The rise and fall of Allbirds: The sneaker company whose stock went from IPO darling to trading below $1

According to its initial filing with the SEC, Allbirds’ mission was to “make better things in a better way, through nature.” 

Brown’s background included serving as the vice-captain of New Zealand’s soccer team.

The company ended up raising nearly $120,000 to make a wool running shoe designed to make a lighter environmental impact than traditional athletic shoes.

For Allbirds, the designation codified, “how we take into account the impact our actions have on all of our stakeholders, including the environment, our flock of employees, communities, consumers, and investors.”

Time magazine said Allbirds’ hero product, the Wool Runner, was the “World’s Most Comfortable Shoes.”

By 2018, direct-to-consumer business plans proliferated. In 2018, Inc. reported that more than 400 startups were trying to “become the next Warby Parker.”

In August 2017, Allbirds got another shot of national publicity when The New York Times described Wool Runners as part of the Silicon Valley uniform.

The 1,450-square-foot store is located in New York City’s Soho neighborhood. In 2022, the company operated 58 stores.

But the shoe started to fall out of favor with the trendsetters and the press, with GQ even lamenting the sight of Obama wearing them. “Can’t someone send him a pair of Jordans?” the magazine wrote.

With the success of Wool Runners waning, Allbirds launched its first performance-running shoe, called the Dasher, in May 2020. Gear Patrol called it “shockingly good.”

Large footwear brands are typically reluctant to partner with one another. The shoe, called the Adizero x Allbirds 2.94 kg CO2e, had the lowest carbon footprint of any Adidas or Allbirds sneaker.

Sales increased from $193.7 million in 2019 to $219.3 million in 2020, but losses also increased, growing from $14.5 million in 2019 to $25.9 million in 2020. 

A little more than 2,100 days after it launched its Kickstarter campaign, Allbirds went public on November 3, 2021. Shares soared 90% on the opening day of trading, CNBC reported, a sign of Wall Street’s bullish outlook for the company.

After the Securities and Exchange Commission objected, Allbirds dropped claims about being the first “sustainable” IPO, the Financial Times reported in November 2021.

Although it was launched as a direct-to-consumer company, in May 2022, Allbirds announced its first wholesale partners, Zalando and Public Lands, then Nordstrom — a signal that DTC sales would not be enough to get the company to profitability.

“It’s the de-DTC era,” said Simeon Siegel, the managing director for equity research at BMO Capital Markets. Analysts, such as Siegel, said the benefits of direct sales were often overstated.

Allbirds shares, which hit $28.64 on the company’s first day of trading, had fallen to under $5 fewer than eight months later. Stock pickers said the company needed to expand beyond Wool Runners.

Roughly five years after The New York Times christened Wool Runners part of the Silicon Valley uniform, The Wall Street Journal in December 2022 said that “tech bros” had moved on.

On a call with stock analysts, executives announced a sweeping four-part reorganization, including slowing the pace of store openings, adding more wholesale partners, and working to “reignite product and brand.” Co-CEO Joey Zwillinger also said some of the company’s marketing veered too far away from what Allbirds consumers want, including marketing for the Tree Flyers, above, which focused on its technical-performance attributes.

As part of the reorganization plan, Zwillinger said the company was considering adding more wholesale partners. By then, the company’s wholesale partners included Nordstrom, REI, Scheels, and Dick’s.

Allbirds hired several Nike and Adidas veterans to run the office, including Ashley Comeaux, who spent more than 10 years at Nike before becoming Allbirds’ vice president of product design.

Risers and Pacers have already gotten strong reviews from Insider.  Although the new products have been well-received, shares of the company remain well below the $15 IPO price, trading for $1.23.

Since then, the company has focused on its best-sellers, the Wool Runner and Tree Dasher, while it discontinued underperforming products like much of its apparel, the Wall Street Journal reported. 

In June, the company released what it said was the world’s first carbon-negative shoe, which it calls the M0.0NSHOT.

Brown said he would be stepping into the role of chief innovation officer of the company, leaving fellow co-founder Joey Zwillinger as the sole CEO of the company.

The shoe company generally had a disappointing start to 2023. The company reported a 13% decline in year-over-year revenue in the first quarter.

In a July article, Brown and Zwillinger told the Wall Street Journal that their attempts to appeal to customers younger than its 30- to 40-year-old base didn’t go over well. The Tree Flyer was one of those attempts that missed the mark. 

The company reported second-quarter earnings were above expectations. Sales fell 10% compared to a projected 18%.  

“We laid out a road map for our strategic transformation back in March, and now two quarters into our work, we have gained traction and are solidly on track to drive toward profitability expectations,” Zwillinger said in an August earnings call. 

The Wool Runner 2 has been updated with a new version of its SweetFoam midsole and improved durability, Retail Dive reported. 

The company also promoted COO Joe Vernachio to CEO, with Zwillinger stepping down to serve as a special advisor and remaining on the board of directors.

In a statement, Allbirds said its stock must trade above $1 for at least 10 consecutive days in the next six months in order to stay in Nasdaq’s good graces.

Matthew Kish, Ben Tobin, and Jennifer Ortakales-Dawkins contributed to earlier versions of this article.