“The feeling of being here is absolutely great, it’s fantastic, even overwhelming,” he said.
“I can say it’s been a long journey for us. We have been planning for several years for Nike’s flagship store in Lagos but the pandemic didn’t help global supply. We had even planned to open in April of this year but we’ve now only managed to open at the end of August so seeing this thing finally come alive, I have no option but to give a thumbs up to the teams working hard and having sleepless nights to make this happen.”
Nike’s entrance into the Nigerian market has been made possible by Hudson Brand Development Nigeria [HBDN], a subsidiary of Hudson Holdings Group, a leading retail and distribution Group representing a host of sports and fashion brands in over 30 African countries.
Giuseppe Crispino, Marketing Communications Manager at Hudson said at the launch: “The story of Nike and Nigeria, their partnership goes back a long time. The 2018 world cup jersey designed for Nigeria was a very big collaboration and a lot of athletes and ambassadors of Nike come from Nigeria. I think it was just time to come over. We are here now with a home where we can welcome our customers and meet them face to face. I think the real work starts now. I see this as a kickoff for the things we can do for consumers now that we are here.”
Hudson, together with Nike, has a partnership programme in support of The Asisat Oshoala Foundation and according to Indrek, that is only one of the many ways Hudson is exploring to make a mark on the market and the Nigerian society generally.
“We want to know what matters to Nigerians, what matters for the local consumer and how we can get better engaged. We are a global brand, but we also have to see how we can deliver that in a local way,” he enthused.
“So from that perspective, we are looking forward to working with marketing agencies to develop local assets through sporting and lifestyle events and we know that Subsaharan Nigeria is also about music, fashion etc. We understand that and we have to deliver that for the culture,” Indrek added.
Guests present at the launch include Gbemisola Adudu, Vice President of NBA Africa and Country manager, NBA Nigeria; Paul Onwuanibe, CEO, Landmark Africa and John Onyeoguzoro, CEO, SMARTMARK Ltd, amongst a host of influencers and other media personalities.
Hudson Holdings is based in Malta with representative offices in Morocco, Italy, Algeria, Nigeria and Cyprus. Besides NIKE, it represents brands such as Converse, Intersport, Kiabi, Mango, Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein and Urban Jungle.
In total, Hudson currently operates more than 60 stores spread across Africa and Southern Europe including Algeria, Morocco, Nigeria, Cyprus and Italy reaching 72 stores by the end of 2022.
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