Boise was a finalist for a Nike manufacturing plant. Now the factory has been scrapped
Boise lost out to a Phoenix suburb late last year when Nike announced plans to make soles for its Nike Air shoes in the Arizona town. Boise was the other finalist.
It turns out Goodyear, Arizona, won’t get the plant, either.
Nike announced this week that it has scrapped plans for the plant because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The Beaverton, Oregon, company had planned to invest $184 million in its third U.S. manufacturing line for Nike Air sneakers in Goodyear, Arizona. It was to employ 500 workers.
“We are experiencing unprecedented times and due to the COVID-19 impact we will no longer be investing in our Goodyear facility,” said Greg Rossiter, a Nike spokesman.
Nike paid nearly $70 million for the building near the Phoenix Goodyear Airport. The company expected to be in the building on June 1 and be fully operational within another three and a half years, according to Goodyear city documents. It never opened.
Nike lost $790 million in the fourth quarter, as soaring digital sales couldn’t make up for the loss of revenue from shuttered stores in most of the world. The world’s largest sports apparel maker said last month that its revenue fell 38% to $6.31 billion in the three-month period ending May 31.
Nike’s Goodyear facility was the subject of controversy last year when Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey threatened to pull state incentives because of the company’s decision not to sell the Nike Air Max 1 USA shoe, which included a Revolutionary-era emblem known as the Betsy Ross flag.
Former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who has a high-profile endorsement deal with Nike, told the company the flag recalls an era when black people were enslaved and that it has been appropriated by white nationalist groups, a person familiar with the conversation told The Associated Press last year.
Boise and Goodyear were among several cities considered by the company.
“Ultimately, we decided on the location in Goodyear, Arizona, for several reasons, including the cost to develop the site, the ability to start production in 2020 and access to transportation, among other factors,” Nike spokesperson Sandra Carreon-John told the Statesman in November.
The Idaho Statesman contributed.
