For sale: Allbirds shoes, never worn

Allbirds, the trendy wool shoe company that made headlines in 2021 with a $4 billion valuation on its first day of trading, agreed to sell all of its assets for $39 million yesterday to American Exchange Group, the owner of the Ed Hardy brand.

Popular among people who call themselves disruptors on LinkedIn the Silicon Valley crowd, Allbirds embarked on a precipitous fall not long after an IPO that raised $348 million, enabling the company to grow too big, too fast:

• The eco-friendly shoemaker expanded to 60 brick-and-mortar stores globally by the end of 2023. Now, it will shutter all but two outlets and two retail spots.
• It also introduced new products that didn’t sell. That included leggings, which the company discovered were see-through after ordering tens of thousands in 2022. They were discontinued a year later.

Allbirds ended every year as a public company in the red, per FactSet. Sales fell from a high of $297.8 million in 2022 to $189.8 million last year.

Wild ride: After word of the sale broke, the share price jumped 36% after hours on Monday, then plummeted as much as 16% during mid-day trading yesterday before finishing slightly up at close.

Next step: Allbirds will seek shareholder approval for the sale at the end of this month. The deal is expected to close in Q2.—DL