Nike Portland opens Friday and it is the “latest in a string of new or refurbished stores the Oregon company has opened over the last four years in an effort to set a more aggressive course in selling products directly to consumers,” according to Allan Brettman of the Portland OREGONIAN. No “retail middle man is needed, though Nike officials emphasize the strong ties the company retains with the likes of Foot Locker, Dick's Sporting Goods and The Sports Authority.” Nike's direct-to-consumer business -- sales in its own stores and on the web -- “grew 16 percent last year to $3.2 billion.” That number is “expected to grow to $5.5 billion by the end of fiscal year 2015 -- when $30 billion total revenue is projected.” The company owns about 760 stores worldwide and “expects to add nearly a hundred more by the end of 2015.” Brettman reports it is “clear upon entering Nike Portland that the store shares a ‘wow’ factor with NikeTown's confined spaces.” The new store includes “several nods toward the history of a company nearly 40 years old.” The running shoes are “positioned against a black background that's corrugated in the shapes of a waffle iron -- an homage to the historic birthplace" of Nike co-Founder Bob Bowerman's waffle shoe. The Michael Jordan statue “suspended from the ceiling is the same one that once hung in NikeTown.” The "Bowerman Wall" on the mezzanine level is “a combination of six large video screens, all of which feature a mosaic of 1,404 tiny images.” Nike expects the store "to earn highest possible LEED Platinum Certification” (Portland OREGONIAN, 11/4). Nike plans several "grand opening events" over the coming days, including appearances by Trail Blazers F LaMarcus Aldridge and long-distance runner Kara Goucher (BIZJOURNALS.com, 11/3).
