To any store owners considering boycotting Nike, here’s a word of advice: just don’t do it.
After imposing a ban on Nike in protest of the brand’s 2018 “Just Do It” campaign which featured Colin Kaepernick as its spokesperson, a Colorado sporting goods store is being forced out of the retail game.
Prime Time Sports in Colorado Springs is closing after 20 years because store owner Stephen Martin cannot afford the lease any longer. According to Martin, the ban he imposed on Nike gear played a big part in the store’s downfall.
Though Prime Time Sports stocks apparel from all 32 NFL teams, he doesn’t have any jersey of players who currently play in the NFL because they are all made by Nike.
“Being a sports store without Nike is kind of like being a milk store without milk or a gas station without gas,” Martin told Koaa.com. How do you do it? They have a monopoly on jerseys.”
It’s not the first time Martin has jeopardized his profits over his politics as he once canceled an autograph session with Broncos linebacker Brandon Marshall after the Denver defensive star protested police brutality by kneeling during the national anthem in 2016.
“As much as I hate to admit this, perhaps there are more Brandon Marshall and Colin Kaepernick supporters out there than I realized,” Martin said. “I don’t like losing a business over it, but I’d rather be able to live with myself.”
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