Personal Nikes

Nike Inc. (Beaverton, Ore.) has opened a new NikeiD studio at its NikeTown London store.

The in-store product customization service is similar to the one the company opened at its NikeTown store in New York last month.

The studio, a two-story glass and steel cube suspended above the center of the store, gives consumers a hands-on design experience and what the company calls “the power to express their individuality” by personalizing their sports footwear, apparel and equipment, using the NikeiD.com online design process with help from one-to-one appointments with trained design consultants.

The first floor of the in-store studio houses the iD Bar, a walk-in space where consumers can customize a selection of 54 different styles of Nike footwear, as well as Nike Pro apparel and bags and watches. They can also buy NikeiD Exclusive product (product that has already been iD'd) and book appointments for the NikeiD Studio on the second floor.

The second floor contains the iD Studio, an appointment-only private space hosted by the studio concierge and containing four Mac stations, each manned by a design consultant. In addition to the product offered on the first floor, the iD Studio has five exclusive footwear styles that can only be customized here.

Nike says the design consultants have been “handpicked from London's cultural elite and include graffiti artists, musicians and sneaker freaks.” Each has undergone a 14-week training program that included sessions at Claridges and a meeting with a color psychologist.

The designs consumers create in the studio can be stored in an online “locker” and shared with others online. If the designs are subsequently ordered, the shoes are individually made and delivered, either via the Nike Town store or direct to their homes.

Since Nike developed the NikeiD business in 2004, more than 3 million visitors a month have gone to the www.NikeiD.com site.

“The world has changed,” says Trevor Edwards, Nike’s vp, brand and category management. “Consumers interact with brands on their own terms.”