Li-Ning is holding its first official U.S. store grand opening today in Portland’s Pearl District (910 NW Hoyt Street). A special one hour shopping session will be open to the public from 5:30-6:30PM which we detailed here. From 7-10PM, a closed session, invite-only gathering for media will take place which Counter Kicks will be bringing you in-depth coverage on. Los Angeles Clippers’ Baron Davis will also be in the building to help launch his new BD Doom signature shoe. Look for our official Li-Ning event re-cap coming soon.
i need some Bamington kicks, i think i’m gonna go through there, haha
I’d like one of the BD vinyl toys!
No offense, great reporting. . . but on the real do you think anyone is trying to rock these over any pair of Nike’s? I just can’t see it.
Well, that’s the consumer’s choice. We’re going to cover as many brands in-depth as possible and it’s up to our readers to make final judgment. When Nike first came out, many people had the same line of argument and said why would anyone buy the Swoosh when adidas shoes were already well established. Things change and ultimately it comes down to all of you out there reading and consuming what feels right to you.
@ John B. – good point. Time will tell, but the bottom line is that in this economic climate, you have be kinda hot right out of the gate and one shoe that is ok at best and a player on the decline is just not going to get it done. Too much badmington and table tennis product on the site for people to tak them seriously
@Da Real China is Li-Ning’s home base so that’s really their key market right now and what’s given them the platform to slowly carve out a U.S. strategy. Unlike some small startup brand, they don’t have everything riding on just one BD product and it’s game over. They have the resources and foundation to feel things out on a wider time frame which should be a big advantage. As far as the U.S.-based site, there probably is too much badminton/table tennis stuff for American consumers to get into but that’s largely a reflection of what they’re killing it in back in China where all of that is popular. If they can put together a strategy to really attack it on running, basketball, fashion/technical gear, etc. that appeals to people here, they have a good shot at making some big moves in the years ahead. Setting up a design center in Portland was a strong play so we’ll see what they have in store next. They’re much further along in the design department compared to the other competing Chinese brands from what I’ve seen so far.