February 24th, 2012
12:17 PM ET

Disturbances prompt cancellations of some Nike releases

[Updated at 4:13 p.m. ET] Concerns about disturbances among large crowds waiting to buy special-edition Nike shoes tied to this weekend’s NBA All-Star Game prompted stores in several states to cancel the releases, media reports say.

Of particular interest among many would-be shoppers, according to the reports, was the $220 Nike Foamposite One Galaxy, a space-themed, glow-in-the dark shoe that nods to the space legacy of Florida, where this weekend’s game is happening in Orlando.

In Orlando on Thursday night, a Foot Locker House of Hoops store at Florida Mall cancelled a special 11 p.m. opening after police were called to handle a crowd of about 1,200 people, CNN affiliates Bay News 9 and WFTV reported.

The crowd outside the mall was moved across the street before the late-night opening. But at one point, people rushed toward the store, which was to sell the Foamposite One and other All-Star-related releases, the affiliates reported.

“People tried running over the cops. People tried just getting into that line,” witness Youssef Abounouadar told WFTV. “Everyone ran to the door, and it started getting really hectic.”

Law enforcement officers in riot gear pushed back the crowd, the store did not open Thursday night, and the release of the Foamposite One there Friday was canceled, the affiliates reported. No injuries or arrests were reported.

A message on a Foot Locker website said the company was canceling All-Star weekend shoe releases at seven malls in four states Friday because of unspecified "safety concerns." Besides the one at Orlando’s Florida Mall, the cancellations included stores in Tampa and Pembroke Pines, Florida; Morrow, Georgia; Hyattsville, Maryland; and Charlotte and Raleigh, North Carolina.

The release also was cancelled at a store in the Mall of Louisiana in Baton Rouge on Friday morning, CNN affiliate WAFB reported. A witness told WAFB that authorities sent home a crowd of more than 100 people because the would-be shoppers wouldn't line up in an orderly fashion.

A call to Foot Locker's corporate offices wasn't immediately returned.

In an e-mailed response to a call seeking information about the cancellations, Nike said that it encouraged "anyone wishing to purchase our product to do so in a respectful and safe manner" and that "consumer safety and security is of paramount importance."

One of the cancellations was at Tampa’s University Mall, where police called off a midnight release because of concerns about a crowd of 800 to 1,000 people that gathered there Thursday night, CNN affiliate WTSP reported.

Kingsley Boateng, a witness, told WTSP that the release was canceled after people “tried to bum rush the door.”

At the Hyattsville, Maryland, mall, one person was arrested on suspicion of disorderly conduct after a large crowd gathered there, CNN affiliate WUSA reported Friday morning.

At the Southlake Mall in Morrow, Georgia, the Foot Locker House of Hoops store will be closed Friday because of safety concerns surrounding the shoe releases, a mall representative told CNN.

The Foamposite One was one of 17 types of shoes that Foot Locker House of Hoops stores were releasing over the weekend.

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Filed under: Basketball • Florida • Georgia • Maryland • NBA • North Carolina • Sports
soundoff (291 Responses)
  1. Loyal Democrat

    The next Nike is going to be called "The Brazil Nut" and is going to be sold by crack ho's on welfare, but assisted by their pimps to drum up business.

    February 25, 2012 at 1:30 am | Report abuse |
  2. Vote Democrat in 2012

    Can you imagine how fast they could run across the border if they got these shoes?

    February 25, 2012 at 1:32 am | Report abuse |
  3. Nathan

    Bunch of nut cases!

    February 25, 2012 at 6:50 am | Report abuse |
  4. mee

    mostly craigs crime list and ebay flippers

    February 25, 2012 at 7:52 am | Report abuse |
  5. catchmeifucan

    Animals

    February 25, 2012 at 10:43 am | Report abuse |
  6. Raudel

    Make these "ultra rare" releases online only. Avoid all this nonsense...

    February 25, 2012 at 2:02 pm | Report abuse |
  7. Canuck

    So these people represent America's hope for the future? $220 for runners? Made where? And they will riot to get them? This is truly pathetic. Proud examples of American capitalism and American society.

    I now agree with the GOP. Tighten your borders. But please, start with your northern one. You made these fools and losers so you can deal keep them!.

    February 25, 2012 at 2:40 pm | Report abuse |
    • banasy©

      I wasn't aware that these things never happen in Canada...and that crime doesn't exist there...
      What a perfect Utopia!

      February 25, 2012 at 7:43 pm | Report abuse |
    • USA

      Gee Canuck, I guess riots only take place in the USA. I recall almost two years ago, the so-called fine folks of Vancouver rioting after losing in the Stanley Cup Finals. Rioting because you lost a hockey game...real classy Canada. We should move our troops North in order to protect our borders from the looney's in Canada. I'm sure the youth in Canada will do you proud in the future...as long as you don't lose another a hockey game. Do us a favor and shut your trap...old saying, "you should throw stones in a glass house".

      February 26, 2012 at 10:36 am | Report abuse |
  8. whiteisright

    Damb apes

    February 25, 2012 at 2:47 pm | Report abuse |
  9. whiteisright

    Who left the ape cage open at the zoo

    February 25, 2012 at 2:49 pm | Report abuse |
  10. KajinPL

    This is consumerism at it's absolute worse. Shoes get worn out over time and then you have to buy a new pair. Unless these sneakers have wings on the sides of them that make you fly I don't see what the craze is about.

    February 25, 2012 at 2:53 pm | Report abuse |
  11. forreal89

    Can you say ghetto

    February 25, 2012 at 5:31 pm | Report abuse |
  12. forreal89

    Wake up this is where our country is going. All these people on welfare and lack of manners. GHETTO GHETTO GHETTTO GHETTO

    February 25, 2012 at 5:32 pm | Report abuse |
  13. John, fl

    That's it folks. Keep killing each other over a pair of overpriced crappy shoes made in China. Maybe next time someone will bring a gun and thin the herd. I mean these ARE nike's were talking about.

    February 25, 2012 at 6:53 pm | Report abuse |
  14. lineupforshoes?

    Let's see how many of them line up to vote!!

    February 25, 2012 at 10:51 pm | Report abuse |
  15. dentss

    Glow in the dark nike's ...can't imagine they would be too popular in the hood ....

    February 26, 2012 at 10:09 am | Report abuse |
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