Nike Nirvana

Need the latest high-tech sports bra in the grooviest new colors? How about a signature Tiger Woods Collection wool jacket? Then make thyself a friend who works at Nike, and beg for a pass to the Nike employee store. Set in a nondescript box of a building in an anonymous industrial park off Jenkins Road in (where else?) Beaverton, this is the throbbing center of the temple of style that Nike built. We were the lucky guests of our friend Jeff, and were able to get our Christmas shopping off to a roaring start. Though prices aren't rock bottom, you get a solid half off clothes for men, women and children (slap a swoosh on that onesy!), more shoes than you can shake a stick at and a nice selection of sunglasses and watches. The one thing that surprised me was the stunning lack of cool t-shirts...most were just logo-wear, rehashing the usual and completely lacking in imagination. That said, it's an amazing inside look at the vast diversity of gear that this Oregon company makes and markets.