Sports store's boycott on Colin Kaepernick backfires irreparably
Owning a small business is tough. So tough, a high percentage of them fail within months of opening.
So if you’ve kept a business going for more than 20 years, you’re probably doing something right.
Until you don’t.
A sports store without Nike?
Prime Time Sports, a sporting goods store in Colorado Springs, Colo., is closing its doors after more than 20 years in business. On Monday, owner Stephen Martin and employees posted signs in the store saying everything was 40 percent off, the beginning of the clearance sale.
Last year, Martin decided to pull all Nike items from his store, which sells all manner of items with sports team logos — apparel, mugs, blankets, wall plaques — after Nike’s ad campaign featuring Colin Kaepernick.
Nike is the official manufacturer of all NFL player jerseys, and much of the affiliated merchandise, like team hats, jackets and hoodies.
Martin held a clearance sale last year for all Nike items in his stock.
‘Like a gas station without gas’
Martin “just can’t keep the doors open anymore” since his decision, because sales have declined and he can no longer afford the lease on the store.
A sports store that doesn’t sell Nike — it’s kind of like … well, Martin might say it best.
“Being a sports store without Nike is kind of like being a milk store without milk or a gas station without gas,” he said.
Indeed it is. Indeed it is.
‘Perhaps there are more Kaepernick supporters than I realised’
Martin has a big problem with players who protest during the anthem.
He cancelled a planned autograph session with Denver Broncos linebacker Brandon Marshall in 2016 after Marshall kneeled – protesting the player’s decision to use his platform to bring attention to issues of racial injustice.
“As much as I hate to admit this, perhaps there are more Brandon Marshall and Colin Kaepernick supporters out there than I realised,” Martin said.
Looks like it.
Aftermath to Nike’s controversial Kaepernick ad
Protesters burned their Nike shoes, investors sold shares and some consumers demanded a boycott after the footwear and apparel maker launched the Kaepernick advertising campaign.
The brand recognition that comes with the campaign may be just what the company wanted, and marketing experts predicted it would ultimately succeed.
The ad revived a raging debate in the United States that started in 2016 when Kaepernick, then with the San Francisco 49ers, began kneeling to protest multiple police shootings of unarmed black men.
“This is right on the money for Nike. They stand for this irreverent, rebellious attitude. In this case, it’s reinforcing the brand,” said Erich Joachimsthaler, CEO of strategy consulting firm Vivaldi.
While some fans praised Kaepernick and other players who joined him in kneeling as patriotic dissenters, critics led by U.S. President Donald Trump blasted the protesters as ungrateful and disrespectful.
“As much as I disagree with the Colin Kaepernick endorsement, in another way — I mean, I wouldn’t have done it. In another way, it is what this country is all about, that you have certain freedoms to do things that other people think you shouldn’t do,” Trump said.
The NFL, which gave in to pressure from Trump and ordered players not to kneel on the field during the anthem, nonetheless praised Kaepernick.
“The social justice issues that Colin and other professional athletes have raised deserve our attention and action,” said Jocelyn Moore, the NFL’s executive vice president of communications and public affairs.
In the week just after the campaign launched Nike shares fell nearly 4 percent at one point.
However, calls for a boycott fed social media buzz about the campaign. There were 2.7 million mentions of Nike over the previous 24 hours, the social media analysis firm Talkwalker said, an increase of 135 percent over the previous week.
After his protests, Kaepernick could not find a job for the 2017 season and sued the National Football League, accusing owners of colluding to blackball him. He is still without a team.
Yahoo Sports US