Compass: Charting the Evolution of Outdoor Gear

Nike ACG History

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1962

Phil Knight, track athlete and business graduate, contacts Japanese Onitsuka Co to import their Tiger athletic shoes

1963

takes delivery of 200 pairs of shoes and starts selling them at track meets

1964

Blue Ribbon Sports (BRS), was co-founded by Knight and his coach Bill Bowerman ($500 each)

Company grosses $8,000

1965

first full time employee

Sales reach $20,000

1966

opens first retail store in n Santa Monica, California

1967

produce a shoe with an upper made from nylon

1970

several retail stores, 20 employees and sales of almost $300,000

1971

the Swoosh logo, as designed by graphic design student, Carolyn Davidson, was first used

1972

Company first promotes the Nike (pronounced ny-kee) brand

Named after Greek Winged Goddess of Victory

Introduce Moon shoes with a waffle-like sole

(which was inspired by Bowerman, famously moulding rubber in a household waffle iron)

1974

sales approach $5 million and a staff of 250

1976

revenue of $14 million

1977

revenue doubles to $28 million

1978

John Roskelley and Rick Ridgeway use Nike LDV runners as approach shoes on K2 expedition

Blue Ribbon Sports changes name to Nike, Inc.

1979

debut the first line of Nike clothing

Launch the Nike Air shoe cushioning device in the Tailwind running shoe

1980

holds 50% market share in USA athletic shoe market, goes public on the stock market

1981

Nike release dedicated approach shoes: the Magma, Approach (Gore-tex) and Lava Dome

198??

Nike Hiking line including Escape

1984

laid off about 400 workers with profits down almost 30%

1986

lays off laid off ten percent of its US employees

1988

sales increase 37% to $1.2 billion

Launch the now famous “Just Do It” slogan

1989

Launched ACG (All Conditions Gear), with apparel

Garment models named after mountains (Makalu, Cerro Torre, Tango Tower, Devil's Tower, Snopatch Spire, Kilimanjaro, etc)

First ACG shoe was Air Pegasus

1990

revenues of $2 billion

1991

Air Mowabb designed by Tinker Hatfield (designer of the Air Jordan)

revenues reach $3 billion, with $1 billion of that from European sales

????

Aqua Sock designed by Geoff Hollister

????

Strays into snowboard boots and skateboard sneakers

1992

Nike celebrated 20th anniversary with revenues of $3.4 billion

1993

starts Reuse-A-Shoe program to process and recycle athletic shoes into sports surfaces

1990s

sustains global protests and boycotts regarding the treatment of contract factory workers

1996

Air Skarn

1997

Glace

1999

Exploraids and Explorun

Sales of $8.78 billion and 20,700 employees

2000

Kirk Richardson,  ACG's general manager re-focuses the line

2002

sales up 20%

Exum Mountain Guides collaborate on Air Cinder Cone, hiking shoe for low-level rock-climbing,

and  Air Tumalo, ultra-light water-proof hiking shoe.

2003

Tallac

kayak bootie, Toketee tested by whitewater kayakers Ben Selznick, Brad Ludden and Becky Bristow

Launched the Nike Considered line, which then becomes a sub-brand of ACG

Boot, Rock and Gem use 63% less waste and 37% less energy than comparable Nike light hiking shoe

Considered line reduces solvent use by over 80% compared with Nike’s typical products

2006

Nike Considered shoes awarded product Design Excellence awards by ID Magazine

2007

Nike Considered shoes again awarded product Design Excellence awards by ID Magazine.

2009

Zoom Ashiko

2012

Nike has 44,000 employees

2013

Nike has revenues of over $25 billion

2014

Nike works with 709 contract factories, employing nearly 1 million workers in 44 countries