For the first decade of the millennium, it was the hip Södermalm neighborhood in central Stockholm where the sneaker world turned its attention when it came to product releases for limited-edition shoes. Outside the store of Swedish sneaker retailer Sneakersnstuff, or SNS as the industry, colleagues and sneaker fans all over the world called it, the queues were hundreds of meters long, when SNS released a limited-edition model together with Adidas, Nike, Puma or Reebok. Yesterday, after 25 years in the retail spotlight, the company filed for bankruptcy at the Swedish Companies Registration Office in Stockholm.
Starting as a small shop in the middle of hip Stockholm, the two sneaker-loving friends Erik Fagerlind and Peter Jansson wanted to try to create a store that sold only unique sneakers and preferably limited-edition products. The two friends had the right idea with their business concept. The response from end consumers was even greater. Demand for sneakers other than those sold by the big department stores in the first years of the millennium grew like wildfire. For 20 intense years, SNS increased its sales of sneakers every year. The products were extended to clothing, accessories and collaborations with brands such as Adidas, Nike, Reebok, Vans and others, making SNS world-famous in the sneaker industry.
The store network expanded with stores in sneaker-dense, fashion-conscious world cities such as New York, Los Angeles, Tokyo, Berlin, London and Paris. E-commerce was launched and in 2018, SNS had a turnover of SEK 500 million and delivered sneakers to 70 countries worldwide.
Symptomatically, 2018 was also the beginning of the end for SNS. After the venture capital company FSN Capital bought most of the company for just over SEK 500 million kronor (€50m), SNS was able to further increase sales pressure. Turnover increased, and in 2021 SNS reached the dream threshold of SEK 1 billion (€100m) and had around ten stores on three continents, but the good years were over. Like so many other retail chains, the pandemic was certainly devastating. No matter how well-tuned the logistics of online shopping were, people did not shop in physical stores in the same way for several years or even after the global health crisis.
One year after the pandemic, in 2023, sales were down to SEK 581.5 million (€58.1m), while operating profit fell by almost SEK 40 million (€4m) in one year. From a surplus of SEK 7.5 million (€0.75m) in 2022, the result in 2023 was -30.6 million (€-3m). Although FSN added millions in 2023 and 2024, the company did not manage to reverse the trend.
The company states that several combined trading challenges in the sports fashion industry became too difficult. Global competition in retail, rising interest rates, high inflation, global political unrest and not least “the demand for exclusive limited-edition sneakers has declined significantly in recent years, the company notes.
Despite the fact that since the end of the pandemic, around 2021/22, SNS has closed stores in the US, made staff cuts and saved in every way within the company, the negative economic development has not been prevented, they explain.
“Over the past three years, the company has taken a number of countermeasures, but these efforts have not been sufficient to overcome the challenges. Despite store closures, capital injections and staff reductions, it has not succeeded. Numerous dialogues with potential investors were initiated. But a suitable opportunity did not present itself,” writes SNS.
The bankruptcy concerns the entire business, including all subsidiaries around the world, foreign stores and e-commerce and affects 69 people.
One of the partners, Erik Manzano Fagerlind, who left the company in 2021 but has remained a passive partner, has expressed his sorrow over the bankruptcy.
“For me personally, the bankruptcy marks the end of a rather lengthy process that has been going on for a couple of years. I have already lived through this grief and am now looking forward. My heart goes out to everyone working at and with SNS around the world,” said Fagerlind, who nevertheless hopes for a fresh start for SNS.
“I believe and hope that there is an opportunity to move SNS forward.”
