Nike came to India about 10 years ago. At that time, they thought of India as a dumping market. Some punks out here would purchase failed US and UK models at exhorbitant prices. It was quite understandable. Most of us were in awe of the swoosh/that famous tick.
Over the years..with many brands (Adidas Reebok) coming in, things have started getting hot. There is a price war and manufacturers operate on wafer thin margins.
For people looking for an international label on their body, I would NOT recommend the Indian Nike. However, if you get a chance to go abroad, do check out the Nike stores...you’ll find something totally different.
Lets take the ’Indian Nike’ products one by one..
Shoes
Shoes are the ’bread and butter’ product for Nike. Yet, if you walk into any Nike showroom in India, all what you see are dull turn-off shoes. Most of the them are made in China and the quality is atrocious to say the least. A friend of mine purchased a cross trainer for 4k which lasted just for 6 months under very average use conditions. I myself had a very bad experience with their products. I just dont know why they dont want to introduce their funky range of sports shoes for the enthusiastic Indian youngsters!
Apparel
Hole in your pocket. Thats for sure. Again, quality is a big let-down. The Polo dont have strong collars and the Round Necks start hanging after a few washes. Check out Adidas for apparel. I believe they have the best to offer. Quality is very good and the price is very competitive.
Caps
This is again very popular with the college crowd. What Nike India has failed to do is understand what the customer exactly wants. Colors worn in the US may not really work here. Two evergreen colors, Navy Blue cap with white swoosh and Black cap with white swoosh is missing in India. Instead, we have pink, green and Orange. When worn, your locality Tapori’s cap will seem more genuine.
Step Motherly Treatment
We have a whole lot of stuff missing here in India. We do not have a good range of Jackets, Sports Equipment, Sweat Shirts, Jersey...nothing at all. All what we have is boring stuff whose price hit the moon. For Indian buyers, I would strongly recommend Adidas. They have a very good range and ALL their products are better priced and outlast Nike.
Nike India, do something fast before the swoosh changes to a question mark...