Anthropologie is chasing a shopper it didn’t used to think much about: the sneakerhead. The Urban Outfitters-owned retailer just added Nike to its footwear assortment, marking the first time it has carried the sneaker giant, and the timing tracks with a real shift in its customer base. Traffic to Anthropologie’s sneaker category has climbed nearly 30% over the past year, while the number of customers buying any kind of shoe is up 15%.
The Nike rollout starts with nine styles and will be available across the brand’s stores by September 21, with about 40% of the retailer’s sneaker investment reserved for exclusive, U.S.-only product. It’s a notable expansion for a company better known for flowy dresses and home goods than performance footwear, but Jessica Irick Peek, Anthropologie’s general merchandise manager for footwear and accessories, says the math is simple: shoe buyers are its best customers. “If they are purchasing shoes, they are in our most valuable cohort,” she told Glossy.
The bigger story may be how far footwear has spread through the business. Shoes are now sold in roughly 200 of Anthropologie’s 250 stores, up from just eight a few years ago, and one in five apparel shoppers now also buys shoes there. The company’s in-house shoe brands are riding the same wave, with Maeve alone seeing a 32% jump in footwear customers.
It’s also a bet on a category that’s outperforming the rest of retail. Sneaker and performance-shoe sales in the U.S. grew 6% in the first half of 2026, six times the growth rate of footwear overall. For Anthropologie, adding Nike isn’t just a merchandising tweak, it’s a signal that comfort and athletic-adjacent style have become part of its core customer’s wardrobe, not a category to leave to specialty retailers.
