Allbirds

How it happened

Allbirds was a direct-to-consumer footwear brand known for wool sneakers that reached a private valuation of about $1.7B before its 2021 IPO valued it around $2.1B. Slowing growth and persistent losses crushed the stock after listing. Glassdoor reviews from the retail floor chart the descent: staff described a mission-driven culture fading after the IPO, an over-fast store expansion that ended in waves of closures, and a churn of new products that strayed from the core sneaker loyal customers actually wanted. By 2026 the company was winding down, selling its IP and assets to American Exchange Group for roughly $39M — about 98% below peak.

Employee accounts paraphrase anonymous, unverified reviews posted publicly on Glassdoor ↗. See our methodology.