Nike Ramps Up Global Swoosh

Yesterday may have seen a plummeting stock market, but that's yesterday. For the next five years, the world's leader in athletic shoes is planning to run with the bulls.

In the company's first meeting with analysts in three years, Nike boldly proclaimed it has plans to fuel growth by more than 40% over the next five years, hitting $27 billion in annual sales versus its $19.2 billion sales tally for last year.

CEO Mark Parker expects most of that projected growth to come from existing brands, but he's not ruling out acquisitions. Nike owns the Cole Haan, Hurley, Umbro and Converse brands.

Converse, which the company acquired in 2003, is already a billion-dollar business, and Nike wants to at least double that by 2015. It's testing Converse retail locations with the brand's first standalone store opening soon on Boston's hip Newbury Street, and it's also looking to regain brand ownership from international licensees.

Clothing, which currently accounts for less than $5 billion of Nike's annual sales, will get a lot more attention, since it is "the single biggest opportunity that we have as a company," says Erik Sprunk, VP of product and merchandising. The company will invest four times as much as it does now in apparel innovation over the next five years.

While Nike's online operations are important, the company is clearly committed to bricks-and-mortar versus virtual retail stores.

It plans to open close to 300 more Nike stores in the next five years, some of which will be smaller in size, while others will focus on specific sports. Not surprisingly, Nike will aggressively expand in China, currently second only to the US in sales, and will invest in such developing markets as Brazil, Eastern Europe, and India.

Never one to rest on its laurels, Nike seems to live by its own slogan: Just Do It.