Prior to the start of the 2017-18 regular season, Trail Blazers guard CJ McCollum joined the likes of Dwyane Wade and Evan Turner by signing an endorsement deal with Li-Ning, a Chinese apparel and sneaker company. McCollum has been wearing Li-Ning on the court ever since, though fans wanting to emulate his on-court style have typically had a difficult time obtaining those products, as they’re sold almost exclusively overseas.
But in an effort to give McCollum’s fans here in the States a chance to get their hands on some of his exclusive merchandise, Li-Ning is hosting a pop-up shop on Saturday, January 19 between 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. at Index, which is located at 114 NW 3rd Ave. in downtown Portland.
“We were trying to figure out dates that would work, trying to make sure we had the right gear to potentially sell to the masses,” said McCollum of the long-rumored pop-up shop. “Really looking forward to it.”
Fans who can make it to Index Saturday afternoon can expect to find a range of products worn by McCollum this season, including the multiple colorways of the Li-Ning YuShuai 12, along with some exclusive items designed by one of McCollum’s friends.
“We’ll have the 'Rose City’s,” a few pairs of “Ace of Spades,” a few pairs of the Power V,” said McCollum. :”We just wanted to get a few different price points. Obviously it’s going to be a limited edition, not going to sell a lot of stuff. We’re going to have some custom merch. One of my homies partnered up with Li-Ning to make some jackets, so we have some hoodies, “Rose City” themed jackets, t-shirts, I think we’ll have some hats. A little variety.”
Considering that Li-Ning is more focused on selling in Asia than they are in the United States, it’s not exactly surprising that McCollum’s sneakers can be a bit tough to come by in Portland. So Saturday’s pop-up serves as one of the few opportunities to see Li-Ning merchandise in person first without ordering online and hoping whatever the item is happens to fit.
“Even if they can get a t-shirt or a hat or whatever the case may be, maybe place an order for some stuff later on down the road. I think that’ll be nice, just for them to get introduced to the brand and some of the cool stuff that they have that’s not normally available,” said McCollum. “They’ve got a lot of great stuff out in China, a lot of stuff that I wasn’t even aware of in terms of fashion and lifestyle brands and apparel and shoes. They’ll continue to get more integrated in the United States, but their main focus is China because that’s where they sell to the masses.”
With Dwyane Wade, who has a signature Li-Ning sneaker, the Way of Wade, retiring from the NBA at the end of this season, McCollum is poised to become the face of their basketball division here in the United States and abroad, so the likelihood of more pop-up shops, if not something more permanent, would seem to be rather strong.
“I’m just trying to take advantage of the situation I’m in, continue to build by brand on and off the court, continue to play at a high level and take the torch,” said McCollum. “Obviously DWade is a Hall of Fame caliber player, he’s been there for a long time, someone who I’ve talked to and become good friends with and tried to pick his brain, not only on basketball but the business side of things. Obviously he’ll continue to push product and probably phase more toward lifestyle. He’s very into fashion, he’s got a lot of different endeavors, and I’ll probably be more the focus on the basketball side.”