Donnay facts for kids
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| Private (1910–88) | |
| Industry | Sports equipment |
| Fate | Declared bankruptcy in 1988, acquired and becoming a brand |
| Founded | 1910 |
| Founder | Emile Donnay |
| Defunct | 1988 |
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Area served
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Worldwide |
| Products | Tennis rackets |
| Owner | Frasers Group (1996–present) |
Donnay Sports is a well-known brand that makes sports gear. It is currently owned by a company called Frasers Group. Donnay was started in 1910 by Emile Donnay in Couvin, Belgium.
For many years, Donnay was famous for making wooden tennis rackets. By the 1970s, it was the biggest tennis racket maker in the world! However, the company struggled to switch to newer graphite rackets. It went out of business in 1988.
After several owners, the brand was bought by Sports Direct International. This company continues to let others use the Donnay brand name worldwide. Today, Donnay still sells tennis rackets, strings, and bags. Famous tennis stars like Björn Borg, Andre Agassi, Rod Laver, and Greg Rusedski used Donnay rackets.
Contents
The Story of Donnay
How it All Started
Donnay was founded in 1910 by Emile Donnay. He started it as a small company that made wooden tool handles. It had only six employees back then. Emile Donnay didn't have much schooling, but he built a successful business.
Over time, the company began making other wooden products. One of these was a bow for archers. You can still see a bow shape in the Donnay logo today! In 1924, Donnay built its own factory in a town called Couvin.
Making Tennis Rackets
Donnay made its first tennis rackets in 1934. In the early 1950s, they got a big deal. They started making tennis rackets for Wilson, another well-known sports company.
By 1969, Donnay became the world's largest maker of tennis rackets. In the early 1970s, Donnay was producing 2 million rackets every year. About 1.3 million of these were sent to Wilson to sell. However, in 1973, Wilson moved its racket production to Taiwan. This caused problems for Donnay.
In 1981, Donnay made 1.8 million rackets. Almost all of them were made from ash wood. The company found it hard to change with the market. New, lightweight graphite rackets were becoming popular. Donnay only made 3,000 graphite rackets in 1980. They focused more on wood and aluminium rackets instead. Donnay kept making wooden rackets until 1984, even though they were no longer popular.
Challenges and New Owners
Donnay became very successful after signing Björn Borg. The company employed 600 people and made about 1.5 million tennis rackets a year. But when Borg retired in 1983, Donnay's success started to fade. The company had relied too much on Borg's fame.
Donnay lost money for four years. In 1988, it went out of business because of large debts. The company seemed to struggle to find another famous player like Borg.
The Donnay family still owned 55 percent of the company when it went bankrupt. The Belgian government owned the rest. A group of investors then bought the company. Later, in 1991, the government took full ownership of the company again. This was to stop it from going out of business a second time.
In 1996, Sports Direct International bought the worldwide rights to the Donnay brand. This cost them $3.9 million. At that time, Donnay products were made in Portugal. Sports Direct now sells Donnay products as their own brand. They also let other companies make and sell Donnay-branded items.
Famous Players and Sponsorships
Donnay first sponsored Belgian tennis players. Because tennis was an amateur sport then, Donnay could only give them rackets and balls. They also paid a small fee. Their first international sponsorship was with French player Yvon Petra.
Many famous players used Donnay rackets. These included Rod Laver, Margaret Court, and Cliff Drysdale.
Björn Borg
Donnay sponsored the legendary tennis player Björn Borg from 1975 to 1983. They provided his racket. When Borg renewed his contract in 1979, it was worth $600,000 a year. He also earned extra money from Donnay rackets that had his name on them.
Other Stars
Andre Agassi was signed to the Donnay brand between 1989 and 1992. His deal was worth about $1 million a year. Other top players like Henri Leconte and Greg Rusedski also used Donnay rackets.
