Nike is among the biggest sellers of athletic apparel and footwear. However, there are many aspects of the company and some interesting facts about Nike that most people aren’t aware of.
Shoes for running were not always as fashionable and comfortable as they are now. They were often made by tire manufacturers and sluggish, heavy and bulky. They were also susceptible to causing feet to suffer from a swollen foot following a long run.
The track coach Bill Bowerman changed all that and created shoes that stood against the demands of professional sports. Together along with Phil Knight, Bowerman co-founded Nike in 1964. The company has grown into an international institution and an advertising giant with more than two-thirds of the U.S. footwear market from apparel to footwear and apparel. Look at some of the details that are behind the Swoosh.
Although most of the Western populace owns at least one item manufactured by Nike, there are many interesting undiscovered facts.
Amazing Facts About Nike
- It was established on the 25th of January 1964 by Bill Bowerman and Phil Knight.
- The headquarters are located within Washington County, Oregon, USA.
- A lot of hardcore supporters of the brand misspell the name “Nike.” The correct pronunciation is pronounced as ‘ny-kee’ name is derived from the Greek goddess of victory.
- With its solid swoosh, the well-known Nike logo was created at only 35 dollars by Carolyn Davidson, a student at Portland State University. Then she received an amount of more than 640,000 dollars worth in Nike products.
- The phrase ‘Just Do It”, now widely used throughout all over the globe, is created by Gary Gilmore’s final words. The serial killer said, “Let’s do it just before being executed.
- Nike sells clothing, footwear, and sports gear in hundreds of stores around the globe. There are over 90 million items sold each all year.
- Through the years, Nike has made some award-winning commercials. In 2000 and 2002, it received an Emmy award.
- One of Nike’s latest inventions is a pair of shoes that can be linked electronically to smartphones. The shoe is equipped with a computer device integrated into the shoe and connects to the phone of the person who wears the shoe.
- In the marketplace for athletic footwear, Nike takes up approximately 62% of sales, which makes it the most sought-after brand of sporting footwear.
- Nike isn’t the only company to design shoes that are suitable for normal wear. Tinker Hatfield, the shoe designer for Nike, designed his Bat boots for the very first Batman film. In addition, the hoverboarding shoes used in the film by Michael J. Fox on Back to the Future: Part II were developed by Nike.
- The biggest Nike store is located at Oxford Street in London and has four thousand square feet.
- The original pair was created by using a waffle iron which made grooves on soles. These grooves then helped grip the surfaces of the running tracks as athletes wore them.
- In 1978, Nike made a fresh commercial to promote their Air Max shoes, and for the first time, it was the first time a Beatles song was featured in the commercial. The song chosen for the commercial included Revolution No. 9.
- When the company first began, it was named Blue Ribbon Sports. Then, in 1971 the company’s name had been changed to Nike.
- The swoosh costs just $35.
- Nike’s Slogan: Inspired by a Murderer
- Nike and Adidas Competed for Michael Jordan
- The biggest Nike retailer is in London’s Oxford Street and has a high of 42,000 feet.
- Phil Knight, one of the co-founders, was keen that the brand name be altered of the company to “Dimension 6”, but ultimately, Nike was the preferred name of the two possible names.
- In 2015 there were more than 62,000 employees employed by Nike around the world.
- Nike products are produced in factories that aren’t part of the Nike company. Instead, contractors control the factories, and Nike provides them with the funds to make the products.
- Air Jordan 1 Air Jordan 1 was made famous by basketball star Michael Jordan; however, Jordan was not a fan of black and red when he first saw the shoes.
- Shaquille Rashaun O’Neal, also popularly known as Shaq, was spotted at a meeting with the Nike owners dressed in Reebok clothing. He did this because that he did not want to enter into any contract with Nike.
- Romanian tennis pro-Ilie Nastase endorsed Nike in 1972 following a contract with the company in 1972. Nastase was the very first tennis player to endorse Nike.
- In 2003, the well-known retailer of footwear Foot Locker ceased to stock Nike’s most expensive collections because they felt that the costs were too high.
- Zoom Air is one of Nike’s most loved shoes, first came onto the market in 1995. However, it was initially referred to as Tensile Air.
- Phil Knight was writing one of his college essays when he decided to launch his own shoe business. He believed that the shoes produced from Japan would compete against other companies in the sports industry that were in vogue at the time, for example, Adidas.
- Nike is a major supporter of The University of Oregon and their teams in sports by giving them exclusive gear and funding.
- The footwear of Nike is produced primarily by China, Indonesia, and Vietnam; however, many of the footwear has also been manufactured from the USA.
- Nike Golf, The Nike Golf division within the Nike company, was founded in 1984 in 1984 by Bill Wood; however, it gained traction only in 1996, when Tiger Woods was signed in 1996.
- A lot of the names for Nike’s products are derived from sports teams. For instance, the name “Columbia Blue is named in honor of the ‘Columbia Lions’ the team with the blue logo.
- Following the time that Nike showed apparel in the window of the Boston store with a message like “Get High,” the company was attacked by the mayor Thomas Menino.
- The company constantly tries to come up with new ideas for the market. In 1991, they launched denim golf shorts with acid wash, but they were not very well-liked.
- The wildly well-known LiveStrong bracelet first appeared in 2008, but Phil Knight was not convinced of the concept and ridiculed it in an interview on Oprah.
