Nike has opened Blue Ribbon Sports, a store designed to serve as a community space for local runners in Santa Monica, CA.
Blue Ribbon Sports is Nike’s original name and a Blue Ribbon Sports specialty store first opened in January 1967 at the same location at 3107 Pico Boulevard. The store was opened by Jeff Johnson, Nike’s first official employee, to serve as “a gathering space for a group of what Johnson describes as ‘oddball athletes’ to talk training, racing and, ultimately, footwear” and the new space expected to serve the same purpose.
“When it started, the running community was so strange and quite small,” said Johnson. “Running has become a much more mainstream activity. But it’s still individual. It all contributes to some aspect of your humanity.”
Though the original BRS closed in 1969, it predated the great jogging boom of the 1970s, and foreshadowed an approach that laid a foundation for Nike’s future engagement with athletes and consumers alike.
“It is important to allow a grassroots feeling to permeate everything you do. It allows us to make real connections,” said Johnson.
Heidi O’Neill, president of Nike Direct, views the connections pervades all the brand’s retail efforts, including House of Innovation, Nike’s new flagship concept, all the way down to Nike’s current community-driven spaces, such as New York’s 45 Grand and BRS.
