History of Nike

A History of Nike and Nike Watches

Nike was founded in the year of 1968 by Philip H. Knight, who is currently the Owner, Chairman, and CEO of the company. Phil Knight completed his education from the University of Oregon and the Stanford Business School by 1962, (Moore, 128). As an aspiring young business man, he decided to travel to Japan and speak to the president of "Tiger shoes." He presented himself as an American distributor of athletic equipment when he actually had nothing. He was pretty sneaky, however, he got what he wanted and began selling running shoes under the name of Blue Ribbon Sports (BRS). Once he tired with selling shoes at sporting events from the back of his truck, he began producing his own athletic apparel. He renamed his so-called company Nike and hoped for the best to happen. Within the first year, he sold $8000.00 worth of shoes and only received a $250.00 profit. After some time, Knight turned to his old coach from school, Bill Bowerman, for advice on what to do next. Phil Knight wanted Nike to stand out above the rest. Once Bill Bowerman came up with the idea for having traction on the bottom of shoes, Nike had finally made its mark. The Nike Waffle Trainer stood out and made Nike the most unique shoe company of the 1970s.
By the year of 1979, Nike was the most well-known shoe company in the world. They no longer just sold shoes but sporting equipment as well. However, the joy of being on top came crashing down when Reebok surpassed Nike with the aerobic phase in athletics. In order to maintain the reputation of Nike, the worlds best shoe corporation, Nike struck back by diversifying their shoes for different kinds of sports activities. Nike continued to rise in success throughout its prosperity by signing famous sports players ( ex. Michael Jordan) and using intelligent advertising tactics, (nike/history.htm).
Today, Nike is a four billion dollar business that has had its ups and downs.