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great thread
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Originally Posted by RhInoSpOrt
cwk and rock. Thanks for the insight on how it is at Nike. I will be glued to this thread!
Yep - the Flightposit 3's were destined for him. The outsole design made panther face in his honor. Too bad.Originally Posted by CWK
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I guess Kevin Garnett. He wanted an entire Original Block Family (OBF) sub-brand like Jordan, and he hadn't won anything yet. I was really sad when he left NIKE.
Wife used to work on world campus in Beaverton. Know for a fact she got me team issue Syracuse hoops shorts @ a sample sale as well as some Nike Golf stuff and some random hats. TO my knowledge everyone in her division had full knowledge of the sales and were well publicized amongst employees. Whether or not Nike "officially authorized", I can't say, but they didn't seem to be frowned upon or hush-hush. Just my very limited personal .02. Back to the meat and potatoes though. Thanks for your insight fellas.Originally Posted by thapointguy
What's the lowdown on sample sales. They weren't authorized by Nike right? They don't seem to exist any more or at least I haven't heard of any in years.
I siad this to my friends the other day when they were asking me about sneakers cause of all the hype around the Yeezys and the South Beaches, they assumed that since I come here I could find them a steal. Honestly to the untrained eye, there are a lot of fakes out there that look legitimate and nowadays hardly anyone buys these shoes to ball in like you said. I havent gone that route yet, but for people who are just buying them to say they have their hands on a pair why not.Originally Posted by HOVKid
Hopefully the people that make "fakes" keep getting better. That way we can just get whatever we want and not have to pay reseller prices. Most of the sneakers that are desireable aren't used for sports anyway, just fashion. Its not like they need to be able to stand up to that much wear and tear.Originally Posted by NikeDealer
Originally Posted by 160jordansdeep
I think we all know the answer to that.
I was surprised it was asked..Reebok would LOVE to create a frenzy over a release.
Do you think Nike would have pulled the Adi shoe with the chains on it? Hell no...
IDK about anyone else, but if this is true, then in my mind those arent fakes. The bolded part kinda made me feel funny about it though.Originally Posted by CWK
- I added my two cents to the last big thread about counterfeit shoes. To my knowledge, these shoes are assembled without permission by factory workers and then sold illegally to resellers. Technically, any shoe produced without authorization from NIKE, even at one of their factories, is considered counterfeit. It violates federal trade laws and copyrights, and it funds organized crime and terrorist activities.
First, I personally wish that Nike would make all shoes GR. I'm really tired of pulling teeth to get shoes I like. I really don't care how many people have my shoes on; I just wouldn't want people hanging out with me at that time to have the same shoes at me.Originally Posted by HOVKid
Also, thanks for the info Rock. It's very good to know Nike intentionally creates frenzies when they release shoes. All its going to take is the next guy that gets shot, beat up, etc to sue Nike for damages.
Though I am a corporate/transactional lawyer, I have a few freinds that are tort lawyers/ambulence chasers. This sounds like something they may be intrerested in pursuing if they get get a group of people together that got hurt at store releases. At the very least, someone could file a claim and make Nike's life painful and expensive through document discovery. Base on your statements (and clearly you have an in with Nike based on all the exclusive things you get) and those of the former Nike basketball employee, there's certainly reason to beleive Nike knows exactly what it is doing. Should be able to make it past a Motion To Dismiss without a problem. I think I've seen news reports with people's names that have been hurt.
Hmm......
Originally Posted by SerpentSun
One of the best threads I have read lurking the past 3/4 years!!! Thanks for all the information shared
Originally Posted by KingOfKicks805
this is a great thread, props to CWK for this! bump! wish i had a good question to ask but im blanking right now -_-
Originally Posted by SchmooSmasha45
Fascinating post, thanks for sharing is always interesting to hear what goes on behind the scenes.
Rock, we're ready i think for you to do one of these........
Originally Posted by NikeDealer
I'll chime in a bit before my day starts as I wont be back on until late tomorrow:
I had very many great mentor's at Nike Jordan. Some even younger than me as I am always willing to learn and obtain knowledge from those who are elite in their position.
At Jordan Brand..
I met MJ thru an ex girlfriend who worked for the Wizards years ago and around that same time I met Dwayne Edwards, Tate Kuerbis and Jason Mayden when they were doing Market Travel to the DC area... I went with a buddy of mine.. many of you know him as Eyes of Hazel on here.
When many of the youngsters were asking questions like what colorways were coming out and such... myself, Kev and another NT great who I will keep nameless were asking more business and life questions.
After their panel discussion Dwayne and Jason came down and talked to Kev and I seperately letting us know they really appreciated our questions as they usually get the same ole questions on trips like that. They then showed us samples of unreleased stuff that not even folks at the symposium had seen. It was unreal.
After the event I'd sent Jay May Tate and D emails thanking them for taking the time out to talk to us and blah blah blah. About 6 months later Dwayne sends me an email letting me know he'd be in town with the crew for a market travel trip to talk to the Georgetown basketball team. That night I met more of the Jordan design team as well as newbie Micheal Ditullo who has become a great friend who also moved on to Converse Design Director and now doing MUCH bigger things.. but I digress...
That night we hung out for hours.. just talking about life and rarely even sneakers. That night they found out about me away from sneakers and that at the time I ran my own Product and Brand Marketing and Consulting Business. Dwayne asked if I were interested in doing some Consulting stuff for them.. I had NO idea what a PLM was or that I could assist in the sneaker biz since I couldn't draw a stick man.
I took a trip out to the Beav.. sat with the crew... met ALOT of folks who Im still cool with now and ventured into the world of fakes and how they were run and developed. That story has been well documented on NT.. as I ran a site called Fake Police for several years, taking down over 300 Fake sites which only kept popping back up as well as alerting Ebay en mass of Fakes being sold.
I can say thru work I've done ebay has 90% less fakes than it did 8 years ago.
I took a trip out to Vegas for the All Star game and later met Tinker, Jason Petrie, Chi McBride, Ken Link and a host of others.
As far as how to get into Nike...its ALL about drive ideas and the willingness to be a thinker on several levels. I risked sending ideas and concepts to guys who were decisions makers and some who were just regular working joes.
Just because you can draw doesn't make you Nike worthy.. just because you have an idea it doesnt make you Nike worthy.. You have to understand the bizness concept.. how to present that concept and bring it to retail with great execution while understanding MUCH will be changed from start to end.
When I first moved out there I remember meeting over 100 guys and gals and told them I'd be working with several categories. I didnt understand why folks kept telling me their shoe size... everytime I'd meet someone itd be..
"Hey.. how's it going... Im blank.. I wear a size Blank" I asked my man E at one point.. what the hell? He said.. dude.. they all work in one category.. you know and work with several categories... you will have trades going on all the time.
A week later I had gotten literally about 50 pairs of kicks. Going back a little bit I was told by a few of my boys at Jordan.. when I move out there.. dont bring all the shoes I own.. get rid of some.. I was like whaaaat? They said trust me.. Thats like saying put your kids up for adoption...lol.. But I did.. and glad I listened.
I will admit some guys on both sides are very guarded and unwilling to share knowledge. I guess they think their own knowledge is power... but I do know folks like that take your ideas and use them as their own.
I met a dude at the Cafeteria named Drew Greer and he was like.. hey come sit in on our meetings. Marketing.. literally where they decide the plan for Nike BAsketball. Drew GReer was the person who "invented" the concept of Hybrids and retro's as you know them today. Who was his running partner when they both worked in Sportswear? Gentry Humphrey.
As you know G brought the concept of Retro's to Jordan and made it what they were.
I could go on and on.. but wanted to give just a snipet...if you can call that long diatribe a snippet. lol Trust me.. I left Beaverton on a not so great situation but thats because jealous dudes trying to be apart of Nike but weren't entrenched like I had been spread some pretty crappy things...but that is a story which has been told once before. I maintained ALOT of great relationships and friendships to this day with many guys and never held what happened against anyone.
It did make me realize trust few as I probably lost a great friendship with one of the coolest guys on campus due to the BS that went on. As some of you know.. I will tell it like it is...and dont run from accusations or rumors.. it is what it was... and Im glad I had the experiences Ive had.
I cant complain. I STILL run my Marketing biz.. and Im also doing local TV and Radio in DC and signed a deal with a Major Sports Organization to do a Nationally Syndicated TV and RADIO show much like Dan Patricks which will be launching within the next year.
I cant complain at all. hard work gets you where you want.. but know who you know helps and building those relationships helps even more.