Nike Launches the First-Ever Nike Sportswear Store with a Grand Slam Event in New York City

On Thursday, August 21, Nike (NYSE:NKE) will celebrate the true style and echo the spirit of sport as Mercer Street is transformed into a stadium to open the doors to its first Nike Sportswear stand-alone store at 21 Mercer Street in New York. Taking over the entire block between Grand and Howard streets, Nike friends, family and special guests will enter the event with game ticket in hand to experience a sporting event like no other. Featuring an all-star lineup of athletes, icons and artists, this will truly be a night to remember as Nike opens a new chapter to add to its 36-year sports heritage.

Nike Sportswear’s guests will enter the Mercer Street block party through arena-like turnstiles and, as they come through the entrance tunnel, will be faced with eight gigantic screens modeled after those lining the stands in New York’s famed stadiums. Running the full length of the block, the screens will showcase Nike’s commitment to sports as seen through the eyes of artists, photographers, and filmmakers including Tim McGurr, son of legendary street icon Futura; legendary documentary photographer Boogie; DQM architect, former pro-skater and avid cyclist, Kyle Demers; streetball documenter, Hugues Lawson-Body; mogul-in-waiting and downtown blogger, Heron Preston; photographers Yamandu Roos and Cheryl Dunn; artist Todd James, aka REAS; and “Dog Town” pioneer Craig R. Stecyk III. In true Nike Sportswear fashion, these artists were commissioned to showcase not only athletic prowess and achievement, but also a streetwise sensibility that comes from being an originator. Nike Sportswear pushed innovation farther again, enlisting this team of artists to square off against avant-garde legend Robert Wilson in a 90-minute video zine. And then, at event halftime, the doors to 21 Mercer will open allowing guests to be the first to experience the store.

No block party is complete without its DJ. So, Nike invited genre-hopping, Grammy Award–winning DJ, musician, and producer, as well as, Mercer Street neighbor, Mark Ronson to join the celebration of Nike Sportswear, its athletes, and of course its artistic partners, to provide the soundtrack for the night. A bona fide sufferer of musical A.D.D. who cut his teeth on the NYC party circuit as a teenager, Ronson has mined his primary musical influences of classic soul, Brit rock, and hip-hop to forge a unique sound that simultaneously pays homage to the artist’s own imagination and the legacy of a legion of musical forebears. Ronson has come out of his self-imposed DJ retirement to perform at the event, which is inspired exclusively by the city of New York and its score of musical icons — quite fitting since his studio is a stone’s throw from 21 Mercer.

On 08.21.08, New York City and Nike Sportswear set the stage for a true sporting experience. We toast the opening of Nike Sportswear at 21 Mercer St. — the only location to carry the entire NSW collection globally. The Nike Sportswear store in New York will be open to the public on 8.22.08.

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About Nike Sportswear

Nike Sportswear is a product line rooted in the company’s passion for sport while at the same time remixing and improving iconic designs with new technologies. With almost four decades of sport history at its foundation, Nike Sportswear seeks to channel the genuine rebel spirit of Nike’s roots by crafting product that challenges the expected, asking designers to push athletic innovation to its extreme, remixing iconic designs with new technologies and making the best product for today’s needs. Nike Sportswear launches on 8.8.08 with eight iconic Nike products celebrating the legacy of Nike design. It includes: the Air Force 1, the Windrunner, AW 77 Hoody, the Nike Dunk, Air Max 90, Eugene Track Jacket, the Cortez and NSW Tee. For more information, nikesportswear.com

About Nike

NIKE, Inc. based near Beaverton, Oregon, is the world's leading designer, marketer and distributor of authentic athletic footwear, apparel, equipment and accessories for a wide variety of sports and fitness activities. Wholly owned Nike subsidiaries include Converse Inc., which designs, markets and distributes athletic footwear, apparel and accessories; Cole Haan, which designs, markets and distributes luxury shoes, handbags, accessories and coats; and Hurley International LLC, which designs, markets and distributes action sports and youth lifestyle footwear, apparel and accessories. For more information, www.nikebiz.com.