Nike and Foot Locker opened the doors to House of Hoops by Foot Locker on Harlem's 125th Street, near the Apollo Theater last week. The new concept store features the Nike, Jordan and Converse brands, exclusively. The Harlem location is the first of the up to 50 House of Hoops by Foot Locker retail stores Nike and Foot Locker expect to open in the United States over the next three years. Most of the new locations will be street locations in NBA cities, but there will be some mall stores as well.

In an exclusive interview with Sports Executive Weekly’s sister magazine, SGB, Charlie Denson, president of the Nike Brand, and Trevor Edwards, Nike's VP of global brand and category management, said that, initially, Nike was looking at opening a Jordan Store. “We started with several different ideas and everything settled into getting focused on the basketball experience,” Denson said. “This is a much bigger idea than just a Jordan store.”

Denson said that there will be other similar concept shops with other retail partners. In particular, Nike is looking at creating a running and fitness concept with Finish Line. “We are trying to create points of differentiation for all our retail partners, which allows them to grow. We still believe the US offers great growth opportunities; we just need to get people onto their own concepts so they can be aggressive.”

While these concept stores are a key tool for Nike to reach their $1 billion mark in retail, the outlet division will push most of the volume. In addition, Nike will be launching 100 stores world wide that are designed to push the boundaries of retail. “The 100 stores [world wide] that we announced will be fashion representation of the brand and develop the relationship with the consumer. We’ve challenged the retail community, as they continue to build competencies around the consumer experience. We are not trying to create something and then not share it. We’ve stated our goal is not to be a vertical company. We will push the envelope further, faster and harder than some of our partners can, for all the obvious reasons,” said Denson.

>>> A video tour of the store can be seen at: sgb-blog.blogspot.com