About Town

Last week Ciara Walker checked out the new Nike store at Lenox—

It was no surprise to me when the second full-customization Nike store in the U.S. opened at Lenox Square two weeks ago. Simply put—Atlanta is a hub for great fashion.

To celebrate the opening, Mychael Knight showed up to unveil his shoe design. The purple, pink, and black creation with yellow accents represents where he says he gets his inspiration—himself. He calls them "MaJK 411," which combines his initials and his birthday. The est. date at the bottom, "0078," represents the year he was born. Mychael was nice enough to take me through the NIKEiD experience, helping me design a pair of my own. Unfortunately, I was unable to take them with me. 

Some consumers may get publicity for their shoe designs. Designs created online will be rotated on the NIKEiD kiosks, and consultants will display their favorites on Facebook, and admirers can purchase them at NIKEiD.com. There will be a bloggable widget for the designs to be shared online. Additionally, a few designs will be chosen throughout the year to be produced in limited edition quantities and sold at the store. The creator will get recognition (a nameplate accompanying the design) but no monetary reward.

Highlights of the full-customization Nike store at Lenox:

NIKEiD studio (online since 1999): Design, customize, and personalize your own Nike footwear, apparel, and equipment. Choose from 105 key styles and exclusive NIKEiD items such as the Dunk, Dunk High, the women’s Dunk, the Air Max 90, the Air Max BW, and the Air Force 25 low. Each customer is given twenty-five minutes for the design process with the help of a Nike Design Consultant. Make appointments (recommended) at 404-846-5549. Walk-ins accommodated based on availability. Allow two to three weeks for delivery. Prices vary depending on the shoe and the design. With each color and material you choose, the price will go up. Ex: A regular Air Max could be anywhere from $99 to $130.

Tee-Bar: Create your own T-shirt using over twenty vintage graphics, a variety of colors, and customized lettering and numbering provided by the store. Eventually, customers may be able to use their own graphics and logos. The T-shirts start at $25, and you get ten letters and two numbers for $5. Each additional letter/number is $5 a piece.

Athlete Central: “Services to help you play, train, compete, and connect.” Find out about sports clinics, training, employment, etc. Also, use Nike Find to locate any Nike product that’s not available in the store.

GameChangers community board: Get updates on Nike Community Programs, Nike Run Club activities, exclusive athlete or celebrity in store appearances, local races and tournaments. Also, youth can share their “GameChanger ideas.” Nike partnered with international organization Ashoka’s Youth Venture to launch the “Dream It, Do It GameChangers” program where youths submit their ideas on how to make their community better using sports. A grant will be provided for five people to help bring their ideas to life. Ideas can be submitted to the store or at youthventure.org/nike. The deadline is December 31.

Projection wall at entrance: Enjoy rolling footage of new initiatives and Nike brand heat videos in a rotating display on the wall.

Dressing room area: The red and black wall representing UGA combines old-school imagery with what’s new; the three dressing rooms are decorated with a sports mural; and pictures, like the one Torry Holmes of Atlanta is painting below, hang on the doors.

The floor: Surrounding the Tee-Bar are old gym shoes, but in a different form. They’ve been grinded and processed, creating the floor you see below.

Other NIKEiD locations will include: New York, NY (NIKEiD studio only), White Plains, NY (full customization), Eugene, OR (full customization), Farmington, CT (full customization), Emeryville, CA (full customization), Bloomington, MN (full customization). —Ciara Walker

 The writer and Mychael Knight

Atlantans are no strangers to blockbuster exhibits. After all, the Louvre has taken temporary residence at the High Museum—which is also hosting an army of Chinese Terracotta Warriors. We have the world’s largest aquarium and a splashy, multi-sensory showplace for the world’s most popular soft drink. It’s hard for a traveling exhibit to impress the homefolks. But National Geographic’s Tutankhamun: The Golden King and the Great Pharoahs is one you’ve got to see.

To raise funds for preservation and to build a new museum in Cairo, Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities has released more than 130 treasures from the tomb of King Tut and other pharaohs. They range from the mundane (stone toilet seat, pocket-sized game board) to the sublime (solid gold funerary mask, colossal sandstone statue). An easy-to-use audio tour, narrated by Harrison Ford, provides insight into the most intriguing objects. Creative lighting and video displays heighten the dramatic effect. Tut himself remains in a stone sarcophagus in his burial chamber in the Valley of the Kings, but this exhibit includes surreal 3D CT scans of his remains. (Okay, so there’s no talking hologram appearing with Wolf Blitzer, but it’s not bad.) Sadly, during this week’s media preview, we didn’t have time to stay for the movie, Egypt 3D: Secrets of the Mummies.

Thanks to Emory’s Michael C. Carlos Museum, Atlanta is hosting the national premier of this exhibit produced for National Geographic by Arts and Exhibitions International and supported by Northern Trust and American Airlines. At the media event, AEI President John Norman announced, “Tutmania is back! The city of Atlanta has even changed its name to Tutlanta.” In fact, you can buy Tutalanta T-shirts in the awesome gift shop—where you can also design and order a customized cartouche necklace, starting at $65, with your personal choice of hieroglyphics.

Though we plan to take the relatives over the holidays (and see the movie), we’re hoping this show doesn’t spawn a revival of Steve Martin’s catchy 1978 song inspired by King Tut’s big American tour in the 1970s. After all, we can hardly remember the 1996 Olympics without getting the “Macarena” stuck in our heads. (The exhibit runs from November 15 until May 25, 2009. Single tickets, with daily entry on the half-hour from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m., range from $16.50 to $32.50 and can be purchased at the exhibition box office, 877-TUT-TKTS, or Ticketmaster.)

Above, left: Each of the four miniature coffins of Tutankhamun held a different internal organ, and this one contained his stomach. Above, right: These golden sandals covered the feet of Tutankhamun when his mummy was unwrapped. Photos by Sandro Vannini courtesy of National Geographic.

Thought I'd link to the extended version of the Jason Tesauro interview we ran in the November issue of Atlanta mag. As my mom would say, it just tickles me. And there are some legitimately useful tips in there on how guys can behave with class during the often-trying holiday season. For instance, don't give your girlfriend's mom this:

Not that there's anything wrong with TYCC (I'm a big fan of Spiced Pumpkin this time of year). There's nothing really wrong with Yellow Tail, either. But a gentleman can do so much better.

P.S. I forwarded this on to my fiance, and he had to ask what a "pocket square" was. Really?

Here are four ways to pass election night—because you'll be up anyway:

1. Dueling bars: Dems, brave the crowd and cheer on the results from Manuel's Tavern, the Poncey-Highland pub opened by Manuel Maloof, "Godfather" of Georgia Democrats. Repubs, head to Buckhead's Capital Grille to watch the broadcast over a Stoli Doli.

2. Obama supporters: Fox Sports Grill and Ten Pin Alley in Atlantic Station are hosting the Yes We Did bash, from 6:29 p.m. till 2 a.m. The preemptively named event is free and open to all, kids included, though preference will be given to those who RSVP. There will be a cake and, in lieu of the real thing, a lifesized cutout of Obama. (I'm sorry, but I don't have an equivalent event for McCain supporters—feel free to share if you do.)

3. Starting at 7 p.m., Ebenezer Baptist Church hosts "Watch Night," sponsored by Rev. Al Sharpton and other civil rights leaders. Large-screen TVs will broadcast the returns inside the church; the viewing will be followed by a candlelight vigil at Martin Luther King Jr.'s grave.

4. Feet sore from standing in line? Stay home and be mesmerized as John King works the magic map on CNN. (Won't you kind of miss it when it's gone?)

And don't forget your free tall coffee from Starbucks!