Nike Auckland flagship to close after a decade

(Source: Bigstock.)

The Nike store in the heart of Auckland’s CBD is set to close at the end of this month after a franchise deal with local distributor Bryan Eible came to an end. 

The closure is part of a broader international strategy by the US sportswear brand to take its distribution back in house, operating its own stores directly rather than contracting local distribution partners in single-brand outlets. 

Eible secured the Nike franchise in 2011 and took a lease on the Auckland store, located at Britomart.

He has been selling shoes since he was 16 years of age in the US for Robby’s Sporting Goods, now known as Champs Sports. He went on to take over his mother’s business, a women’s clothing store in Florida called Foxy Lady which he bought from her in 1999, moving to New Zealand nine years later where he has since made a name for himself in retail. He was also a partner in The Department Store in Takapuna which closed in January 2020.

“Getting the opportunity to become a Nike partner, I was really proud of myself,” he told the New Zealand Herald. “I love Nike, and … [I’m] very thankful to have had that opportunity for the past 10 years.” 

In his post-Nike world, Eible plans to retain all three of his staff and is set on opening a multiple-brand sportswear store stocking Nike along with other labels.  

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