When former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick became the face of Nike's new advertising campaign last fall, it was met with mixed reviews. Some were positive, others were negative, and the Internet had fun like it always does.
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Although President Donald Trump wasn't a fan, and an Arkansas Sheriff's Office mocked the famous sports brand in mug shots, being opposed of the former NFL quarterback is about to put a well-known sporting goods store out of business.
Prime Time Sports in Colorado Spring, Colorado — located in the Chapel Hills Mall — will be forced to close after more than 20 years in business because owner Stephen Martin says he can't afford his monthly lease, according to KOAA News5.
Times are tough for local businesses, especially with how much you can purchase online these days, but Martin's decision to remove all Nike merchandise from his store following the "Just Do It" campaign proved to be the biggest reason for the store's demise.
The Colorado Springs sporting apparel store, that cleared out all of its Nike inventory last fall--following the company's ad campaign with Colin Kaepernick--is now going out of business. I spoke with the owner today and will have the full story tonight at 6 on @KOAA pic.twitter.com/DNTZlwoiJK
— Laura Wilson (@LauraWilson_TV) February 11, 2019
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Martin made the decision to close the store Sunday night and marked everything 40 percent off on Monday. Prime Time Sports was open for over 20 years and closed five months after pulling Nike merchandise from the store.
Wow.
"Being a sports store without Nike is kind of like being a milk store without milk or a gas station without gas. How do you do it? They have a monopoly on jerseys."
— Prime Time Sports owner Stephen Martin, via KOAA
In the past, fans could have gone to Prime Time to get a plethora of NFL jerseys. In fact, according to Martin on KOAA, he was the only full service fan shop for over 400 miles — from Castle Rock to the New Mexico border —but nobody could purchase a jersey there because of the decision to pull all Nike apparel from the store.
Martin has been consistent about national anthem protests over the years, though, including cancelling an autograph session with Denver Broncos linebacker Brandon Marshall a couple of years ago because of his choice to kneel during 'The Star-Spangled Banner.'
"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. "That part of the military respect that's in me just cannot be sacrificed or compromised, as I believe Brandon Marshall and Colin Kaepernick both did. I don't like losing a business over it, but I rather be able to live with myself."
With choices come consequences and Martin's decision to pull Nike products after the Kaepernick ad campaign appears to have ended a once-successful business.
