nike
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The Ad Agency That Sold Rebellion - Then Refused to Sell Itself
Wieden+Kennedy taught Nike to say three words and built a global business around protecting the conditions that made them possible. Four decades later, independence remains both its sales pitch and its hardest assignment.
The Sneaker Shop That Runs Its Own Radio Station
How a single Baltimore shoe store became a 250-location fixture of American sneaker culture - and why it plays its own soundtrack.
JD Finish Line
JD Finish Line is the North American athletic footwear and apparel arm of UK-based JD Sports Fashion plc. Founded in Indianapolis in 1976 and built into a national sneaker chain under the Finish Line name, the business was acquired by JD Sports in 2018 for about $558 million. It sells premium multi-branded athletic footwear, apparel and accessories through Finish Line stores, Finish Line shop-in-shops inside more than 450 Macy's department stores, a growing fleet of JD-branded stores, and the finishline.com e-commerce platform. As of 2025 JD Sports is retiring the standalone Finish Line mall banner in favor of the JD nameplate while keeping the Finish Line brand alive inside Macy's.
Nike, Inc.
Nike, Inc. is the world's largest athletic footwear and apparel company, headquartered in Beaverton, Oregon. Founded in 1964 as Blue Ribbon Sports by University of Oregon track coach Bill Bowerman and his former runner Phil Knight, it was renamed Nike in 1971 after the Greek goddess of victory. Nike designs, markets and sells footwear, apparel, equipment and accessories under the Nike, Jordan and Converse brands, reaching consumers through wholesale partners and a growing direct-to-consumer business of retail stores, apps and Nike.com. With roughly $46.3 billion in fiscal 2025 revenue and about 80,000 employees, Nike sits at the center of global sport culture, backed by decades of athlete endorsements, the Swoosh logo and the 'Just Do It' slogan.
Novelship
Novelship is a Singapore-based online marketplace for buying and selling authentic sneakers, streetwear, apparel and collectibles across Asia-Pacific. Founded in 2018, it connects buyers and sellers through a bid-and-ask model, verifies every item in-house before it ships, and has grown into one of the region's largest platforms for limited-edition drops from brands like Nike, Jordan, Adidas, New Balance and ASICS.