Feet!

September 23rd, 2023| Topic: RaMbLeS | 0

It is apparently very difficult for a pair of Air Jordans to make it all the way from the Nike factory to a retail store shelf or to your front porch.

According to a recent report in The Wall Street Journal, Nike goods have been stolen at almost every step of the supply chain, from distribution centers, rail yards and storage trains to FedEx delivery trucks.

Just a few months ago the LAPD seized at least $3 million worth of Nike products that they say were stolen from a warehouse near the Port of Los Angeles. Thieves even got hold of pairs of an unreleased style of sneakers.

A few weeks earlier, LA County sheriff’s detectives arrested a dozen people who authorities say were part of a crime ring that over the past year stole around $750,000 in merchandise from one Nike store.

Said Keith Lewis, vice president of operations for a theft prevention and recovery network that often collaborates with law enforcement.

The supply chain is under attack right now.”

They want your shoes!

Nike, which generates more than $50 billion in annual sales, hasn’t disclosed the amount of merchandise it loses to theft.

The journey to the U.S. for a pair of Air Jordans starts at factories in Vietnam or China. The sneakers then take a winding path from Asia, with several stops at ports, warehouses and distribution centers before they arrive in stores or homes. A pair of shoes are at risk of being stolen at each stop. Reports of cargo theft across the supply chain increased by 63% during the first half of 2023 compared with a year earlier, and Nike products are attractive targets for these criminals, since Air Jordans and other designs regularly change hands for hundreds of dollars above the original price.

A tip led Los Angeles police in June to a warehouse containing millions of dollars worth of stolen merchandise, said police. Several containers of merchandise were stolen and diverted to the warehouse after making it through the Port of Los Angeles. And these stolen goods were being offered for sale through social media and at least three individuals bought items before authorities confiscated them.

Of course, there are also store burglaries. Nike’s East Los Angeles store reported about $750,000 worth of losses from merchandise thefts over one year, and a single crime ring was responsible for most of it, according to the LA County sheriff.

(And, it’s not just shoes. An LAPD task force has found thieves working for retail crime organizations have stolen everything from solar panels to chocolates and coffee.)

But what happens when my shoes are stolen?

The Bible has an answer—it involves God’s “feet” first:

In my distress I called upon Yahweh,
and to my God I cried for help.
He heard my voice from His temple,
and my cry for help before Him [His face] came to His ears. …
He spread the heavens also, and He came down,
with thunderclouds under His feet.
He rode upon a cherub and flew;
and He soared upon the wings of the wind.
Psalm 18:6, 9–10

And then ours:

He makes my feet like deers’,
and upon my high places stations me.
Psalm 18:33

Yes!

For You have rescued my soul from death,
my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling.
Psalm 116:8

And so …

From every evil path I have withheld my feet,
in order that I may keep Your word.
Psalm 119:101

Because …

A lamp to my feet is Your word,
and a light to my pathway.
Psalm 119:105

SOURCE:The Wall Street Journal