Due to the continuous expansion of online retailers and increased sales, the sportswear companies are finding it hard to reach the consumers. Furthermore, the trend of wearing Nike has a negative effect on other smaller businesses, decreasing their sales.

According to Nasdaq, Nike Inc.'s business is flourishing, but mom-and-pop sneaker shops are suffering from a major setback to their sales. The world's largest maker of sportswear and sneakers is struggling hard to boost its direct-to-consumer sales.

Increased online sales and industry consolidation have directly affected independent sportswear companies. Their major fear is failing to compete with vendors like Nike.

Brian Shelton, the founder and owner of Foothills Running Co., a specialty store in Cookeville, Tenn said, "In this day and age, with all the athletic brands doing direct to consumer on their own websites, if customers ever start to view your store as just a place where they go and pick up an item, like they go to the grocery store to pick up a loaf of bread, your value in the equation is diminished."

The fondness of athletic gear is casting a negative impact on these specialty retailers. The trend of wearing sporty clothes for non-sport activities is increasing. Now sportswear has moved beyond athletic retail and has taken place in fashion boutiques and department stores. This means that traditional sellers of sports gear have to struggle even more to hold on to their customer sale.

Results from Nike's most recent quarter showed that on Nov. 30, business on Nike.com which rose by 50% ended. On the other hand, the direct sales increased by 26%. It was due to the company's attempt to the direct sales to grow faster than wholesale, as mentioned by The Wall Street Journal.

Co-owner of the Potomac River Running chain in the Washington, D.C., area, Ray Pugsley, said that as Nike is boosting  its direct-sales business, other brands in the sportswear industry, like Brooks and Saucony will also tend to follow the same footings.

"They'll tell us with a straight face that online sales really don't do that much volume and it is to increase awareness of the brand, that we shouldn't be afraid," Mr. Pugsley said. "Time will tell whether that is a good story to put us at ease, or whether it could be the truth."

The wholesale ordering process is a disadvantage for small businesses. Most of the athletic retail operates on a future-ordering system, while retailers order the products from manufacturers like Nike in bulk around six months ahead of delivery, as reported by Morning Star.

The problem lies in the fashion taste which changes quickly with time. It gets difficult for the smaller stores to keep up as changing orders are quite expensive for them. However, it is affordable for large retail stores like Foot Locker Inc. to ship products directly from Nike or vendor's factories to their own shops.