Nike : What’s New (and Familiar) About the Converse All Star Pro BB
April 17, 2019 at 05:13 pm EDT
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The easy familiarity of the Converse All Star Pro BB is by design. Aesthetically, it draws on a rich basketball heritage. Underfoot, the technology (inconspicuous in its employment) supports cutting-edge performance needs.
For more than 100 years, Converse has been synonymous with basketball. In 1917, the company, then based in Malden, Massachusetts, introduced the Non-Skid, one of the first shoes specifically designed for the sport. Five years later, Converse hosted the first basketball clinic in North Carolina. It was led by Chuck Taylor, a Converse salesman and coach, who was instrumental in spreading the sport's fundamentals across the country (and effectively kick-starting grassroots hoops). The brand sponsored its first women's team in 1924, and in 1934, Taylor's name was added to Converse's flagship basketball shoe, by then renamed the All Star, making him the game's first signature athlete.
Converse led a series of other firsts, ranging from sponsoring Team USA basketball (beginning in 1936 and ending in 1988) to outfitting participants in the first collegiate championship game in 1939. In the decades that followed, seminal performances in Converse include the first 100-point game in 1962, Julius Erving's 'the scoop' on May 11, 1980, and countless titles at all levels through the '80s '90s and 2000s.
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Nike Inc. published this content on 17 April 2019 and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 17 April 2019 21:12:03 UTC
Nike, Inc. specializes in the design, manufacturing and marketing of sports shoes, clothing, and equipment. The group's products are sold primarily under the names Nike, Jordan, Converse Chuck Taylor, All Star, One Star, Star Chevron and Jack Purcell. Net sales break down by family of products as follows:
- footwear (68.9%);
- clothing (27.2%);
- sports equipment (3.4%): golf equipment (golf clubs, balls, gloves, etc.), bags, balls, etc.;
- other (0.5%).
At the end of May 2023, products were being marketed through a network of 1,032 stores worldwide, through independent distributors, and via the Internet.
Net sales are distributed geographically as follows: North America (44.3%), Europe/Middle East/Africa (27.5%), China (14.9%), Asia/Pacific and Latin America (13.2%) and other (0.1%).
NIKE, INC. 
