Since posting a link in a previous post about Nike and the Don’t Do It / Nike boycott movement I’ve gotten input from people who hate Nike’s involvement in skateboarding (which is different from hating Nike itself), those who don’t care and adamantly believe no one else should care, and those who think Nike being involved is great. To be honest, I’m a bit torn.
First of all, there’s my beliefs about economics. I believe that when companies compete openly and fairly for consumers everyone wins. Well, except for the companies that provide shoddy products or are poorly run. Competition drives innovation, and when companies innovate the consumer gets better and better products. Does Nike being involved mean that other skate shoe companies are driven to make better shoes? You betcha. In the same vein of thought I believe the consumer should be the one that determines what products are popular. If skaters want to buy Nikes that’s their right. If they don’t, that’s their right also.
On the other hand, I feel bad for the other companies that have been with skateboarding all along and would be making more money if it weren’t for Nike coming in and taking a piece of the pie. Then again, it’s hard to feel sorry for Etnies/eS/Emerica when those guys have a $130M+ company. I’m guessing Lakai, DVS, and even newcomer “core” brand Vox aren’t doing too shabby either. But still, you want to see the people who were dedicated to skateboarding during the tough times making the money.
But then again, maybe the real skate companies wouldn’t be making as much money as they are if it weren’t for the outside companies coming in. After all, if it weren’t for Mountain Dew, Nike, Reebok, and Entenmann’s would skateboarding be perceived as more acceptable than it once was? And if it weren’t so acceptable would we have all these public skateparks? And if we didn’t have all these public skateparks would there be as many kids learning to skate? And if those kids weren’t learning to skate would as many kids be buying skate shoes, core and non-core brands included? Maybe it’s the younger kids who will buy the bulk of Nikes, and five years from now when they grow up they’ll be buying Vox because they don’t want to be using what they used when they were starting, and maybe that will make all the Vox guys rich.
Or maybe Nike and other major shoe brands will use their cash reserves and manufacturing and distribution prowess to extend price cuts, take over the market and put all the smaller core companies out of business and then raise their prices once they have a monopoly. The thing is, I find this hard to believe as a legitimate potential situation.
So what’s a person to do? Is Nike truly bad for the industry? I’m not sure. Do I like Nike being involved? I don’t think so. If I owned a skateshop would I sell Nikes? Probably not. Am I going to buy their shoes, ever? No. I will always buy shoes from the real companies as long as they’re around and make a decent product. Maybe that’s all I can do.
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I personally dont like having Nike in the skateboarding market what so ever. I understand and agree with what you are saying in reference to the other companies will have to innovate something better to beat out Nike. That is a possible scenario but i dont see much in the Nike skateboard shoe at all, maybe the P-Rod shoe but the other just seem like a regualr Nike shoe with some more padding for skating.
I would rather see a Etnies, DVS, ES or any other core company make millions bc i know it will be put back into skating, such as the Etnies park in Lake Forrest, CA. Now if a sick Nike skatepark is put up, i might change my tune for having them in the loop but i highly doubt i would ever buy a Nike SB shoe.
As i see it Nike is safe in the market they have a popular team that will sell product in it self, lots of money to push ads and sponsoring events and a well established name that will sell shoes to new comers parents bc they dont know any better.
Nike is jumping into skateboarding feet first and who can blame them? no one, its very lucrative sport right now but I still do not want Nike in skateboarding and I will protest it.
NIke has been in the skate industry before I even started skating…1989. Just watch any old-school skate video. What are they wearing? Nike high tops. Nothing new here, move on.
Just bc people wore nikes back in the day doesnt mean nike was involved in skating, making products geared towards skating, was there a Nike skate team back in 89′, sorry i wont just move on I am a supporter of the Anti-NIke in skating movement and I will be out spoken in it also.
People have given a great deal of power and appreciation to the Nike shoe. I know people that would probably put up their girlfriends before giving up their rare Nike dunks collection. I can definately appreciate the phenomenon that has erupted with Nike’s SB involvement. I can also understand the moral delima surrounding Nike’s shaky business practices. I think Nike should more strongly regulate shop pricing on their products. I often see local shops pricing limited release shoes at up to 200% of MSRP. It’s not fair to the little guy.
Ken Burks
kabsurf.com
It all comes out in the wash.
I tink that Nike makes a great skate shoe, although I am more down with Emerica/Es, and Lakia is my favorite shoe, I think Nikes skate great and own several pairs. Honestly who wouldn’t take advantage of a popular sport such as Nike.
Good article. I run a small skateshop in Norway and from time to time people will ask for Nike shoes. I don’t know, I mean, i’m never gonna carry Nike, but I ain’t gonna diss Chet Childress for being on the team. He’s got a kid to support, and being on Nike makes that easier. Nike has all the money in the world, so they can portray their image as being “down for skateboarding” or whatever, and put whoever needs money on their team. But in the end, it all comes down to credibility and dedication. If suddenly the business of skateboarding starts to cease, Nike will probbably be the first one to leave the sinking ship. I don’t think that will happen though. It seems like the industry is pretty established and stabilized at the moment, and I believe it’s only a matter of time before we will se P Rod and Sheckler flippin’ & grindin’ in the olympics, but that’s a whole new discussion. What about Adidas? They’ve been in the game way longer than Nike, with Gonz leading the charge. Now with Bryce Kanights as head chief, adding one of my favourites, D Busenitz, I feel their approach is somewhat different than Nike’s, but i’m not gonna carry their shoes though.
In the end it’s all up to you. If you care about skateboarding, support the companies who will be here wheter skateboarding reaches the olympics or totaly dissapears to the dark alleyways and hidden backyards.
peace!
personally i dont like nike cause they just come to cash in on the now very big skateboard market. they could have done a skate team way back in the 90´s but didnt care. maybe it will not hurt the real skate shoe companies that bad cause the skate market is really big compared to some years ago. but i like to support the companies that are run by skaters. nobody can say hes got more “right” on the money of the kids cause he was rippin way back but id rather support some skaters or ex-skaters than a godzilla company.
in the 70’s and 80’s skaters wore Nikes and it was no big deal.
the reason why?
Because skating was about SKATING back then, not skate SHOES.
look i’ve rocked these nikes
they dont skate so good and you are afriad to ruin them after paying 100+ dollars on a pair but i do know that they were in videos in the 80’s
its nothing new there just getting bigger and upping the ame for other skate shoe companies
I’m also anti-Nike for personal reasons. However, I find them to be brilliant at marketing. They have limited edition colors and have introduced the idea of collecting shoes into the skateboarding community. Back in the day, we were lucky to be able to afford one pair of skate shoes and now Nike is convincing kids they need many pairs in order to be hip. It’s great business for them when instead of selling one pair to a kid they’re selling 5 pairs and thus 5x the profit for them.
The Nike SB is a great skate shoe dont get me wrong, but having Nike involved in skating is wrong. Then again, having such a popular well known brand bought into skating has kids lining up for them. Sorry to say, but you cant argue with success, and as soon as they got P-Rod involved, It gave them a huge marketing boost.
I think that skateboarders need to think about their role in the world. I used to think that alot more people that skateboard would be into things like human rights or the environment. This is really getting out of control and materialistic .I don’t think there is anything that cool or hip about having some limited edition/color shoes that are made by a huge coroporation.
They just have the means to put out all those different shoes. They want to make money and skateboarding culture is another way to do that. They are just shoes but what do you know about them? Where do the materials come from, who makes them, etc..? I guess people don’t care about things like this and would rather concern themselves with colorways and designs. What kind of future is this creating?
Nike make good shoes, but everyone can see that theyre going to make stupid descisions with future skateboarding. The day nike start selling decks and other skateboard equiptment (not clothing) is the day I protest. I like them as a clothing line, but skateboarding in gerneral is too far. Luckily, they have not spoken about further sales yet.
First off….good article about a good/interesting topic
I’ve gotta say Nike skateboarding shoes were never really on my radar until i went to Barcelona and some guy at Free was trying to push Nike SB’s on me…. From my perspective, it seems like the marketing was very much within the skate shop (Here’s some stickers..etc.) and not really a mass-marketing campaign like D.C commercials (could be wrong…that’s just my experience).
Then about a year later I actually saw a pair of the P-rods in a store in NYC, bought them, and I’ve gotta say I was pretty blown away. They were way more comfortable and solid than any other skate shoe I had worn (could just be inexperience) and really felt more like the support of a snowboard boot than a flimsy skate shoe. My desire to jump from higher heights increased dramatically.
I kinda like Nike’s involvement in skating b/c, like you said, it will really step up the game in terms of quality. I don’t really necessarily agree that “everyone can see they’re going to make stupid decisions” with regard to skateboarding. It’s a $30 billion company that’s had a pretty solid run in making good decisions so far. If you don’t like their stuff or have a problem with Nike, don’t buy it. But if they’re gonna keep making quality stuff, I’ll probably keep buying it.
I’d LOVE some suggestions for great skate shoes considering I’m always in the market, and not always looking to spend $100 on new P-rods. jles@dreamtard.com
From my perspective I like the product but not the company, if that’s possible. Nike had no interest in skateboarding and snowboarding, and did nothing to support skateboarding and snowboarding, until they thought they could make money off of them. I will admit that they make nice shoes, but they have a bad name in terms of business practices. Much has been made of supporting companies run by skaters and how it supports skateboarding, well Nike bought into a skater owned company called Savier out in Oregon, piece by piece, and then closed it down. Savier was a well regarded company with good products, but it had one thing wrong with it from Nike’s perspective, it wasn’t run by Nike executives and was viewed to be in the way.
Fuck Nike, and Koston. used to be legit with prod, now its about the money, and i don’t want to hear about his daughter, Lakai was paying him fine. Sole Tech, no good anyway. Vans is key. Always been here, always gonna be here. As far as Vox goes, they seem to be doing a good thing for the industry, their Trooper Relief a solid shoe for 40 bucks? very good, especially for todays youth. maybe Nike will prove to be usefull, and get some skate plazas built, but most likely not. however, Omars shoe looks tight. not that im going to even try it on. anyhow, Off The Wall till death.
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