Nike Employee Store - tomorrow -- what should I buy??? (Edited with the trip report)

Dave-O wrote:

Martin VW wrote:

Dave-O wrote: You have no idea how badly I want a pair of Flyknit Racers. I actually debated shelling out $350 for a pair on ebay, justifying it as - my 6 free pairs + $350 for the Flyknits = only $50 per pair!

I wisely came to my senses.

Too bad you didn't check in a couple of days ago. If they're anywhere, they'd be in Beaverton. Looks like you might have been able to strike a barter deal for some socks.

The shoe rep for our team said he can't can't even get a pair yet. He does, however, have 8 size 9's of the right foot only. For shame!

Patience! The Flyknits are worth waiting for.

OK - so here is the race report from last Thursday in three parts:

I: THE RUN: Stayed in Beaverton, about 1.25 miles from the Nike World Campus. Planned to run about 4 miles in the morning before the tour. Figured I run to Nike, around the campus and back. However, the hotel gave me pretty poor directions and it took me a little longer to find the place. I was able to run about half way around on their very nice, wood chipped, path and back to the hotel. A bit over 6 miles. Didn't need the extra distance, but it was mid-50s, so it was fine. As I found out later on the tour, it is a 1.9 mile path around the entire HQ complex on a berm that was built when they dredged a 6 acre pond inside the HQ. It is mostly woodchips, but there is some asphalt and wood over bridges. Apparently, Phil Knight believes that runners shouldn't have to wait for cars, so all road crossings have bridges so you can run uninterrupted. Nice. There are additional trails inside the HQ grounds, but only the trail around the circumference is open to the public. Although I did take a side trail into the middle of HQ and no one said anything.

II: THE TOUR: I was met by a volunteer tour guide from the IT dept. Nike takes volunteer employees, trains them on the history, the bldgs, etc. and they give the tours. She was really a joy. A long time employee that still had a lot of enthusiasm. The HQ is set up much like a college campus. Lower buildings, set around a lake or backing woodlands, with paths connecting them all. There are about 5000 employees inside the berm, with more locations such as admin, IT, etc., outside the berm. The athletic facilites for use by employees and their families are extensive. Two full gyms, a full basketball court, indoor track (16 laps to the mile), swimming pool, wellness center where you can get physical therapy, get a personal trainer, etc. After 5 years and every 5 after, an employee must take a 6-week sabatical. Their email is disconnected and no contact with the office allowed. Nice.

The buildings are all named after key athletes. Tiger, Lance, Bo, Mia, Joan, Michael Jordan, Mike Schmidt, Nolan Ryan, Prefontaine, Salazar, etc. In each building is memorabilia for each athlete. Jordan's shoes, Schmitz bats and cleats, autographed stuff everywhere. When they reruit an athlete, they set up the whole campus with banner of their picture, team, etc. Really go whole hog. However when an athlete is on campus for whatever reason, its hands off and low key. No autographs. They want the athlete to be comfortable so they will come around.

The tour started at Pre Hall (Prefontaine) where they have the history of Nike all set up. Phil Knights early years, Bowerman, a tribute to Pre, with his high school letter jacket, shoes, pics from Oregon, etc. Really cool. They consider Pre to be the soul of the company with all his intensity. We visited a lot of the buildings, but couldn't go in the Mia Hamm building as it is the R&D center. Most employees can't get in there. A number of athletes still have offices there. Most notably Salazar.

III: THE SHOPPING: Well this was kind of interesting. The store is a few miles away from HQ. When I drove up, I had to park in the boondocks. There were all sorts of people hanging around, sitting on chairs in front of the store. Unbeknownst to me, there was going to be a new "Air Jordan" shoe delivered to the store, so they we all lining up to get them. Ha - even at Nike.

The store is a normal one story store. About 50% bigger than their outlet stores. All the items they carry are current items, usually around 50% off. I was going to follow Martin's advice and go for the big ticket items, but there were few. Only one GPS watch model, no fuel band yet (they are flying off the shelves everywhere), a limited golf club selection. There were a number of sunglasses, but since I need Rx, I skipped that area. There were some football jerseys, I wanted to get a Lions jersey for my 7-yr old, but nothing near his size in Lions. On the collegiate level - Ducks and Beavers only. Didn't see any others.

So............I bought a lot of normal running clothes. Singlets, shorts, shirts, tanks, socks, etc. Since I have a family with 6 kids it didn't take long to fill up. But keeping track of all the sizes I needed was a pain. I bought a few other things for siblings and running friends and that was about it. To see what I bought you can just go to the Nike website and take a guess, its all out there. There is a $750 limit, but I only spent $450. That was enough, especially for running clothes.

And yes Chelsea, I bought you a shirt, I didn't forget you. Oh yeah, and about 40 pair of socks. Running and regular. Was a good deal.

Next time in Portland, I will definitely try and get back in. Great deal? No. You can wait for sales and the outlet store. Good deal - yup. And a fun experience.

Sounds like you had a good time. I wish my employer gave me a mandatory sabbatical!! Are the employees allowed to run during work hours??

Nick Morris wrote:Sounds like you had a good time. I wish my employer gave me a mandatory sabbatical!! Are the employees allowed to run during work hours??

Absolutely.

You need to work in a big company HQ like Fritolay with onsite gym for shower. And we played pickup soccer twice a week during lunch break. There is a 2 mile dirt trail on campus, which I had run often.

But that's quite some time back, back like before I BQ'd.

Nick Morris wrote:Sounds like you had a good time. I wish my employer gave me a mandatory sabbatical!! Are the employees allowed to run during work hours??

yes they can use the facilites during the day. Typically they have core hours from 9am-3pm and flex either way. Most use the facilities before work, some during lunch and after work. I saw one person swimming, a couple in the weight room, an elite running around the soccer field (non-employee). So maybe a half dozen working out. I was there from 9am-10am.

mountandog wrote:

Nick Morris wrote:Sounds like you had a good time. I wish my employer gave me a mandatory sabbatical!! Are the employees allowed to run during work hours??

yes they can use the facilites during the day. Typically they have core hours from 9am-3pm and flex either way. Most use the facilities before work, some during lunch and after work. I saw one person swimming, a couple in the weight room, an elite running around the soccer field (non-employee). So maybe a half dozen working out. I was there from 9am-10am.

Cool...

Sounds like a great time! And I'm sure your daughter will appreciate all the extra socks.