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Nike Shoes
Nike, which was named in honor of the Greek goddess of victory, has been highly regarded as the world's leading shoe manufacturer and the one of the top in sports and fitness industry. The company was established by track & field coach Bill Bowerman and accounting student & runner Phil Knight in 1964. Bowerman and Knight initiated a plan of manufacturing cheap but quality shoes from Japan. However, during that time, the shoe industry was highly controlled by the Germans particularly by Puma and Adidas. In its early days, Nike started producing sports shoes. Its headquarters is based in Beaverton, Oregon in the United States.
Jeff Johnson, Phil Knight's rival in the athletics event, became Nike's first ever full time company salesman in 1965. Johnson set up a mini shoe store at the back of his van and sold Nike shoes to high school athletes. With luck and determination, Johnson founded Nike's first retail store a year after (1966) at Santa Monica, California. Graphic designer Carolyn Davidson, from Portland State University, created Nike's official company logo the Swoosh. The Swoosh, as was fondly called, symbolizes the wing of the Greek Goddess Nike. During that time, Davidson only earned $35 for her design.
At present, Nike gives work to more than 26,000 employees. Its Chairman of the Board is Phil Knight (Nike's co-founder) while William D. Perez is the company's President, Chief Executive Officer and Director. In 1980, it joined the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and made a preliminary public offering of 2,377,000 shares. Its yearly profit reached an all time high in 2004 with more than $13 billion as its total revenue.
Nike's most famous endorser is Michael Jordan of the NBA. The company signed a deal with Jordan in 1984 to promote Nike shoes. Shortly after, Nike released the first ever Air Jordan shoe edition.
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