REEBOK

Reebok, also known as Reebok International Limited, was founded in Bolton, United Kingdom, in 1895 under the name J.W. Foster & Sons. J.W. Foster & Sons originally started as a company designing shoes for track and field athletes. Seeing as how Joe was a runner with Bolton Primrose Harriers he wanted to develop a running shoe that would improve his performance on the track. The first pair of spiked running shoes were designed and after proving their success on the track Joe quickly began producing models for fellow runners, turning his hobby into a full time job. Besides for the spiked shoes, which became known as Foster Deluxe Spikes, J.W. Foster & Sons also developed basic trainers.

In the year 1958 the company name of J.W. Foster & Sons was changed to Reebok by the grandsons of Joe Foster. The name comes from the Afrikaans spelling of rhebok, a type of African antelope or gazelle, which was discovered in a South African dictionary that Joe Foster won during his youth. Besides for track shoes and runners the company started producing athletic apparel to go along with its lineup of performance runners. The company continued to grow at a somewhat steady pace, picking up distribution licenses in almost 30 countries around the world, but never actually blew up until 30yrs later, when the brand found its way to the United States.

In 1979 Reebok granted Paul Fireman with a distribution license to bring the Reebok lineup to the United States. When Paul brought Reebok to the stated he introduced three new runners, which at the time were the most expensive sneakers on the market with their price tag of $60. Bringing a new brand into the country that folks State side werent familiar with and sticking it on the shelves with the highest price yet was a risky move but something that proved to be well worth the risk. The people in the United States quickly grew fond of the Reebok running shoes putting them in high demand. In 1981 alone Reebok generated a $1.5 million profit just in America alone. The plant in Bolton, United Kingdom couldnt even keep up with the demand at this point and opened up a new plant in South Korea.

When Reebok was introduced in the United States it was competing with the behemoth we know now as Nike. Throughout the 1980s and early 90s Reebok and Nike were in a continuous battle to produce the best trainers on the market. Reebok always seemed to be one step ahead of Nike at the time though, producing models such as the Pump Court Victory forcing Nike to follow up with the Nike Air Max. However, when XXX rolled around and Nike produced the first pair of Air Jordans they quickly snatched back the limelight from Reebok. This is a time when basketball sneakers started getting real big in the United Stated, sort of leaving the trainers on the back burner for awhile.

Reebok however still continued along with their history of producing trainers, introducing the Pump Fury in the 90s. Although the Pump Fury gained somewhat of a following among sneakerheads who wore trainers it still could not compete with the sales that Nike was now generating with their Air Jordan lineup and other models which they introduced such as the Nike Dunks, Nike Blazers and Nike Terminators.