We visited the Nike, Adidas, and Puma flagship stores to see which serves customers best as the battle for sportswear heats up

Shoshy Ciment

Sep 4, 2019, 19:17 IST

We visited the Nike, Adidas, and Puma flagship stores to see which serves customers best as the battle for sportswear heats up

Nike and Adidas are the two largest sportswear brands in the US and constantly outrank other brands in the sportswear sector.
Puma is a smaller company, but its growth has been strong. Most recently, Puma reported a sales increase of 15.7% for the second quarter of 2019. It also opened a brand new flagship store on Manhattan's Fifth Avenue.
We visited the Fifth Avenue flagship stores of all three brands and saw how all the brands compare.
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When it comes to sportswear, Nike and Adidas reign supreme. But maybe they shouldn't get too comfortable.

Puma, a German sportswear company, is making notable gains. And though the company is smaller, its growth has been strong.

"The brand is much smaller than the big names but definitely getting some traction," Matt Powell, vice president and senior industry advisor at NPD Group, told Footwear News earlier in August.

After a strong year in 2018, Puma reported a sales increase of 15.7% for the second quarter of 2019. It also recently opened a flagship store on Manhattan's Fifth Avenue in New York City, only a few blocks from the flagships of both Adidas and Nike.

Puma doesn't have the same ubiquitous presence in the US as Nike and Adidas. And yet, executives say that the brand isn't vying for the coveted first place ranking that larger industry players occupy.

"I don't really see myself as having to compete against Nike and Adidas," said Puma CEO Bjørn Gulden, explaining that to him, success is producing a quality product for the consumer.

Puma North America's President Bob Philion agreed: "We think that we play in a different lane than those brands."

Puma's new Manhattan flagship represents the brand's commitment to the North American market, executives said. We visited all three Fifth Avenue flagships to see which truly deserved to be the number one brand and saw why Puma could threaten the dominance of Nike and Adidas as the gym and boutique fitness class market explodes.

Here was our experience:

We started out at Nike's flagship store on Fifth Avenue in New York City.

The entrance was nothing short of breathtaking. We started our journey by walking down what appeared to be a Nike hall of fame, featuring different mannequins in assorted Nike apparel.

The US women's national soccer team had just won the FIFA Women's World Cup when we visited, so the store was decked out in merchandise that was celebrating the victory.

Once we made it into the actual store, we couldn't believe our eyes. The entire store looked like the interior of a museum. On the walls, we found some merchandise behind glass and different epic looking photos of Nike-sponsored athletes.

Nike had announced a renewed commitment to female athletes earlier this year and it definitely showed in the store.

There were sections for different countries that paid homage to players from teams around the world.

And some of the jerseys were even for sale.

Nike sponsored 14 of the 24 teams in the 2019 Women's World Cup this year, including the winning USA team. We quickly found a photo of US Women's Soccer star Megan Rapinoe.

Overall the main floor was pretty epic, though it felt more like a museum than a place to buy clothes — we felt more like onlookers than shoppers.

We a found a couple of signs that told us about the perks of downloading the Nike app and becoming a NikePlus member, which did seem pretty enticing.

But we continued our journey and headed upstairs to see what else the store had to offer. We found ourselves in the middle of a large collection of women's clothes. Here, we found everything from running clothes ...

... to yoga attire, which was displayed nicely near this mannequin in a camel pose.

These shorts were going for $30.

We found the famous plus size mannequins that Nike debuted earlier this year to increase awareness of its plus-size offerings.

We also found a large kids section with everything from shoes to shorts. Nike recently launched a kid's shoe subscription service for kids called Nike Adventure Club.

The men's section was pretty standard. It didn't seem to have any clear organizational method and nothing really stood out to us here ...

... except for this t-shirt that referenced Nike spokesperson Colin Kaepernick that was going for $50.

There were also QR codes located throughout the store for customers to scan and view online.

We made our way to the Nike Sneaker Lab, a whole floor devoted to giving customers an inside look at the innovations and designs from Nike. This was definitely cool, but it seemed somewhat staged, and further enhanced that museum feeling we had felt earlier.

Famous for its trendy and iconic footwear, Nike delivered with its vast displays of different sneaker styles.

And a lot of people in the store seemed eager to try on some of the latest designs.

We even found ourselves drawn to this rainbow Nike Air Max silhouette.

The fifth floor was home to the Nike Expert Studio, where NikePlus members could receive personal services from professionals. It was a cool experience to walk through this multi-colored portal.

While the expert sessions seemed cool, we didn't like that the experience was limited to members of NikePlus. It gave the entire section a feeling of exclusivity.

Admittedly, Nike's store design was extraordinary. However, we didn't really feel like active participants in our journey throughout the store. As a non-Nike Plus member, the store was cool to look at, but there was little engagement beyond visual stimulation.

Next, we headed down Fifth Avenue to Adidas' flagship store.

From the get-go, Adidas made it clear what they wanted to be known for. Though it might not be as big as Nike, Adidas was capitalizing on being the "home of the classics."

The classic Stan Smith sneakers were displayed prominently in the center of the store. We noticed that there was a lot of open space here, so our attention was immediately directed toward this structure.

This main room was already markedly different than Nike. If the Nike flagship felt like a museum, this flagship felt like a cross between a chic garage and an upscale locker room.

This service counter was designed to look like a gym locker room. Here, customers could choose from services including online returns and a bag check.

The first floor was showing some men's clothes — we found these three mannequins that appeared to be in the middle of a workout.

We also found another area that was prominently featuring the classic Adidas design.

We headed upstairs and were met with this life-size statue of Adi Dassler — the founder of Adidas — hanging out in some bleachers.

The second floor had a lot more to look at. There was a lot of clothing up here as well as some other interactive add-ons, which we would get to later.

There was also a sale going on when we visited, which was a nice little coincidence.

All throughout the store, we noticed some glass-enclosed displays with different items highlighting real-life people in New York.

The men's clothing section had merchandise for a variety of sports, including tennis, golf, basketball, and running — we found shoes for various occasions as well, from sport to lifestyle.

Adidas had a caged area for customers to test the way they kick a soccer ball, which was a great immersive feature that elevated our browsing experience.

We also found an area for customers to personalize their own jerseys and t-shirts, which reminded us of the synthesis lab at Nike.

The women's section at Adidas was downstairs, below the main entrance to the store.

Like Nike, Adidas is trying to focus on the female consumer as well. It recently signed a deal with pop-culture icon Beyoncé in an apparent effort to win over women. Even so, the offerings in this department weren't extraordinary.

Like Nike, Adidas is trying to focus on the female consumer as well. It recently signed a deal with pop-culture icon Beyoncé in an apparent effort to win over women. Even so, the offerings in this department weren't extraordinary.

Nike's commitment to women was more apparent in the store, which probably had to do with the victory of the US women's national soccer team, which Nike sponsored.

Still, the merchandise in this section was decent.

We loved these Pride shorts for $30.

And there was a massive section devoted to women's shoes.

The Adidas store had some great features like the zone for testing kicking skills and the personalization station. But the store still lacked the immersive experience we were craving from a flagship store. Plus, the merchandise wasn't as inspiring.

So far, Nike is still in the lead. But when Puma opened its new Manhattan flagship, we had to stop by to see how it measured up.

The store made a great first impression with this giant classic Puma Suede sneaker that was waiting for us near the entrance.

The women's and kid's sections were downstairs, but we headed upstairs to start our journey on the second floor. Here, we found a Birch Coffee shop smack in the middle of the store.

Next, we surveyed the second floor. With only two floors, this flagship seemed smaller than those of Nike and Adidas.

However, there was a notable organizational structure to the layout of the store. Each section was organized by sport.

There were sections for soccer, golf, motorsports, and basketball. But we started in a general area with classic Puma merchandise, like these zip-up jackets.

We also found this display of the classic Puma Suede sole pattern ...

... which was actually the inspiration for the window design on the outside of the building.

CEO Bjørn Gulden told us that more than 50% of Puma's business is in footwear, so it was no surprise when we saw numerous displays of different shoe styles throughout the store.

After some general browsing, we stopped by the section for motorsports, a sport that Puma has a longstanding relationship with.

Here we found merchandise from Puma's own in-line brand and different Puma-made collections.

There were also some racing shoes on display.

Our first interactive stop featured this car-racing simulator where shoppers could "race" professional-grade F1 simulator cars through the streets of New York at a course that starts and finishes in the Puma flagship store.

In the soccer section, we found jerseys and cleats, some from different teams that Puma sponsors.

Nearby, we found a simulator where customers could test out shoes before buying them.

The screens in the cube mimicked the pitch of San Siro Stadium in Milan. Customers could kick around a soccer ball while being offered guidance by brand ambassadors and professional footballers Antoine Griezmann and Romelu Lukaku.

The screens in the cube mimicked the pitch of San Siro Stadium in Milan. Customers could kick around a soccer ball while being offered guidance by brand ambassadors and professional footballers Antoine Griezmann and Romelu Lukaku.

We checked out the golfing section next and found everything from clubs to polos.

There was a sizable basketball section as well, a market that Puma re-entered last year to great success. The company plans to further invest in basketball to help win over the North American market, executives told us.

In the basketball section, we found the essential ingredients for a video-gaming experience.

The program wasn't fully set up when we visited, but there was a large screen and gaming consoles. There were also some pillars of basketballs with the handprints of different basketball players, like Los Angeles Lakers center DeMarcus Cousins.

There were also a lot of basketball shoes here, which featured QR codes for customers to scan and learn more.

CEO Bjørn Gulden told us that "The border between performance and street has kind of disappeared." This blending of styles was evident in a lot of clothes we saw at Puma, which seemed stylish even outside the context of sports.

We found a customization studio near the back of the store, where shoppers had the chance to personalize Puma products with paints, dyes, patchwork, embroidery, laser printing, and other mediums.

We were told that the store would partner with different artists-in-residence every two weeks, beginning with Chinatown Market.

The table was covered in dozens of different logos and embellishment options.

Downstairs, we found a great section for kids, which included shoes, jackets, and accessories.

The women's section also had great options that seemed to capitalize on fusing lifestyle and sport.

There were options that looked suitable for those that were more athletically inclined ...

... but there were also more casual options that seemed great for everyday wear. Overall, we thought that Puma mastered the blend of lifestyle and sport the best.

Though the brand is smaller than Nike and Adidas, Puma's interactive experiences and innovative merchandise made it the superior flagship store without a question, perfecting the mix between inspiring and attainable. Larger brands might do well to take note of Puma's success.

Though the brand is smaller than Nike and Adidas, Puma's interactive experiences and innovative merchandise made it the superior flagship store without a question, perfecting the mix between inspiring and attainable. Larger brands might do well to take note of Puma's success.

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