Nike plans Bengaluru campus as it pursues turnaround
Nike expects its Bengaluru campus to open in the next few years, a long-term India investment while it cuts costs and works to revive China sales.
By Hana Yoshida · Markets Reporter
3 min read
Nike plans to build a global campus in Bengaluru, India, that it expects to open within the next few years, CNBC reported. The Nike India campus Bengaluru plan is a long-term investment during a wider turnaround effort that includes layoffs, supply-chain changes and a reorganization of the company’s geographic operations.
Nike announced the campus alongside its fiscal first-quarter results on Oct. 1, according to CNBC. Chief Executive Elliott Hill told employees that India was already an important growth market and manufacturing hub for the company, with local capabilities and access to talent.
The site is intended for corporate roles across the Nike brand, Jordan Brand and Converse. Nike has not disclosed a cost, staffing total, exact opening date or detailed list of functions for the campus in the information reported by CNBC, though it said it would provide more detail at an investor day the following month.
What will Nike’s Bengaluru campus do?
The planned campus is a corporate facility, rather than a stated retail expansion or manufacturing plant. A Nike spokesperson told CNBC that growing participation in running, basketball, football, fitness and other sports gives the company an opportunity to improve local capabilities, consumer insight and innovation in India.
That strategy is aimed at building a longer-term position in the country, not delivering an immediate fix to Nike’s current performance pressures. CNBC reported that Nike expects its Pace program to produce about $2.5 billion in savings through fiscal 2031; the program includes changes to its supply chain and the way it organizes geographic segments.
Why is Nike investing in India during a cost-cutting drive?
The investment comes as Nike works to reverse a prolonged downturn under Hill. Its Greater China revenue fell 26% in the fiscal first quarter, CNBC reported, and Hill said the company was taking steps including updating physical stores, improving its digital operations and creating better consumer experiences there. He said those efforts would take time.
Nike said China remains one of its most important long-term growth markets even as it adds capacity in India. The Bengaluru project therefore does not replace Nike’s China strategy; it adds another market where the company says it sees room to grow.
Outside observers told CNBC that the campus alone will not ensure sales. Simeon Siegel, a senior managing director at Guggenheim Securities, said Nike would need products that appeal to customers, strong brand messaging and broad distribution in India. He said the investment could support a more durable future if China remains weak.
Jessica Ramirez, co-founder and managing director of advisory firm The Consumer Collective, told CNBC that the India plan was not an immediate answer to Nike’s problems. She said the company also needed to address near-term issues while developing both the Indian and Chinese businesses.
India’s retail market is expected to become the world’s third largest by 2030, according to a projection from Reliance Industries cited by CNBC. Whether Nike can turn that opportunity into revenue will depend on details the company has yet to disclose and on its ability to win customers in the market.
This story draws on original reporting from CNBC.