Ed Selego interview about Nike, MIA, and more

[tkp]

http://www.skateboardstory.com/interviews/ed-selego/


Do you still carry Nike?
We still have a few pairs of Nike on the wall, but we haven't gotten any orders from them since last year. They actually sent us to collections and cancelled our account! The way they did it was super messed up. So, we owed them money like every shop that carried them through the good times into the bad. We were going through the process of trying to close our second location and credit was on us hard. We just couldn't make payments and asked for time to get through the holiday and close the store. We are barely making it and our sales rep for Nike and the sales manager pressured us super hard to send back all the product that we had immediately.

[Robert Baratheon]

It would be cool of a Nike pro to speak up about these practices. A friend of mine had a similar situation. He almost lost his shop over it. Another friend of mine sold the forced inventory on eBay against Nike's wishes to stay in the black.

Does Adidas make shops buy a bunch of extra crap like Nike does?

[theblandest]

Damn Nike quickstrike accounts.
No, Adidas doesn't do that shit.

[h00man]

Fuck Nike and everyone who thinks it's okay to support them. Fight me

[RCB3]

If you asked any skater 15 years ago if they thought Nike would ever become the biggest skate shoe company out there, no one would believe it. It's sad and crazy to see how much power money has in how it can influence the masses.

As much as I think I would never buy Nikes, as a kid I bought Emericas because I loved Reynolds so much, so maybe if I was growing up nowadays, I'd buy Nike because I loved Ishod.

[Allen.]

This happens a lot. Happened to the shop I go to.

[Fenzadill]

Ed is a self made martyr all you ever hear from that dude is complaints.

EDIT: He's right about Nike, though.

[givecigstosurfgroms]

end of the road or is it? are we gonna have to make our own indy's in 10 years?

[Tracer]

Damn I was just going to pick up the new Kostons for $199 + tax 

[nino brown]

THIS DOESNT AFFECT ME WANTING SUM B.A'S

EVERYTHINGS A GAMBLE

[Lance]

good interview

[teekayhitya]

Nike sucks but how can you complain when it's 2016 and you can't even update product on the online store

[oyolar]

Nike sucks but how can you complain when it's 2016 and you can't even update product on the online store

This man.  Their online store sucks.  It definitely affects shops when people can order directly from the manufacturers, but when you don't get in the products people want (MIA has a surprisingly small shoe wall when I went in there) and don't give them any option to purchase them except in store, don't be surprised when people look elsewhere to get what they want/need.

[MYXGAMES2015]

When will people realize?     Nike is the fucking worst.
I wish The Berrics or TWS or Thrasher would post this. Not even close to enough people are going to read it. FUCK NIKE SB

[Gray Imp Sausage Metal]

I wish The Berrics or TWS or Thrasher would post this.

dat vested interest doe

[lk130]

Nike very dimwittedly makes a product

[Owen]

I don't know much (nothing actually) about running skateshops, but if you're not paying your bills, almost any brand/company will sent collections on your ass. I imagine plenty of core skate distributors would have taken similar courses of action over the years. In short- we operate in a competitive profit driven system so pay your bills!

[andocom]

Yeah I can see it from both sides, complaining about a company wanting their product back because you have outstanding invoices and can't pay doesn't seem that unreasonable, maybe it isn't normal in retail, it would be expected in most I have have worked in.

Also making shops order shit they don't want or adding items to orders, fuck that, I wouldn't put up with that shit.

[Robert Baratheon]

Despite Nike's slamming tactics, shops have to be able to change with the times. Why someone would think that what applied in '00 should apply in '16 is beyond me.

If the affected shops got together and quit buying the pro decks of Nike riders, I bet something would change.

[Robert Baratheon]

NIKE SB Roster (according to their current site)
http://www.nike.com/us/en_us/c/skateboarding/nike-skateboarding-team

Eric Koston
Paul Rodriguez
Stefan Janoski
Alex Olson
Ben Raybourn
Blake Carpender
Bobby Worrest
Brian Anderson
Chet Childress
Daryl Angel
Donovon Piscopo
Gino Iannucci
Grant Taylor
Guy Mariano
Ishod Wair
John Fitzgerald
Justin Brock
Karsten Kleppan
Kevin Bradley
Lance Mountain
Leticia Bufoni
Luan Oliveira
Nyjah Huston
Omar Salazar
Sean Malto
Shane O'Neill
Theotis Beasley
Trevor Colden
Wieger Van Wageningen
Youness Amrani

Sounds harsh. Some of these guys are your favorites right?

When they took the money, they legitimized Nike in the skateboard community. Nike used that goodwill to force feed garbage, that wouldn't sell otherwise, down small businesses throats. If I were a shop that was unduly fucked over by Nike, I would not distribute the hard goods of these Nike riders until policy changes and/or restitution is met.

[zippy z]

I like 4 guys on that list, but I don't support them in any way because I don't like any of the companies they ride for. Except for Indy and Spit, but I don't buy signature trucks or wheels.

NIKE SB Roster (according to their current site)
http://www.nike.com/us/en_us/c/skateboarding/nike-skateboarding-team

Eric Koston
Paul Rodriguez
Stefan Janoski
Alex Olson
Ben Raybourn
Blake Carpender
Bobby Worrest
Brian Anderson
Chet Childress
Daryl Angel
Donovon Piscopo
Gino Iannucci
Grant Taylor
Guy Mariano
Ishod Wair
John Fitzgerald
Justin Brock
Karsten Kleppan
Kevin Bradley
Lance Mountain
Leticia Bufoni
Luan Oliveira
Nyjah Huston
Omar Salazar
Sean Malto
Shane O'Neill
Theotis Beasley
Trevor Colden
Wieger Van Wageningen
Youness Amrani

Sounds harsh. Some of these guys are your favorites right?

When they took the money, they legitimized Nike in the skateboard community. Nike used that goodwill to force feed garbage, that wouldn't sell otherwise, down small businesses throats. If I were a shop that was unduly fucked over by Nike, I would not distribute the hard goods of these Nike riders until policy changes and/or restitution is met.

[Big Baby Jesus]

I like 4 guys on that list, but I don't support them in any way because I don't like any of the companies they ride for. Except for Indy and Spit, but I don't buy signature trucks or wheels.

Expand Quote

NIKE SB Roster (according to their current site)
http://www.nike.com/us/en_us/c/skateboarding/nike-skateboarding-team

Eric Koston
Paul Rodriguez
Stefan Janoski
Alex Olson
Ben Raybourn
Blake Carpender
Bobby Worrest
Brian Anderson
Chet Childress
Daryl Angel
Donovon Piscopo
Gino Iannucci
Grant Taylor
Guy Mariano
Ishod Wair
John Fitzgerald
Justin Brock
Karsten Kleppan
Kevin Bradley
Lance Mountain
Leticia Bufoni
Luan Oliveira
Nyjah Huston
Omar Salazar
Sean Malto
Shane O'Neill
Theotis Beasley
Trevor Colden
Wieger Van Wageningen
Youness Amrani

Sounds harsh. Some of these guys are your favorites right?

When they took the money, they legitimized Nike in the skateboard community. Nike used that goodwill to force feed garbage, that wouldn't sell otherwise, down small businesses throats. If I were a shop that was unduly fucked over by Nike, I would not distribute the hard goods of these Nike riders until policy changes and/or restitution is met.

[close]

So you're saying you don't like BA, lance, Gino or Omar?

Lies.

[Robert Baratheon]

Nike is smart and paid good money to get core favorites. They didn't just get Street Leaguers and X-Games types. They knew that having Alex Olson, Chet Childress, Grant Taylor, Lance Mountain etc. would cover the consumers that are opposed to the contest, big hype riders.

[rideflannel]

Awesome to hear Selego speak out on this topic. A lot of shops have the exact same feelings but aren't necessarily vocal about it.

[Robert Baratheon]

I left off Converse for their Nike ownership. Adidas and Vans are tweeners so I left them off

Here's a list of people shops should support.

Emerica
Andrew Reynolds
Brandon Westgate
Bryan Herman
Colin Provost
Ed Templeton
Jeremy Leabres
Jerry Hsu
Justin Figueroa
Kevin Long
Leo Romero

Supra
Chad Muska
Erik Ellington
Lizard King
Jim Greco
Tom Penny
Lucien Clarke
Boo Johnson
Spencer Hamilton
Oscar Candon
Keelan Dadd
Dee Ostrander
Stevie Williams

Lakai
Rick Howard
Mike Carroll
Marc Johnson
Vincent Alvarez
Raven Tershy
Stevie Perez
Daniel Espinoza
Riley Hawk
Danny Brady
JB Gillet
Jesus Fernandez
Sebo Walker
Ronnie Sandoval
Jon Sciano

HUF
Keith Hufnagel
Josh Matthews
Kevin Terpening
Brad Comer
Dan Plunkett
Joey Pepper
Peter Ramondetta
Dylan Rieder
Austyn Gillette
Sammy Winter
Tyler Bledsoe
Craig Anderson

VOX
Justin Strubing
Danny Dicola
Frank Shaw
Brendan Keaveny
Victor Garibay
Shaun Gregoire
Al Brunelle
Drew Dezort

Osiris
Corey Duffel
Taylor Bingaman
Lee Yankou
Caswell Berry

Dekline
Matt Bennett
Nick Merlino
Chad Tim Tim
Ryan Spencer
Dakota Servold
Aaron Homoki
James Hardy

Fallen
Jamie Thomas
Tommy Sandoval
Brian Hansen
Dane Burman
Jon Dickson
Tony Cervantes

Etnies
Ryan Sheckler
Julian Davidson
Nick Garcia
Chris Joslin
Koichiro Uehara
Willow
Aidan Campbell
David Reyes
Albert Nyberg
Matt Berger
Barney Page
Jamie Tancowny
Silvester Eduardo
Trevor McClung

DVS
Daewon Song
Chico Brenes
Zack Wallin
Luis Tolentino
Jon Nguyen

eS
Kelly Hart
Tom Asta

DC
Wes Kremer
Evan Smith
Cyril Jackson
Chris Cole
Matt Miller
Mike Mo Capaldi
Mikey Taylor
Tommy Fynn
Filipe Gustavo
Madars Apse
Davis Torgerson
Tom Schaar
Josh Kalis
Danny Way
Colin McKay
Steve Berra

[drunkenshredder]

I've been saying Fuck Nike for years...never owned a pair and never will. Alive and Well in Seattle no longer carries NIKE and has nothing to do with them. Shops need to realize they don't need to support that shit to survive. Sucks that pro's ride for money and not because they like the company

[stevedave]

Shops also need to realize that THEY are the ones who are in control.  If a rep is trying to push product you don't wan't/need down your throat, you don't have to take it!  If they pad your order, that's fuckin ILLEGAL, as well as a shitty business practice and ANY company would fire a rep for padding an order.  It's that simple.  The reps are the ones who shove the product down people's throats.  Most of the time, the rep is a local dude, that knows the shop owners and uses that "friendship" to get a bigger order.  And the shop owners think they're doing their buddy a solid by giving him a big order.  Trust me, as someone who used to own a shop, this happens more often than not.  I'm not pro-nike, but I'm AM "pro-it's YOUR business, you need to run it how YOU want"

[Level 60 Dwarf Paladin]

Shops also need to realize that THEY are the ones who are in control.  If a rep is trying to push product you don't wan't/need down your throat, you don't have to take it!  If they pad your order, that's fuckin ILLEGAL, as well as a shitty business practice and ANY company would fire a rep for padding an order.  It's that simple.  The reps are the ones who shove the product down people's throats.  Most of the time, the rep is a local dude, that knows the shop owners and uses that "friendship" to get a bigger order.  And the shop owners think they're doing their buddy a solid by giving him a big order.  Trust me, as someone who used to own a shop, this happens more often than not.  I'm not pro-nike, but I'm AM "pro-it's YOUR business, you need to run it how YOU want"

This. All of this. Send the ones you didn't order back, or if it's totally fucking wrong, send it back.

[Makaveli]

Ed should be thankful to still be in business. Nike screwed over my local shop with all those unsellable products. After 19 years of business, they closed shop because all that Nike overhead killed them.

[Robert Baratheon]

Expand Quote

Shops also need to realize that THEY are the ones who are in control.  If a rep is trying to push product you don't wan't/need down your throat, you don't have to take it!  If they pad your order, that's fuckin ILLEGAL, as well as a shitty business practice and ANY company would fire a rep for padding an order.  It's that simple.  The reps are the ones who shove the product down people's throats.  Most of the time, the rep is a local dude, that knows the shop owners and uses that "friendship" to get a bigger order.  And the shop owners think they're doing their buddy a solid by giving him a big order.  Trust me, as someone who used to own a shop, this happens more often than not.  I'm not pro-nike, but I'm AM "pro-it's YOUR business, you need to run it how YOU want"

[close]

This. All of this. Send the ones you didn't order back, or if it's totally fucking wrong, send it back.

I totally agree. I don't think that he was powerless here. As a former pro, he has more connections and overall agency (than a regular shop owner) to affect change here. I'm trying to separate Ed's 'woe is me' story from Nike's leverage.

In some towns, Nike is king. If a competing shop is driving traffic and sales because they are playing ball, then your shop that is at a distinct disadvantage. Bros or not, Nike reps have threatened shops to cut off shops that don't pad orders. It's a real Catch 22. It's not illegal, it's maximizing your leverage. Companies can dictate minimum order quantities. It's only illegal if the shop can prove that they have differing MOQs than other shops. Shops can choose to participate.

These pros talk about how great Nike treats them and how it allows for them to do what they want.

Shops can choose not to support these pros, also, because of the way Nike treats them.