Research Paper on:
Women's Footwear as the Focus of Nike

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
Nike decided that it wanted to grow the womens portion of the business from 20% of sales to as much as a third of Nikes total sales  (2000). Yet, while it is true that Nike makes a lot of money from the sale of womens products, and wants to capitalize on the trend for women to be  athletic, its distribution channels become important. Main trade factors for Nike shoes for women appear to be Nike Town, shoe stores like Foot Locker, and department stores like  Macys. Two other important trade factors are catalog sales from a variety of fronts as well as Internet possibilities and discount stores. First, Nike Town was the companys first  real shoe store and it opened in 1996. That was an important step for the company. Today, Nike Town is focused on expanding the sale of womens shoes and this  is a reflection of the companys overall strategy to increase their market share in that area. The company has remodeled the womens departments within Nike Town stores and in fact,  its Chicago store dedicated an entire floor to womens wear (Foster, 2001). The new design boasts a coat check, a womens lounge and diaper changing facility (2001). A  concierge with parcel delivery to local hotels is also included (2001). After the transition, the Chicago store witnessed as much as a 50% (2001, p.PG) increase in sales after only  one month. Hamill explains that they expanded their efforts in terms of womens business as they listened to the consumer and learned a lot (2001). What did they  learn? Hamill explains: " We realized and appreciated that women lead incredibly diverse lives, are active in many different ways and get their information in many different places" (2001, p.PG).