Nike

"Where do I buy the Nike shoes?"
-Tom Hanks as Victor Navorski, The Terminal

History of Nike
Corporate Sustainability & Responsibility
Did You Know? Trivia

History of Nike

Nike, Inc. (NYSE: NKE), headquartered in Beaverton, Oregon, is the largest and most successful brand of shoes, sports equipment, clothing, and controlling more than 60% of the market and becoming a pop culture icon. One might say that the Greek Goddess of Victory for which Nike was named is actually the Goddess of Shoes. Nike may be one of the youngest of the major brands, but it is the dominant brand around the world.

In 1963-1964 when University of Portland track coach, Bill Bowerman, and Phil Knight, a mid-distance runner joined forces to import and provide low-cost, high tech running shoes from Japan in order to provide alternatives to the German-dominated athletic shoe market. Operating under the name Blue Ribbon Sports, Bowerman and Knight began to sell the Japanese Onitsuke Tiger (now known as ASICS) running shoes. Jeff Johnson, a former rival of Knight, joins the company in 1965 as their first full-time salesperson and sells shoes from the back of his van at local and regional track meets until opening Blue Ribbon Sports' first retail outlet at 3107 Pico Blvd, Santa Monica California. Click here to see a picture of the Blue Ribbon Sports location in the present day. This store is no longer in existence, but the address remains.

Blue Ribbon Sports officially incorporates in 1967 and does business under this name until approximately 1970 when Bowerman's desire to improve on the shoe designs of Onitsuke Tiger and Knight's ambition to do more than simply import and resell running shoes. Inspiration must have struck Bill Bowerman over breakfast one morning because he borrowed the family waffle iron and pour rubber into to create the prototype for the now famous Nike Waffle Outsole. This invention led Bowerman and Knight to begin designing other shoes, and the company's new name, Nike, Inc. was born when Jeff Johnson, dreams of the Greek goddess of victory, Nike. A succession of shoes, many based on the waffle outsole follows. Some of the most famous are the Waffle Racer, Air Force One, Air Max 93, Max 95, and Air Max 97.

• 1971
Nike's Swoosh design logo was created by Portland State University graphic design student Carolyn Davidson when asked by Knight. He needed a logo to put on the side of his company's shoes. At the time she was paid $35 (US), and also worked for Nike for a few years until they needed a full ad agency. Twelve years later, in 1983, Ms. Davidson received a gold Swoosh ring with an embedded diamond at a luncheon honoring her, along with a certificate and an undisclosed amount of Nike stock, in recognition of the Swoosh design logo.
• 1979 Nike's Air technology patented by inventor M. Frank Rudy is introduced in the Tailwind running shoe. Gas-filled plastic membranes are inserted into the sole of running shoes to provide cushioning.
• 1980 Nike completes an initial public offering of 2,377,000 shares of Class B common stock on December 2.
• 1982 The Air Force 1 basketball shoe becomes the first Nike court shoe to make use of the Air technology.
• 1984 Nike signs Michael Jordan to an endorsement contract and releases the first model of his signature shoe, the Air Jordan. Originally, the NBA banned this new shoe, drawing a tremendous amount of publicity. The introduction of the Air Jordan shoe was a key event in Nike's successful development.
• 1986 Nike revenues surpass $1 billion for the first time.
• 1987 The Nike Air Max shoe is introduced, which uses a much larger Air cushioning unit, and for the first time is visible at the side of the midsole. This was the first of many generations of Air Max-branded technologies. A television ad featuring the Beatles' song "Revolution" was the first and only time that a song performed by the Beatles was used in a TV ad.
• 1988 Nike introduces its "Just Do It" slogan.
• 1989 Nike introduces a new type of footwear designed specifically for cross-training, and features two-sport athlete Bo Jackson in a series of memorable ads called "Bo Knows."
• 1990 Nike opens the first Niketown store in downtown Portland, Ore., and the store quickly earns numerous retail design and business awards. Over the next 10 years, Nike will open 14 more Niketown stores across the USA and in England and Germany.
• 1993 Nike introduces an innovative sustainability program, Reuse-A-Shoe, which collects athletic shoes, separates and grinds them up into Nike Grind. this is used in the making of athletic courts, tracks and fields.
• 1994 Nike signs a long-term partnership with the Brazilian national football (soccer) team, launching a company-wide effort to become the world's leading football brand.
• 1996 Nike signs Eldrick "Tiger" Woods soon after the young golfing phenomenon gives up his amateur status. Woods becomes the standard bearer for Nike Golf as that division gains market share.
• 1996 Nike causes controversy with advertising campaign at the Summer Olympics in Atlanta which features the slogan, "You Don't Win Silver — You Lose Gold." Nike's use of this slogan draws harsh criticism from many sources, including several former Olympic silver and bronze medalists.
• 1996 Nike opens Niketown New York, its signature 'flagship' store located in midtown Manhattan.
• 1998 Phil Knight formally commits Nike to strict standards for manufacturing facilities used by Nike, including: minimum age; air quality; mandatory education programs; expansion of micro loan program; factory monitoring; and enhanced transparency of Nike's corporate social responsibility practices.
• 1999 Bill Bowerman, co-founder of Nike, dies on Dec. 24 at age 88.
• 2000 Introduction of the Shox athletic shoe technology.
• 2002 Rap Star Nelly releases a chart topping song about Air Force Ones.
• 2003 Nike makes a successful bid to buy bankrupt rival Converse Shoes for $305 million.
• 2003 For the first time in the company's history, international sales exceed USA sales, as Nike continues to develop into a truly global company.
• 2003 Nike is named "Advertiser of the Year" by the Cannes Advertising Festival, the first company to earn that honor twice (also 1994) in the festival's 50-year history.
• 2003 High school basketball star LeBron James signs with Nike, while Syracuse University star Carmelo Anthony signs with Jordan Brand. James and Anthony finish 1-2, respectively, in rookie-of-the-year balloting.
• 2004 Phil Knight steps down as CEO and President of Nike, but continues as chairman. Knight is replaced by William D. Perez as CEO of Nike, effective Dec. 28.
• 2004 Annual revenues exceed $13 billion.
• 2004 In June, Chinese animator Zhu Zhiqianq, of Xiao Xiao fame, files a lawsuit against Nike for plagiarizing his cartoon stickmen in their commercials. Nike representatives deny the accusations, claiming that the stickman figure lacks originality, and is public domain. Zhu eventually wins the lawsuit, and Nike is sentenced to pay $36,000 to the cartoonist.
• 2005 Nike launches the Air Jordan XX, the 20th edition of the iconic Air Jordan basketball shoe series.
• 2005 Nike launches the Nike Considered line, an effort to reduce waste and introduce eco-friendly products.
• 2005 Business Week Magazine features an article about the enduring popularity of the Nike Air Force One.

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