Colorado Springs sports store known for protests set to close

It’s not because of Nike this time — Prime Time Sports in Colorado Springs’ Chapel Hills Mall is slashing prices after announcing it’s closing up shop.

Stephen Kurtis Martin made the announcement on Facebook Monday morning, saying, “Thank you for 21 mostly good years.”

Martin didn’t share a specific closing date, and our attempts to reach him have gone unanswered so far. He only says he wants everyone to know “so this can go as quickly as possible.”

Prime Time Sports earned national notoriety last year when Martin deeply discounted his Nike products to get rid of it all following the company’s decision to employ former NFL Quarterback Colin Kaepernick in an ad campaign.

Kaepernick is at the center of a controversy surrounding the National Anthem protests ahead of NFL games, and Martin wanted to permanently clear his Nike stock as a counter-protest. It wasn’t his first counter-protest — he canceled a signing event with Broncos linebacker Brandon Marshall in 2016 after Marshall took a knee during a game.

The store was also known for the “Honor the Flag” memorial wall. It encompassed a whole wall with more than 2,000 pictures of service members sent in by family members.

It’s not clear what led to Martin’s decision to close the store.