Police near Seattle resort to pepper spray to keep Air Jordan XI shoppers in line and there was pushing and shoving at an Atlanta mall for the coveted shoe. But at Nike Portland this morning, courtesy prevailed.
Hundreds arrived at the downtown flagship store of the Oregon-based footwear and apparel giant at about 6:30 a.m., wearing wristbands that designated their place in line to purchase the $180 sneakers that are replicas of the 1996 model designed for Michael Jordan when he played for
"This is Portland," said Young, 22, a University of Oregon sport marketing student. "People are cool."
The crowd was instructed on Thursday to return at 6:30 a.m. today but it took about an hour before the first customer was allowed into the store at the corner of Southwest Morrison and Fifth Avenue to make their purchase. Inside,
More of a party atmosphere prevailed at Nike Portland. The store had set up speakers playing music -- much of it played by the rap group Run DMC, an interesting choice as the group is closely associated with footwear produced by Nike rival Adidas.
Nike employee Mark Chan chatted with the crowd and worked with Nike Portland employees to arrange the crowd into the order designated by their wristbands. Chan officially is an "EKIN," a core of employees that serve as brand representative for Nike. EKIN, by the way, is Nike spelled backward.
"We're brand ambassadors in the field," said Chan, 28, who's worked at the World Headquarters campus for about two years after having worked two years in Los Angeles. He wore his favorite shoes, Air Jordan 3s.
"We got here at about 8," on Wednesday night, when the Nike Portland store closed, said John Bellmer, 23, of Gresham. He waited with his friends and fellow shoe collectors Vincent Perez, 21, of Portland, and J.C. Pineda, 21, of Portland.
Bellmer only recently returned from Afghanistan after serving four years in the Marines.
Mark Chan, an EKIN representative for Nike, entertained the crowd as well as arrange the line."Honestly, the reason I buy them is that I liked them as a kid," he said, adding that his family was not wealthy enough to buy him the shoes. Now, he can do it for himself.
While waiting the 14 hours until the Nike Portland store opened at 10 a.m. Thursday, the three
Even though large crowds turned out Thursday for Day-glo orange wristbands to secure their shoes and a place in line, some sizes still remained. This Nike Portland employee distributed the wristbands.When the Nike Portland doors opened for business at 10 a.m. Thursday, the early birds were given wristbands to return this morning -- well before the scheduled distribution at 5 p.m. Thursday. For that distribution, a line snaked north on Fifth Avenue.
Even with such high demand, a few pairs -- in sizes 14, 7.5, 8, and 8.5 -- remained.
While the wristband system may have contributed to the calm this morning, the reports of violence at the Seattle-area store and Atlanta took place at mall stores. The usual outlets for Nike products in the Portland area, were expected to be selling the Air Jordan XI Concord this morning.
According to The Associated Press, police used pepper spray to break up fights among pushing and shoving customers waiting outside a Seattle-area mall to buy the Air Jordan XI.
Tukwila Officer Mike Murphy says about 20 people were sprayed. One man was arrested for assault after police say he pushed an officer. Murphy says more than 1,000 people lined up to buy shoes at 4 a.m. at four stores in the mall.
At a suburban Atlanta mall, at least four people were arrested after a crowd of customers broke down a door before a store selling the Air Jordans opened.
-- Allan Brettman;
