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