in their Walmart+ membership, save the couple time while they juggle two careers, a toddler and a dog. Plus, she said she found that Walmart had the grocery items she wanted and even those she didn’t expect, including organic blueberries, natural peanut butter and specialty mushroom ravioli.
    Still, Francesca Frink said she still faces some apprehension from friends and family about buying groceries from Walmart.
    But she said they’ve been surprised when they’ve tried and liked food items from Walmart.
    In her day job, Euromonitor’s Evans tracked Walmart’s digital gains with higher-income shoppers. Yet she also saw it firsthand in her household.
    Her husband signed the family up for Walmart+. During the holiday season, he told her all of his Christmas purchases would be coming from the discounter.
    “He made a comment that all the gifts were coming from Walmart, and obviously that comes with a certain impression,” she said.
    So she was surprised when she opened his gift and discovered it was a Michael Kors tote.

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    Aviation industry urges Congress to approve emergency air traffic control funding

    U.S. aviation industry groups urged lawmakers to approve emergency funding for air traffic control.
    Their letter came three weeks after a deadly collision between a regional jet and an Army helicopter near Washington, D.C.

    An American Airlines Airbus A319 airplane takes off past the air traffic control tower at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia, January 11, 2023
    Saul Loeb | AFP | Getty Images

    The U.S. aviation industry on Wednesday urged Congress to approve “robust emergency funding” for air traffic control technology and staffing.
    Three weeks after a deadly midair collision near Washington, D.C., marked the worst air disaster in the U.S. since 2001, groups representing industry heavyweights like Boeing, major U.S. airlines, private aviation and a host of labor unions wrote to lawmakers calling for urgent funding and improvements to U.S. airspace.

    They also said the Federal Aviation Administration should be exempt from government shutdowns “to ensure a predictable funding stream to ensure continued safety and air traffic control personnel hiring and training.”
    A 2019 government shutdown left federal workers without pay for several weeks, including air traffic controllers and airport screeners. That shutdown ended hours after staffing shortages snarled flights at several major U.S. airports.

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    Hims & Hers to offer at-home blood draws and lab testing with new acquisition

    Hims and Hers Health has acquired at-home lab testing facility Trybe Labs.
    The acquisition will allow the telehealth company to provide at-home lab testing through its platform.
    The deal was completed through cash on hand and is expected to roll out over the next year.

    Hims & Hers Health announced Wednesday it has acquired New Jersey-based at-home lab testing facility Trybe Labs.
    The deal will allow the telehealth company to offer at-home blood draws and more comprehensive pretreatment testing to its users.

    “Access to richer data allows us to deepen the insights that providers can use on our platform to guide their clinical decisions for each individual patient,” said Dr. Patrick Carroll, Hims & Hers chief medical officer.
    “At-home lab testing is one more exciting step towards elevating the personal, comprehensive care customers in this country should expect,” Dr. Carroll added.
    Hims & Hers did not disclose terms of the deal, but said it funded it through cash on hand. The company told CNBC it will share pricing for the new testing options when the offering is made available to customers over the next year.
    The acquisition by Hims & Hers will offer competition to blood-drawing services such as Labcorp and Quest Diagnostics.
    The startup is expanding its services less than one year after it started offering compounded GLP-1 weight loss drugs. As Hims & Hers casts itself as a cheaper alternative to established companies, it recently took aim at the pharmaceutical industry in a Super Bowl ad, saying the industry is “priced for profits, not patients.”

    “The health care that customers expect and deserve today is on-demand care with treatments designed specifically for them,” said Dr. Carroll.
    While the company’s stock has been volatile, Wall Street has bought in this year. Shares had soared 141% in 2025 entering trading as of Tuesday’s close. The stock spiked more than 20% in trading Wednesday after the deal announcement.
    The new acquisition will add testing capabilities for LDL cholesterol, lipoprotein(a), cholesterol and apolipoprotein, the company said. It will also expand the company’s ability to offer access to care and treatments across a range of conditions including low testosterone and perimenopausal and menopausal support.

    The Tasso+ device is a blood lancet that collects whole liquid blood samples.
    Courtesy: Tasso Inc.

    Hims & Hers users will be given a blood lancet provided by home diagnostic testing company Tasso. The lancet is a single-use device that collects whole liquid blood samples and is cleared for premarket use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
    Users attach the device to their upper arm and press a button that triggers the lancet to prick the skin and draw a small amount of blood collected in a microtube.
    Providers on the platform will use the information collected as part of determining a treatment plan for patients.
    Hims & Hers said it will use data from the blood work — with patient identities removed — to accelerate its development of artificial intelligence-powered health care.
    Clarification: This story was updated to reflect that the new testing services will aid the company’s perimenopausal care.

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    JetBlue talking to ‘multiple airlines’ about a new partnership

    JetBlue is talking with carriers about a potential new partnership.
    A federal judge blocked JetBlue’s planned purchase of Spirit Airlines last year.
    Another judge ruled the carrier’s partnership with American Airlines was anticompetitive.

    A JetBlue plane takes off from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) on Jan. 03, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. 
    Mario Tama | Getty Images

    JetBlue Airways is talking with “multiple airlines” about a potential new partnership after federal judges struck down two previous deals, the carrier’s president said Wednesday.
    “If we find a deal that’s accretive, we’ll absolutely do it,” JetBlue’s president, Marty St. George, said at a Barclays industry conference.

    A federal judge in 2023 ruled the New York airline’s partnership in the Northeast with American Airlines was anticompetitive, while a different judge last year blocked JetBlue’s plan to acquire budget carrier Spirit Airlines, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last year.
    JetBlue representatives didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
    JetBlue, which marked its 25th year of flying this month, has been searching for partnerships and deals to grow, contending it must do so to better compete with larger carriers like Delta, American and United.
    St. George said a potential tie-up would benefit the company’s loyalty program, noting that customers say the frequent flyer points on JetBlue are not as strong as those of the big three U.S. carriers.
    “Given that we really don’t have full global earn and burn, I think to be able to add that to our network would be very, very helpful,” he said.

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    Embattled EV maker Nikola files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection

    Nikola filed for bankruptcy protection after failing to secure a buyer or raise additional funds to maintain operations.
    The filing marks the finale of the company’s yearslong fall from grace.
    Nikola’s core products are all-electric and fuel cell electric semitrucks.
    At its peak in 2020, Nikola was valued more than Ford Motor at $30 billion, inked a multibillion-dollar deal with General Motors and was considered the pinnacle of auto startups.

    U.S. Nikola’s logo is pictured at an event held to present CNH’s new full-electric and Hydrogen fuel-cell battery trucks in partnership with U.S. Nikola event in Turin, Italy, on Dec. 3, 2019.
    Massimo Pinca | Reuters

    DETROIT — Nikola Corp. — an auto startup that was once a favorite of Wall Street analysts and retail investors — filed for bankruptcy protection after failing to secure a buyer or raise additional funds to maintain operations.
    Nikola said Wednesday that it plans to pursue an auction and sale process of its assets, pending court approval. The company said it has approximately $47 million in cash to fund its bankruptcy activities, implement the sale process, and exit Chapter 11.

    “Like other companies in the electric vehicle industry, we have faced various market and macroeconomic factors that have impacted our ability to operate,” Nikola CEO Steve Girsky said in a release. “Unfortunately, our very best efforts have not been enough to overcome these significant challenges, and the Board has determined that Chapter 11 represents the best possible path forward under the circumstances for the Company and its stakeholders.”
    The proposed bidding procedures, if approved by the court, would allow interested parties to submit binding offers to acquire Nikola’s assets, purchased free and clear of Nikola’s indebtedness and certain liabilities. 
    The filing marks the finale of the Phoenix-based company’s yearslong fall from grace. At its peak in 2020, Nikola was valued more than Ford Motor at $30 billion, inked a multibillion-dollar deal with General Motors and was considered the pinnacle of auto startups to go public through reverse mergers and special purpose acquisition companies.

    Trevor Milton, founder of Nikola Corp., arrives at court in New York, on Monday, Sept. 12, 2022.
    Victor J. Blue | Bloomberg | Getty Images

    The company’s downfall has played out over years, ignited by scandals and lies involving its founder and former CEO and chairman Trevor Milton. The fast-talking, energetic, disgraced executive was convicted of wire fraud and securities fraud in 2022 for misleading investors about Nikola’s operations and zero-emissions technology.
    The controversies were first made public by short-seller Hindenburg Research after the deal with GM that included the Detroit automaker taking a $2 billion stake in the startup.

    Nikola’s core products are all-electric and fuel cell electric semitrucks, which it began producing in 2022. As of the third quarter of last year, the company had only produced 600 of the vehicles since then. Many of those vehicles have been recalled due to defects, costing the automaker tens of millions of dollars.
    Since moving from chairman to CEO in 2023, Girsky has kept Nikola moving forward, including its production of zero-emissions trucks, but the company’s capital has been dwindling.
    Nikola warned investors on its third-quarter conference call that the company only had enough cash to support its business into the first quarter of 2025 but not beyond. Nikola reported $198 million in cash to end the third quarter.

    Stock chart icon

    Nikola’s stock

    Girsky on the call in October said Nikola was “actively talking to lots of potential different partners who value what we do and value what we’ve built.”
    Girsky, a former bank analyst and GM executive, took Nikola public through his SPAC in June 2020. It was a catalyst for more EV companies to go public through SPACs.
    Similarly to Nikola, most, if not all, have failed to live up to their initial expectations. Many were the center of federal investigations, scandals and executive upheavals.
    Nikola’s stock has traded under $2 per share since early December. Factoring out a 1-for-30 reverse stock split last year, FactSet reports Nikola’s all-time closing price was nearly $80 in June 2020. More

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    KFC moves U.S. headquarters from Kentucky to Texas

    KFC is moving its U.S. headquarters from Louisville, Kentucky, to Plano, Texas.
    Parent company Yum Brands is calling remote workers back to the office.
    Many employers have been rethinking the location of their corporate headquarters due to lower taxes and changes to office space needs.

    Signage outside a Yum Brands Inc. KFC restaurant in Shelbyville, Kentucky, on Jan. 29, 2021.
    Luke Sharrett | Bloomberg | Getty Images

    KFC is leaving Kentucky.
    The fried chicken chain’s U.S. headquarters will move from Louisville, Kentucky, to Plano, Texas, owner Yum Brands said Tuesday.

    About 100 KFC U.S. employees will be required to relocate over the next six months.
    The relocation is part of Yum’s broader plan to have two corporate headquarters: one in Plano, the other in Irvine, California. KFC and Pizza Hut’s global teams are already based in Plano, while Taco Bell and the Habit Burger & Grill’s teams are located in Irvine.
    Additionally, Yum’s U.S. remote workforce, roughly 90 workers, will also be asked to move to the campus where their work is based.
    But Yum isn’t entirely abandoning Kentucky. The company and the KFC Foundation plan to maintain corporate offices in Louisville. Plus, KFC still plans to build a new flagship restaurant in its former hometown.
    Since the Covid-19 pandemic, many employers have been rethinking the location of their corporate headquarters, often spurred to move because of lower taxes and changes to office space needs due to the hybrid or remote workforce. With its business-friendly policies, Texas has been the most popular relocation choice, according to a 2023 report from CBRE.
    In 2020, Yum rival Papa Johns moved its headquarters from Louisville to Atlanta. It later canceled plans to sell its old headquarters, instead opting to hold on to the building for the corporate workers who stayed in Louisville.

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    U.S. homebuilders raise alarm over tariffs as sentiment falls to 5-month low

    Sentiment among the nation’s single-family homebuilders dropped to the lowest level in five months in February.
    The drop was largely due to concern over tariffs, which would raise homebuilder costs significantly.
    Sales expectations in the next six months took a major hit in the National Association of Home Builders’ Housing Market Index.

    Sentiment among the nation’s single-family homebuilders dropped to the lowest level in five months in February, largely due to concern over tariffs, which would raise their costs significantly.
    The National Association of Home Builders’ Housing Market Index, or HMI, dropped a sharp 5 points from January to a reading of 42. Anything below 50 is considered negative sentiment. Last February, the index stood at 48.

    “While builders hold out hope for pro-development policies, particularly for regulatory reform, policy uncertainty and cost factors created a reset for 2025 expectations in the most recent HMI,” said NAHB Chairman Carl Harris, a homebuilder from Wichita, Kansas.
    Of the index’s three components, current sales conditions fell 4 points to 46, buyer traffic fell 3 points to 29 and sales expectations in the next six months plunged 13 points to 46. That last component hit its lowest level since December 2023.
    Builders are already facing elevated mortgage rates. The average on the 30-year fixed mortgage rate was above 7% for January and February after earlier being in the 6% range. Home prices are also higher than they were a year ago, weakening affordability further.
    While President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Canada and Mexico, originally proposed to take effect in early February, were delayed roughly a month, builders are still expecting higher costs.
    “With 32% of appliances and 30% of softwood lumber coming from international trade, uncertainty over the scale and scope of tariffs has builders further concerned about costs,” said NAHB chief economist Robert Dietz.

    Homebuilder sentiment had been gaining steadily since August on the expectation of lower mortgage rates and, as the builders noted, potential pro-development policies. Single-family housing starts are trending lower than they were a year ago, despite a lean supply of existing homes for sale.
    The drop in builder sentiment, coming right before the all-important spring market, signals potentially even less supply in the market. Several homebuilders have noted the pullback in buyer demand in recent earnings reports.
    “Despite Federal Reserve actions to lower short-term interest rates, mortgage interest rates remained elevated in the fourth quarter, which impacted buyer demand as homebuyers continue to face affordability challenges,” said Ryan Marshall, CEO of PulteGroup, in its fourth-quarter earnings release.
    The share of builders lowering prices dropped to 26% in February, down from 30% in January and the lowest share since May 2024. Other sales incentives also fell.
    This may be because incentives are becoming less effective at attracting buyers, since high prices and high rates have reduced the pool of buyers for whom these benefits move the needle, according to the NAHB.
    When a buyer is solidly priced out, no incentive helps, and with rates remaining higher, the pool of marginal buyers may be shrinking. Offering incentives to buyers who would buy regardless of price or rates is of diminishing value for builders.

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    Nike teams up with Kim Kardashian shapewear brand Skims as it looks to reach more women

    Nike has signed a new “long-term” partnership with Kim Kardashian’s shapewear company Skims to launch a new brand called NikeSKIMS.
    The new brand will include a collection of apparel, footwear and accessories that will debut this spring, with a global rollout planned for 2026.
    Nike’s partnership with Skims comes as the company tries to win over more women and bring in new products as it faces criticism for falling behind on innovation and ceding market share to competitors.

    Mannequins displaying shapewear at a Skims pop-up shop at the Nordstrom flagship store in New York, US, on Sunday, June 9, 2024. 
    Bing Guan | Bloomberg | Getty Images

    Nike has teamed up with Kim Kardashian’s intimates brand Skims to launch a new line of activewear as the legacy sneaker giant looks to win over more women and better compete with Lululemon, Alo Yoga and Vuori, the companies announced Tuesday. 
    The new brand, dubbed NikeSKIMS, will include apparel, footwear and accessories. It will debut its initial collection this spring, with a global rollout planned for 2026. It is not clear what exactly the products will look like or what items will be included in the initial collection. The only image contained in Nike’s announcement was a graphic of the new brand’s logo. 

    Nike’s partnership with Skims, the buzzy shapewear brand created by Kardashian and Swedish entrepreneur Jens Grede, the brand’s CEO, comes as Nike looks to claw back the market share it has lost to upstart competitors and bring more women into the brand. 
    A new activewear line with the Skims name attached will give Nike an in with the types of shoppers who are buying activewear from Lululemon and newer competitors such as Alo Yoga and Vuori, which cater more to women than Nike currently does. 
    Nike has said previously that about 40% of its customers are women, but most apparel brands prefer to have more female consumers than male because they tend to shop more and spend more on clothes. Plus, this gender gap has allowed Nike’s competitors to get a foothold in the athletic apparel business, which could be a growth opportunity for the sneaker giant. In fiscal 2024, apparel only represented about 28% of Nike brand revenue. 
    Nike debuted a new ad campaign geared toward female athletes during the Super Bowl, its first big game advertisement in decades. The campaign, called “So Win,” highlights female athletes such as gymnast Jordan Chiles and Women’s National Basketball Association stars Caitlin Clark and Sabrina Ionescu. The spot touched on the challenges women have faced in sports and called on them to win, even though they have been told what they can’t do and who they shouldn’t be. 
    The campaign made it clear that reaching female athletes and capturing the buzz currently surrounding women’s sports will be a focal point of Nike’s strategy under its new CEO Elliott Hill. Not only will the Skims partnership allow Nike to better compete for women, but it will also bring in a new product line at a time when the company has been accused of falling behind on innovation and churning out the same legacy styles that are no longer exciting to consumers. 

    For Skims, which was last valued at $4 billion, the Nike partnership and access to its manufacturing and development capabilities brings a growth opportunity for a brand that is popular but still relatively small compared to competitors. Other intimates brands, such as Victoria’s Secret, have tried and largely failed to branch into activewear, so Skims might be able to prove itself a winner in the space with Nike by its side. 
    Plus, it bodes well for an initial public offering, which Skims has been considering. If Skims can show that it has more growth opportunities and a strategic partner like Nike, a public debut will be an easier sell to investors who are cautious on consumer companies amid tariff concerns, persistent inflation and a pullback on discretionary spending. 
    Grede has said previously that the retailer deserves to be a public company, but he told WWD in December that it has not yet made a decision on an IPO.

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