Nike ACG Hiking Shop

Bill Bowerman said this a couple of decades ago. The guy was right. It defines how he viewed the world, and it defines how Nike pursues its destiny. Ours is a language of sports, a universally understood lexicon of passion and competition. A lot has happened at Nike in the 30 years since we entered the industry, most of it good, some of it downright embarrassing. But through it all, we remain totally focused on creating performance opportunities for everyone who would benefit, and offering empowering messages for everyone who would listen.

We feel lucky to have a genuine, altruistic reason to be: the service of human potential. That's the great benefit of sports, and we're glad to be in the middle of it.

hat started with a handshake between two running geeks in sleepy Eugene, Oregon, is now the world's most competitive sports and fitness company. The World Headquarters is in Beaverton, Oregon. The Pacific Northwest is Nike's hometown, but like so many ambitious souls, we have expanded our horizons to every corner of the world. Nike employs around 22,000 people, and every one of them is significant to our mission of bringing inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world.

As small as we feel, the Nike family is a fairly vast enterprise. We operate on six continents. Our suppliers, shippers, retailers and service providers employ close to 1 million people. The diversity inherent in such size is helping Nike evolve its role as a global company. We see a bigger picture today than when we started, one that includes building sustainable business with sound labor practices. We retain the zeal of youth yet act on our responsibilities as a global corporate citizen.

If you have a body, you are an athlete. And as long as there are athletes, there will be Nike.



Bowerman, the inimitable University of Oregon coach, brought jogging to America, built an unrivaled track and field program at that university, and taught his athletes to seek the competitive advantage everywhere - in their bodies, their gear and their passion.

Phil Knight was a University of Oregon accounting student and a middle-distance runner under Bowerman. In 1962 Knight had this you're-crazy-it-will-never-work-or-someone-would-already-be-doing-it idea about bringing low-priced, high-tech athletic shoes from Japan to dislodge German domination of the U.S. athletic footwear industry.


That same year Bowerman and Knight formed a partnership. Legend as it that they each kicked in $500, shook hands and started importing. Truth is, it was probably closer to $550 each. Pretty soon, shoes from Onitsuka Tiger started showing up on American feet, brought into the U.S. by some nobody company named Blue Ribbon Sports (BRS).

This scenario was bound to pass by the wayside. Bowerman was always seeking ways to improve Tiger designs. And Knight never could stand the thought of shilling for somebody else when he could shill for himself. Soon enough, BRS gave way to a new approach to winning the throne in the U.S. running market. This time, it would be with new designs and a new company, Nike. Two more key players helped propel the company's early growth: Jeff Johnson, a former track rival of Knight's at the University of Oregon, and Steve Prefontaine, also a University of Oregon runner and middle-distance running prodigy.

Johnson joined Knight and Bowerman's Blue Ribbon Sports company as its first full-time employee, selling shoes out of the back of his van at high school track meets in 1965. In 1966 Johnson opened the company's first retail outlet in a narrow building at 3107 Pico Blvd., in Santa Monica, California. Johnson is credited with giving Nike its name. Prefontaine, the first major track athlete to wear Nike product had significant influence on the design of Nike's running shoes. His indomitable spirit and legendary competitive passion left an indelible mark on the company.

Some thirty years later, Nike is the largest sports and fitness company in the world.

Our Shop Admnistrators hand pick products and these are our Nike ACG Hot Picks: