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Nike: Nike Skateboarding
built 161 days ago
While these acquisitions were unfolding in the United States, Nike was pushing hard into overseas markets, and by 2003 international sales exceeded domestic sales for the first time. Starting in 2002 the company ... concentrated on building an extensive program to address the perennial charges of labor exploitation. Nike began allowing a monitoring organization it had cofounded, the Fair Labor Association, to conduct random factory inspections. It also built an in-house staff of approximately 100 employees to inspect hundreds of factories and grade them on labor standards. In early 2005 Nike took an unprecedented step toward greater transparency by issuing a list of its more than 700 contract factories. Such moves provided the basis for an improving relationship between Nike and its critics.
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Nike is the undisputed leader of the global basketball market, with top market share and relationships with the game’s best players. In the United States, the company recently announced a partnership with Foot Locker to open up to 50 House of Hoops retail stores dedicated to basketball and featuring exclusively Nike, Jordan and Converse product. The first House of Hoops by Foot Locker store is expected to open in New York in early 2008. In Europe, the company recently announced a five-year partnership as the official basketball supplier for Euroleague Basketball. In China, basketball is a key growth driver as one of the country’s most popular sports.
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Nike has a number of celebrity athletes and professional teams to focus attention on their products. Nike has signed top athletes in many different sports such as professional football (soccer) players,Guillermo Ochoa, Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney, Ronaldo, Robinho, Ronaldinho, and Mia Hamm, basketball players LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Manu Ginobili and Vince Carter, American football players Brian Urlacher and LaDainian Tomlinson, cyclist Lance Armstrong, golfer Tiger Woods. tennis players Serena Williams, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, John Isner and Maria Sharapova, skateboarder Paul Rodriguez Jr., boxer Manny Pacquiao, track athlete Alan Webb, and Formula One racers Felipe Massa and Michael Schumacher. Nike's first professional athlete endorser was Romanian tennis player Ilie Năstase, and the company's first track endorser was distance running legend Steve Prefontaine. Pre was the prized pupil of the company's co-founder Bill Bowerman while he coached at the University of Oregon. Today, the Steve Prefontaine Building is named in his honor at Nike's corporate headquarters.
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This year Nike has brought a new Dunk Low for the ladies. This pair comes in black, yellow, brown, and hot neon pink. They’re now available at select Nike accounts for $75. via theshoegame
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Nike enjoyed record results in the fiscal year ending in May 2004, posting profits of $945.6 million on revenues of $12.25 billion. Profits surged past the $1 billion mark the next year, hitting $1.21 billion, while revenues jumped to a new high of $13.74 billion. Late in 2004 Knight stepped aside from his executive position, while remaining chairman, to bring William D. Perez onboard as president and CEO. Perez, a marathon runner and avid golfer, was hired away from S.C. Johnson & Son, Inc., the family-controlled consumer products company, where he spent 34 years and rose to the top as president and CEO. His vast international experience was expected to help Nike as it continued its expansion abroad, and Perez was known as an excellent marketer with a stellar reputation of acquiring and managing well-known brands. Within months of Perez's appointment, Nike's need for such an experienced hand appeared to grow when adidas-Salomon AG agreed to buy Reebok International Ltd. for approximately $3.8 billion.
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Nike ... worked with Team USA goalies Sara DeCosta and Sarah Tueting in a unique collaboration to create one-of-a-kind hockey mask designs. Working with artist Janene Dunbar from Long Beach, California, the masks reveal personality, patriotism and determination of these female athletes. Only two copies of each design were created: each goalie will get to keep one and the other will be available for bidding on eBay. All proceeds from these masks will benefit the newly-formed Salt Lake City Girls Hockey Program. Nike became a founding member of the program when it donated $100,000 in cash and product.
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