Nike, Inc.
, formerly (1964–78) Blue Ribbon Sports, American sportswear company headquartered in
Beaverton, Oregon. It was founded in 1964 as Blue Ribbon Sports by Bill Bowerman, a track-and-field
coach at the University of Oregon, and his former student Phil Knight. They opened their first retail
outlet in 1966 and launched the Nike brand shoe in 1972. The company was renamed Nike, Inc., in 1978
and went public two years later. By the early 21 st century, Nike had retail outlets and distributors in
more than 170 countries, and its logo—a curved check mark called the “swoosh”—was recognized
throughout the world.
Nike logo
Nike logo
Logo of Nike.
© pixfly/Shutterstock.com
Nike, Inc.
QUICK FACTS
DATE
1964 – present
HEADQUARTERS
Beaverton
AREAS OF INVOLVEMENT
Shoe
Retailing
Manufacturing
Sportswear
From the late 1980s Nike steadily expanded its business and diversified its product line through
numerous acquisitions, including the shoe companies Cole Haan (1988; sold in 2012) and Converse, Inc.
(2003), the sports-equipment producer Canstar Sports, Inc. (1994; later called Bauer and sold in 2008),
and the athletic apparel and equipment company Umbro (2008; sold in 2012). In 1996 the company
created Nike ACG (“all-conditions gear”), which markets products for extreme sports such as
snowboarding and mountain biking. In the early 21 st century Nike began selling sports-technology
accessories, including portable heart-rate monitors and high-altitude wrist compasses.
Part of Nike’s success is owed to endorsements by such athletes as Michael Jordan, Mia Hamm, Roger
Federer, and Tiger Woods. The NikeTown chain stores, the first of which opened in 1990, pay tribute to
these and other company spokespersons while offering consumers a full range of Nike products. In the
1990s the company’s image briefly suffered from revelations about poor working conditions in its
overseas factories.
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
This article was most recently revised and updated by Amy Tikkanen, Corrections Manager.
LEARN MORE in these related Britannica articles:
Cristiano Ronaldo
…contract from the sportswear company Nike. Moreover, he established his own successful “CR7” brand
of……
Beaverton
Beaverton, city, Washington county, northwestern Oregon, U.S., in the Tualatin Valley,……
Oregon: flag
Oregon
Oregon, constituent state of the United States of America. Oregon is bounded to the north……
Newsletter icon
HISTORY AT YOUR FINGERTIPS
Sign up here to see what happened On This Day, every day in your inbox!
Email address
Email address
By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Notice.
ArticleMediaAdditional Info
Home
Politics, Law & Government
Banking & Business
Retailing
Business
https://www.google.com/amp/s/simconblog.wordpress.com/2015/01/20/nike/amp/
Founded by two visionary men who pioneered a revolution in athletic footwear, Nike has redefined the
sportswear industry. In existence for over 40 years, today, Nike is the largest seller of apparel, athletic
footwear, and equipment in the world. Like many companies of that era, Nike had a humble beginning.
Nike’s Origin
Nike BillBowerman
Bill Bowerman (right) with an athlete from University of Oregon
Bill Bowerman, a nationally respected track and field coach at the University of Oregon, was constantly
seeking ways to give his athletes a competitive advantage. Phil Knight, a talented middle-distance
runner from Portland, had enrolled at Oregon in the fall of 1955. In span on time while competing for
Bowerman’s track program, they became best friends and both shared a view that the athletes deserved
better running shoes than those available in the U.S. market at that time. Knight earned his MBA in
finance from Stanford University after graduating from Oregon. It was here that he wrote a paper
proposing quality running shoes be manufactured in Japan to compete with more established German
brands.
NikeFirstGarageShowroom
Initial Days for Nike
Knight made a cold-call and persuaded the manufacturer of Tiger shoes – Onitsuka Co. in Kobe, Japan, to
make him a distributor of Tiger running shoes in the United States. Having received the first set of
sample shoes, Knight sent several pairs to Bowerman, hoping to make a sale.
BRSNike
Bowerman, instead, stunned Knight by offering to become his partner, and to provide his design ideas to
Onitsuka Co. They established Blue Ribbon Sports by pledging $500 each and placed their first order of
300 pairs of shoes in January 1964. In 1966, BRS opened the first retail store in Santa Monica, California.
Brs
The First BRS Store (Santa Monica, California)
In those days, Bowerman would often rip apart the Tiger brand shoes to see how he could make them
better and lighter. He used to take help from university runners to test his creations and collect their
feedback.
After reaching $ 1 million mark in sales, the Blue Ribbon Sports parted ways with Onitsuka Tiger, and
began to design and subcontract its own line of shoes. With change in strategy, Knight thought it
prudent to change the name of the company. The brand Nike was introduced in 1972 to this end under
BRS. The SWOOSH logo, a graphic design created by Caroline Davidson in 1971 for just $35, represents
the wing of the Greek Goddess NIKE.
SwooshDesign1971
SWOOSH Original Design
In 1973, BRS signed its first endorsement pact with a professional athlete and ATP tennis star Ilie
Nastase. Endorsements have, ever since, played an essential role in the marketing activities of Nike. In
1978, once the name Nike and Swoosh were synonymous, the company was eventually renamed to
Nike.
