NIKE SHOES
Background
A brand of athletic footwear, sporting goods and accessories produced by the company Nike. The products are sold in a wide range of sportswear for men and women, including running shoes; basketball shoes and tennis shoes; baseball shoes; football shoes; hockey shoes; ski boots and other accessories. Nike was founded in 1964 in Beaverton, Oregon. As of March 25th, 2018, Nike employed more than 2,550,000 people worldwide who serve its customers with a wide range of high quality sports-related products and services from its subsidiaries around the world. It has operations and sales teams located in 38 countries and sells its merchandise in approximately 190 nations or regions. Nike's headquarters is located at 888 Northfield Square, Chicago, IL 60654, United States, which employs about 5,500 people in various locations around the world. In 2015, Nike reported to be the second-largest public corporation in terms of shareholder returns, according to data compiled by BloombergNEF. However, it also ranked first among non-U.S.-based companies in the same year on profitability and growth based on operating and financial reports, as well as the best performers since last year's report. Nike has been a successful global corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative in recent years. Its "Unapologetic" campaign, which highlights ethical issues facing athletes around the world, generated more than $11 million (USD), in 2014. Nike has been criticized by many environmentalists and human rights groups for its production of polyester fibers used in some of its clothing. For example, in 2013, its use of dyes and toxic chemicals in making socks resulted in several deaths. This prompted protests against the company and led to temporary shutdowns of plants in several cities around the globe.
History
In 1963, Joe Shaker began working in New York City's garment factory where he became aware of his great love for his work. Inspired by that passion, he opened two shoe stores called Blue Ribbon Sports in 1968 at the start of what would become Nike, Inc. His daughter, Marisa Shaker Murphy, was named President of Nike Corporation in 1998 after her father was killed in an automobile accident in 1997 while returning home from medical leave. When Mark Parker became CEO in 1999, Nike had grown into one of the most recognizable brands around the world, with over 3 million retail stores around the U.S., Canada, and various international markets. While the original sole focus of Nike's marketing efforts was to sell sneakers, their sales eventually expanded into numerous consumer goods categories. Their business model shifted to wholesaling footwear and related products as they increased market penetration. According to Reuters, Nike gained market share in China between 2000 and 2003, but this was mainly due to their partnership with Beijing Jinhua Shoes Co., Ltd. (now part of Anhui Jinhua Group Holdings Limited) a subsidiary of Yili Group, now a major Chinese footwear manufacturer. By 2004, Nike had overtaken Adidas to become the largest seller globally despite losing some significant market shares to Adidas. After losing a large percentage market share to Adidas, the second-largest competitor to Nike became Under Armor in January 2005. Nike acquired the remaining assets of the acquired company, then rebranded them under their own name. During these times, Nike started a new design process by cutting away all of the features that their competitors had. They started redesigning their designs, with very few exceptions, focusing on aesthetic rather than function. Eventually, Nike ended up releasing three main styles; Air Force 1, Tiger Woods, and Kobe Bryant. Since 1990, Nike has dominated the sneaker world, producing and selling millions of pairs of sneakers each year. Each year Nike releases a batch of five million sneakers.
Nike Company Headquarters in Illinois City, Chicago, USA
As of December 2017, Nike was the number two-highest grossing brand in the U.S. The next year, July 2018, their stock was included in Fortune Magazine’s list on how well their stock is doing in the stock market.
On October 10, 2019, Nike was listed in the S&P 500 index. On August 24, 2020, Starbucks and General Motors announced that they could begin trading publicly, joining another big company like Apple. But for investors, even though Starbucks and GM are both privately owned companies, they have different advantages. Also, if Starbucks went public, other coffee shops would no longer need access to their proprietary software to remain competitive and be able to compete against Starbucks, since everyone and anyone can buy their coffee with just a phone.
On January 21, 2021, Nike released its quarterly update for the fourth quarter of 2016. In January 2017, Nike introduced their famous Magicshoes collection; later in April 2017, Nike launched NKE+, the world’s first smartwatch for athletes, allowing them to stream video games on their wrist to improve the flow of sports, play music, enjoy videos, track their heart rate, monitor sleep pattern, send reminders, and take long-distance workouts. From September 2018 to November 2019, Nike hosted the X Games event in Sydney. To celebrate this success, they designed a poster, which showed the theme of infinity where you can look down and see it, feel the atmosphere, and understand everything. On February 6, 2018, Nike unveiled the collaboration with British fashion designer Stella Maxwell "Naked". On May 14, 2019, Nike released the newest edition of their Nike+ product lines called “Nike Revival Series”.