NBA Africa CEO Victor Williams has explained why the first store in Africa was opened in SA, in Sandton City, on Saturday.
The 270m2 store, which is operated by Shesha, features an extensive range of official National Basketball Association merchandise and memorabilia, including current and former player jerseys, an assortment of youth NBA jerseys, apparel, headwear, footwear, sporting goods, toys, and collectibles from major brands such as Nike, Mitchell & Ness, New Era and Wilson.
The store features authentic memorabilia from throughout NBA history and a customisation area where fans can personalise NBA jerseys.
The announcement was made on Saturday at the store by Williams, Shesha CEO Nirmal Devchand and 2004 NBA champion Richard “Rip” Hamilton.
“It’s a terrific milestone to be able to launch the first NBA store in Africa. It’s a moment that has been a long time coming,” Williams told the media.
“And we wanted to really create a location like this to give all our fans across the continent, especially here in SA, to come and experience the NBA through our merchandise.
NBA store set to woo basketball fans
National Basketball Association wants to grow the sport on the continent
NBA Africa CEO Victor Williams has explained why the first store in Africa was opened in SA, in Sandton City, on Saturday.
The 270m2 store, which is operated by Shesha, features an extensive range of official National Basketball Association merchandise and memorabilia, including current and former player jerseys, an assortment of youth NBA jerseys, apparel, headwear, footwear, sporting goods, toys, and collectibles from major brands such as Nike, Mitchell & Ness, New Era and Wilson.
The store features authentic memorabilia from throughout NBA history and a customisation area where fans can personalise NBA jerseys.
The announcement was made on Saturday at the store by Williams, Shesha CEO Nirmal Devchand and 2004 NBA champion Richard “Rip” Hamilton.
“It’s a terrific milestone to be able to launch the first NBA store in Africa. It’s a moment that has been a long time coming,” Williams told the media.
“And we wanted to really create a location like this to give all our fans across the continent, especially here in SA, to come and experience the NBA through our merchandise.
“It is a fantastic store, I have been to a number of NBA stores around the world and this is as good as most of them and we are just pleased with the reception from the fans.”
Williams said the reason they chose Sandton was that the shop would be accessible to everyone.
“Why Africa? Because the NBA has committed to growing our presence in Africa and we are committed to increasing the number of Africans to play basketball as a game. We also want to increase the number of NBA fans on the continent,” he said.
“Why Sandton City? This is the premium mall in Africa and it is a statement of our intent to operate a store that is very much at home. We also tried to make the store accessible to anyone.”
Soon after the store opened, hundreds of shoppers arrived to buy whatever they wanted. Williams was pleased with the response on the first day.