“The feeling of being here is absolutely great, it’s fantastic, even overwhelming,” Heinmets said. "I can say it’s been a long journey for us. We have been planning for several years for Nike's flagship store in Lagos but the pandemic didn't help global supply. We had even planned to open in April of this year but we’ve now only managed to open at the end of August so seeing this thing finally come alive, I have no option but to give a thumbs up to the teams working hard and having sleepless nights to make this happen.”

The development was spearheaded by the Hudson Group in collaboration with Hudson Brand Development Nigeria, which is a leading retail and distribution group working together to increase its representation of sports and fashion in various parts of Africa and Europe.

Giuseppe Crispino, the Marketing Communications Manager at Hudson pointed out that Nigeria had a good collaborative relationship with the Nike brand over the years. He also noted that the sportswear conglomerate had designed the 2018 world cup jersey for Nigeria, and shared that many of Nike's athletes and ambassadors were Nigerian.

"I think it was just time to come over. We are here now with a home where we can welcome our customers and meet them face to face. I think the real work starts now. I see this as a kickoff for the things we can do for consumers now that we are here," Crispino said.

During the event, Kieran Murphy, who is a General Manager at Hudson Holdings said that the brand planned to contribute to communities in Nigeria beyond retail. Murphy told the press that the brand planned to increase its support of Nigerian sports as well as bolster sporting events in Nigerian schools.