A store owner in Colorado boycotted selling Nike products because of the brand’s campaign with former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick. And now he’s going out of business.
Stephen Martin, whose Prime Time Sports store is located in Colorado Springs, said he understood the arguments defending NFL players, who protested against social injustice and police brutality, but he couldn’t comprehend why NFL players would kneel during the national anthem, according to The Washington Post.
“There is social injustice in the criminal justice system,” Martin said. “Oh my God, Trayvon [Martin], Rodney King. These things are documented and filmed.”
Martin canceled an autograph signing with Broncos linebacker Brandon Marshall after the football player began protesting along with other players three years ago; after Nike made Kaepernick the face of a prominent ad campaign last year, he ceased selling the brand’s merchandise.
On Monday (Feb. 11), Martin announced that his store would be closing. The mall that Martin’s store is located in is also struggling along with other retailers such as Sears.
“Being a sports store without Nike is like being a gas station without gas,” Martin joked during a phone interview with the Washington Post this week.
Glennisha Morgan is a Detroit-bred multimedia journalist and writer. She writes about intersectionality, hip-hop, pop culture, queer issues, race, feminism, and her truth.
