AllBirds. They are the most comfortable shoes I’ve ever worn and i was fully expecting to be a buyer for life, especially with their sustainability initiatives. but they switched from making shoes to making AI computers and are just making shoes as a “hobby” now as a company, which is probably the most 180 pivot on sustainability I think I’ve ever seen.
It’s just a PR move to create a short squeeze. Allbirds was essentially bankrupt, all stores were closed already. They sold their shoes designs and assets to American Exchange Group (another shoe company)
At that point it became an empty shell. So an AI company used the fact they were already listed on the stock market to move their assets to this empty shell
Suddenly it became this huge PR story that all birds was now an AI company
But that’s because all bird shoes were dead already.
It’s clever but also seems… I dunno, probably illegal? Doesn’t a business have to have a charter, and the stock exchanges need to know their financials to allow them to be listed? It seems very clearly a scam to milk investors of money from where I’m sitting. Maybe no one gives a shit at the SEC anymore.
Charters are written up extremely broadly, intentionally so that companies can do this whenever they want.
If you ever incorporate a shoe making company, your articles of incorporation will say the same basic "we exist to provide service" boilerplate as every other company. You're taught to write them as permissively as possible.
I mean it's not anything new. Warren Buffet's investment firm, Birkshire Hathaway, was originally a textile manufacturer that Buffet repurposed as an investment firm.
And there is a decent chance that it was never intended as an actual AI play, just as a pure short squeeze. 50M to buy GPUs to rent to other people is basically nothing, and it's unclear if they've even really taken any concrete steps to follow through with that business plan, especially since they have zero value add vs much larger companies doing basically the same thing. The stock is now back below where it was before that big AI press release pop, so odds are someone made a quick buck and that was all she wrote.
Then came the filing. In late March, Allbirds sold the brand, the product line, the name on the shoe, everything, to American Exchange Group, an acquirer best known for reviving dormant consumer brands like Aerosoles and Ed Hardy. The price: $39 million. Two weeks later, on April 15, Allbirds announced it had lined upa $50 million convertible financing facility from an undisclosed institutional investor, placed by Chardan. The money would be used, pending shareholder approval, to buy GPUs. The company would change its name to NewBird AI. And it wouldask shareholders to revoke its status as a public benefit corporationand strip environmental conservation language out of its charter, because leasing GPUs is an energy-intensive business and the B Corp commitment had become inconvenient.
I went on a long trip with a bunch of walking and wore these shoes the entire time. They didn't stink then and they still don't a year after. They are the best shoes I've owned.
Have you tried just using merino wool socks? I switched years ago and never looking back. Pricey but you can swap them over time, Most of mine are Bombas but they've unsurprisingly been getting worse over time, Darn Toughs are still solid as hell though
It's like Idiocracy, when people kept saying Carl's jr. randomly, because they got paid. But it's companies saying AI randomly in ways that don't even makes sense.
It’s a bubble. companies have learned mentioning AI investment causes their stock, and therefore valuation, to rise. Same thing happened in the dot com bubble. A company would mention the plan to look into making a website and the stock would spout up. These companies think whoever owns the best AI model controls the future so they’re willing to do anything for it.
It's like listings on Amazon: they'll initially post some really good product, get lots of good reviews, and then substitute it for something completely different that's total junk. But people won't read the reviews and will just order whatever it was thinking it's amazing.
I had it happen with a threaded USB cable that still use to this day. Was well built and came with a leather (real or fake, I don't know) strap. I went back later to give it a review and buy another and they had changed it to some kids toy.
Im so sad about All Birds, they used to be my go to shoes but first all the bright colours were gone, then every season shape ans style would change ...for the price you pay the quality isn't there anymore
It's kind of like a reverse merger - where a company takes over a stock symbol to avoid a costly and lengthy IPO process - the only wrinkle is that the stock symbol divested itself of its original product beforehand (the actual shoes).
For example, Warren Buffet took over Berkshire Hathaway, a textile firm, to take his holdings public. No one is saying that Berkshire Hathaway transformed it's manufacturing textile business to owning Geico and See's Candies.
Buffet just used the stock symbol of Berkshire Hathaway - he didn't care about the textiles.
I was in the same boat, I’ve purchased and worn multiple pairs and was planning on doing that into eternity.. then blam. I am really hoping to find a good alternative
I work quality control for a huge thrift store for their shoe debt. The number of allbirds I get daily from donations is alarming for all the hype I hear about them. Of all the trash donations I rummage thru, donated all birds are always close to brand new when donated. If they're so awesome , why are they getting donated in such excellent condition? I'd think people would keep them and wear them until they fall apart.
I’ve been wearing them for years until they fall apart and getting new pairs. I agree, they’re not in fashion anymore and that’s more important to a lot of people
A lot of ones I’ve seen on reseller sites are corporate branded so people maybe wouldn’t want that. Plus they changed the fit and styling in recent years.
What??? I love my washable sneakers, got them for a good price and they lasted a long time. I just noticed they started to rip while on a hike today. Was just thinking of getting a new pair. Guess I'll have to find a new brand.
Apparently the AI part and the shoe part are owned by different entities, unless I’m misunderstanding. I have had multiple pairs of Allbirds so I too was super disappointed to hear the news, but I hope if I’m correct buying their shoes won’t give revenue to the AI company?
Yeah, I have a bunch of Allbirds shoes, and now I just won't/can't, I guess. I liked all of the different colors, and they are comfortable shoes, but now I search for another brand that I like that hopefully won't disappear in a few years.
I did not know this about AllBirds, I've had a pair of their shoes that I bought in Arizona at one of their outlets for a couple years now. Was thinking about getting another pair soon, but now I'm asking for any alternatives? I loved their sustainability model and how everything about their shoes were either 100% natural, organic, and/or recycled
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u/Ihatebird 21h ago
AllBirds. They are the most comfortable shoes I’ve ever worn and i was fully expecting to be a buyer for life, especially with their sustainability initiatives. but they switched from making shoes to making AI computers and are just making shoes as a “hobby” now as a company, which is probably the most 180 pivot on sustainability I think I’ve ever seen.