Pink Bucket Tavern

In the early days, Phil Knight ran Blue Ribbon Sports out of a one-room, hole-in-the-wall storefront next to the Pink Bucket Tavern in Portland, Oregon.

Humble beginnings

Designers re-created elements of the Pink Bucket for an eatery by the same name in the LeBron James Innovation Center. It’s a place for innovators to gather, have a meal, unwind and enjoy sport together.

A place to fill your bucket

Boom boom, and you’d know it’s 4:00.” This quote by one of Nike’s first employees, Bob Woodell, hangs above a Wurlitzer jukebox in the Pink Bucket. A similar jukebox would come on 4:00 each afternoon at the Pink Bucket Tavern, alerting its neighbors at Blue Ribbon Sports that it was time to pack up.