Brooks Sports

Brooks Sports, Inc.
Subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway[1]
Industry Sports equipment
Founded 1914 (1914)
Founder Morris Goldenberg
Headquarters Seattle, Washington, US
Area served
 Worldwide
Key people
 Jim Weber CEO [2]
Products Athletic shoes, clothing
Number of employees
 500-1000[3]
Parent Berkshire Hathaway
Website www.brooksrunning.com/

Brooks Sports, Inc. is an American running company that designs and markets high-performance men's and women's running shoes, apparel and accessories in more than 60 countries worldwide. Brooks is a market-driven company with a specialty dealer channel strategy focused entirely on meeting runners’ specific needs.[4]

Brooks Sports, Inc. headquarters are located in Seattle, Washington, USA. Brooks was acquired by Russell Corporation in late 2004. On August 2, 2006 Russell officially announced its sale to Berkshire Hathaway. Jim Weber is the current CEO of Brooks Sports, Inc. In June 2013 Ernst & Young recognized Jim Weber as a Pacific Northwest Entrepreneur Of The Year® Award Recipient.[5]

Brooks is the main sponsor of the Hansons-Brooks Distance Project and was also the exclusive uniforms provider of the Chile national football team. This relationship ended in 2010 when Puma signed a deal with the Chilean Football Federation until 2015.[6]

History

Brooks Sports, Inc. was founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1914 by Morris Goldenberg. The name Brooks was selected by Morris Goldenberg as an Anglicized substitute for his wife's maiden name of Bruchs.

Brooks originally produced bathing shoes in 1917 before moving into sports in the 1930s by producing baseball cleats in 1920 and football cleats in the 1930s. In 1979 the world champion Pittsburgh Pirates endorsed Brooks shoes. In 1984 quarterback Dan Marino endorsed Brooks athletic footwear.

Sponsorships

Scott Jurek wearing Brooks Sports branded clothing

The following teams and individuals wear uniforms supplied by Brooks:

Current

Athletics

Football

National teams

Clubs

Field Hockey

National Teams

Rugby

National Teams

Ethical record

Brooks scored best in the study for ethically manufactured sports shoes by German consumer organisation Stiftung Warentest in 2015.[10] Brooks scored an overall rating of 61, while the shared second place (Adidas and Reebok) scored both 55. The overall rating was made up of company policy, manufacturing, sole production, components and transparency.

References

  1. ↑ http://www.berkshirehathaway.com/subs/sublinks.html
  2. ↑ Brooks Sports profile - Bloomberg Businessweek
  3. ↑ Brooks LinkedIn Profile
  4. ↑ http://www.brooksrunning.com/on/demandware.store/Sites-BrooksRunning-Site/default/Page-Show?cid=about-us
  5. ↑ Pacific Northwest Entrepreneur Of The Year 2013 Honorees
  6. ↑ Puma y Chile hacen oficial su relación
  7. ↑
  8. ↑
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6
  10. ↑ https://www.choice.com.au/health-and-body/diet-and-fitness/sportswear-and-shoes/articles/shoe-factory-working-conditions

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Friday, March 11, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.