30 years after getting his own shoe with Nike, Michael Jordan is getting his own store. After the wild success of the Air Jordan line of sneakers, Jordan’s name has been spun off into its own separate brand under the Nike umbrella, which counts Russell Westbrook, Blake Griffin and Carmelo Anthony among its endorsers. Now, for the first time ever, Jordan Brand is going to have its own store, separate from the rest of the Nike family. This location in Chicago will exclusively sell Jordan products.
From ESPN.com’s Scoop Jackson and Darren Rovell:“I’ve been on these guys [at Nike] for some time, [saying] ‘We need to do a Jordan Brand store, and we need to do it in Chicago first,’” Michael Jordan told ESPN.com.
In the past year, a partnership between Nike and Footaction yielded Flight 23 stores in New York, in Las Vegas and two in suburban Chicago. But the new downtown location, named after its address, 32 South State Street, is the first that won’t be a co-branded location. It will be all Jordan.
The idea behind the store is not only to offer a wider selection of Jordan-branded product but also to tell the Jordan story and become part of the community. A space above the store can be used for Jordan-sponsored athletes or as a promotional space.Chicago obviously seems like the ideal location for a flagship store for Jordan. Even though he’s now the owner of the Charlotte Hornets, he still has deep ties to the city of Chicago, where he won six NBA championships and became arguably the greatest player of all time.