As I recently perused the new Jordan Brand store in the heart of Toronto, a tune by Canadian rapper Drake is playing with the lyrics, “Jump man, jump man, jump man. Dem boys up to something.”
But in fact, it’s a girl who’s up to something.
How did the second-ever Jordan Brand store in North America wind up in Canada? It was a combination of a increasing demand from a growing fanbase and the efforts of a brave executive whose unorthodox path to sneaker supremacy has lead to some outside-the-box thinking.
Inside the Jordan “306 Yonge” store (the only place in the world where the first 30 pairs of Jordans are displayed) where it looks and feels more like the hoops version of the Louvre museum than a retail space, I had a chance to pick the brain of one of the people most responsible for bringing the store to Canada: Sarah Mensah, vice-president and general manager of Jordan Brand North America.
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The store’s existence in Canada, and Mensah’s role in bringing it here were both improbable. There was a time when having Jordans shipped to a friend in the USA was the best way to get to wear the Jumpman logo in Canada. There was also a time when an African-American female leading a Men’s sportswear line would be unfathomable. Even in today’s climate, sadly, it is a surprise.
Mensah’s background in sales shaped her approach to running the Jordan Brand and attacking the Canadian landscape.
After starting her career as a broadcasting production coordinator in Oregon, Mensah moved on to work in sales for the Portland Trail Blazers. While with the NBA club, she rose from corporate sales manager to executive vice president and then chief operating officer. During her time with the team, she oversaw the largest single year-over-year increase in ticket revenue in franchise history, increasing the team’s local revenue by 105 per cent and its season ticket base by 120 per cent.
Her ability to sell also translates to shoes, as Jordan Brand now has more market share in North America than Adidas, even at a time when basketball shoe sales have plummeted.
While most shoe stores are focused on product per square foot, Mensah has used her unique perspective as an outsider to instead sell “culture” with the new store. Instead of pushing the Jordan Brand ethos on consumers, Mensah plans to use the space to celebrate Canadian basketball culture.
Jordan Brand athletes Marcus Stroman and Canadian Tyler Ennis helped kick off the opening of the store.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BUZrVGlDFiV/?taken-by=jumpman23&hl=en
The store opened its doors at 6:23 a.m. on May 27. The specific time and homage to the city (The Six) and MJ himself (23). Although the gear in-store is fully customizable, those are the only numbers offered on the backs of shirts.
The lines during a weekend pop-up in the same space during 2015 NBA All-Star weekend were so long despite the minus-20 degree temperatures, Nike had to purchase vacant space beside the store so the overflow of people waiting to get in didn’t have to brave the elements or impede oncoming traffic. This time around, excited sneaker heads camped outside to get their hands on pairs of the Air Jordan IV, I, and VI available in store to honour the 416-area code.
In part thanks to Mensah, the Jordan Brand has also featured collections for women–something that doesn’t often happen in the consumer basketball world.
“There is definitely a Jordan female consumer that has been there all along and is emerging even stronger. Because of the brand’s ability to resonate cross-gender, we know there is an unmet opportunity yet for us to explore as it relates to women.”
Here’s my full Q&A with Mensah.
sportsnet.ca – Why Canada and why now?
SM – The why Canada piece we answered almost two years ago now. We were here scouting locations to do a pop-up during all-star and we spent a lot of time with Toronto consumers, people who know the city, moving around different boroughs of the city and we became increasingly more in love with what Toronto and Canada represents. The diversity, the international flavour, and it started to become clear that we needed to start looking for something much more permanent than just a pop-up. So, when we did the pop-up we had already made the decision that this was going to be the location for our first permanent store in all of Canada.
sportsnet.ca – How involved was Michael Jordan in this process?
SM – The great thing was Michael was here. He is the reason. He was here at all-star, he saw this space, he was absolutely thrilled. He was overwhelmed by what we are able to do and overwhelmed with the consumers. When he was here there is this absolutely iconic shot of him being enveloped by Toronto consumers with a big smile on his face. Because he was here and has seen this, he’s been very, very involved.
sportsnet.ca – What did your market research tell you about the Canadian basketball consumer?
SM – Each one of our markets is like a microclimate–they all have something distinct. I think the thing we love about Toronto is it really is this representation of the balance between a very sport focused city and then there is also this incredible culture. And when we think of the Jordan Brand we really believe that the Jordan Brand lives at the centre of sport and culture and that is the way the game of basketball is really represented as well. I don’t know if there is any other city, despite all the cities that we were working on, that can claim that nexus quite the way Toronto does.
(Jordan checks out some kicks at Jordan Brand store in Toronto.)
sportsnet.ca – Do you have to position yourself differently to cater to the Torontonian or Canadian consumer?
SM – You refer to yourself as “The Six.” The six boroughs, I would call it microcommunities. And I think when we’re interacting with Toronto we behave and interact in a way that indicates that we understand that. Coming to Canada is a bit more complex. We can’t put up a store in a way that is cookie cutter. This is not a cookie cutter city.
sportsnet.ca – There is some risk in putting up a brick and mortar store when you could just have a presence in Canada with e-commerce. Why take that chance?
SM – This is so much more than a store. MJ stood for greatness. He really achieved his greatness when he started preparing for his sport in a different way. What we’ve done here is created not just a store, it’s a lab for learning for all of Toronto and Canada. Hopefully there will be a wonderful nexus of connection between what happens in the digital space and what happens in the brick and mortar space.
sportsnet.ca – The demise of the signature shoe business has been widely reported. The anomaly has been Air Jordans, which have been Teflon to the ebbs and flows of the shoe economy. Why?
SM – People have been saying that about the Jordan brand from the moment Michael stepped off the court. According to some people that was going to be the end of it because the going thinking at the time was that if you’re a signature athlete you have to be playing in order to have success and we all know how that’s been proven wrong. We’ve been on an absolute rocket ship and I think it’s because this brand has come to stand for so much more than just basketball. It’s really about greatness and that transcends sport, it transcends gender, it transcends culture, it transcends nations.
sportsnet.ca – Most of the patrons in this store never saw Jordan play live. Is connecting to a younger audience a big part of the initiative for customization?
SM – Consumers nowadays are collaborators, they are builders, they have their own ideas. They are very unique and individualized, so we’ve got options for people to take their own ideas and transmit those ideas on the product.
sportsnet.ca – What’s next for the brand north of the border?
SM – It’s really clear for Toronto this makes sense. The real unanswered question is the rest of Canada. I think our success here will dictate a path for what happens for the rest of Canada as well. Stay tuned.