2020 Industry Sneaker Report: The Biggest Stories of the Year 2020 Proved Michael Jordan Is Still the GOAT of Sneakers This year, everything paled in comparison to Covid-19’s devastating effects. The pandemic’s far-reaching tentacles altered the way we live — and likely will live for the foreseeable future. The way we work, the way we spend our free time, what we wear, how we spend our money, and much more was carefully re-examined by the majority of the world’s population over the past 10 months. That change also befell the sneaker industry. Drops were pushed back, in-store raffles were canceled, and stores had to close. While Covid-19 did not manage to bring the behemoth that is the sneaker community to a complete halt, however, the footwear industry took a double-digit hit on the retail level, according to NPD, who predict that sales trends are expected to recover and stabilize in 2021. StockX data, on the other hand, shows that an incredible amount of money was again spent on the resell market, which — at times — almost seemed pandemic proof. Make no mistake, though, each of the biggest footwear storylines of 2020 was impacted in some way or form by the pandemic, some changes tangible and some less so.