Reebok
Reebok Internation Limited is a subsidiary of German sportswear goliath Adidas. The company has ties back to 1890, when Joseph William Foster began producing spiked running shoes. Over the next hundred years the company underwent many changes before being acquired by Adidas in 2006. Today, the company still produces high quality sneakers and other athletic gear.
Brand History
Reebok's history dates back to the 1890s, when Joseph William Foster began producing spiked running shoes to help athletes run faster. By 1895, Foster was hand-making shoes for some of the top athletes in his area of the UK. The company, operating under the name J.W. Foster and Sons, grew and cultivated new clients around the world.
The company we know today was founded in 1958, when Foster's two grandson's started a sister company that they named Reebok, after an African Gazelle. While this company operated successfully for many years, its turning point came in 1978, when sporting goods distributor Paul Fireman discovered Reebok products at a trade show. Three years later Fireman acquired the exclusive license to distribute Reebok products in the US, and subsequently started Reebok USA.
Fireman quickly released three running shoe models at $60 each, which made them the most expensive running shoes on the market at the time. In order to thrive in the US, Reebok adopted a strategy that allowed the company to initially avoid direct competition with established US shoe companies such as Nike. Rather than directly competing with Nike and other established players, Reebok looked for niche markets that the other shoe companies had yet to tap into. One example of this strategy is Reebok's early focus on the women's fitness market. In 1982, the company released the Freestyle, the first athletic shoe designed specifically for women.
The Freestyle catapulted Reebok into popularity amongst fitness enthusiasts and helped establish the company as a major player in the sneaker industry. The Freestyle became an icon of 80s fashion and was worn as a casual sneaker as well as an athletic shoe. Reebok continued to cultivate this image as well as expand into new markets, making it one of the world's premiere shoe companies today.
Reebok was acquired by Adidas in 2006 for $3.8 billion. Today the Reebok brand remains, operating as a subsidiary of Adidas.