Reebok facts for kids
Reebok International Limited is a well-known American brand that makes fitness shoes and clothes. It's currently part of a company called Authentic Brands Group.
Reebok started in England in 1958. It was created by the grandsons of Joseph William Foster, who had founded a sports company called J.W. Foster and Sons way back in 1895. For many years, until 1986, Reebok's logo even showed the flag of the United Kingdom to honor its English beginnings.
In 2005, a German sports company called Adidas bought Reebok. Then, in 2021, Adidas sold Reebok to the American company Authentic Brands Group. Today, Reebok's main office is in Boston, Massachusetts, in the Seaport District.
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Global headquarters in Boston, Massachusetts
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Formerly
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Reebok |
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| Industry | Textile, Sports equipment |
| Predecessor | J.W. Foster and Sons |
| Founded | 1958 in Bolton, England |
| Founder | Jeff and Joe Foster |
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Area served
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Worldwide |
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Key people
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Todd Krinsky (CEO) |
| Products | Sportswear, footwear |
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List
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Contents
The Story of Reebok
How Reebok Started
The story of Reebok began in 1895 with a 14-year-old boy named Joseph William Foster. He lived in Bolton, England, and started making some of the very first spiked running shoes in his bedroom. His ideas grew, and in 1900, he started his own business, J.W. Foster. Later, his sons joined him, and the company became J.W. Foster and Sons.
Foster opened a small factory called Olympic Works. His "running pumps" became very popular among athletes. British athletes wore his shoes, and they became famous when 100-meter Olympic champion Harold Abrahams wore them in the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris.
In 1958, two of Joseph Foster's grandsons, Jeff and Joe Foster, started a new company. They named it "Reebok" after finding the word in a dictionary. Joe had won the dictionary in a sprint race when he was a boy. The name "Reebok" comes from Afrikaans and means a type of African antelope called a grey rhebok.
Reebok Comes to America
In 1979, an American businessman named Paul Fireman saw Reebok shoes at a sports show in Chicago. Fireman, who had worked in his family's camping business, made a deal to sell Reebok shoes in the United States. This part of the company became known as Reebok USA Ltd.
That year, Fireman introduced three new Reebok shoes. By 1981, Reebok's sales in the U.S. reached over $1.5 million.
Growing Big in the 1980s and 1990s
In 1982, Reebok launched the Reebok Freestyle aerobics shoe. This was a big deal because it was the first athletic shoe made just for women. The next year, Reebok's sales jumped to $13 million. In 1984, Paul Fireman bought the original English Reebok company, making it an American company. In 1985, Reebok became a public company, meaning its shares could be bought and sold on the New York Stock Exchange.
Reebok became well-known in professional tennis with shoes like the Newport Classic and the Revenge Plus (also called the Club C). Famous tennis players like Boris Becker and John McEnroe wore them. The company then started making shoes for running and basketball, which were becoming very popular sports.
In 1989, Reebok introduced one of its most famous technologies: the Reebok Pump. This shoe had a special air chamber that you could pump up for a custom fit. By 1992, more than 100 professional athletes, including basketball star Shaquille O'Neal, were wearing Pump shoes.
In 1986, Reebok changed its logo. It went from showing the UK flag to a "vector logo," which looked like a streak across a race track. This new logo showed that Reebok was focusing more on performance sports. They also started making deals with professional athletes in the NBA (basketball) and NFL (American football). Reebok also began making sports clothing and accessories, and even a line of kids' shoes called Weeboks.
Reebok worked with fitness expert Gin Miller in the late 1980s to create Step Reebok. This led to the popular step aerobics workouts. By 1990, step aerobics classes were getting a lot of attention. This helped Reebok sell many adjustable step devices and special high-top shoes. Step aerobics was very popular, with over 11 million people doing it by 1995.
The 2000s and Beyond
In 2001, Reebok started working with the Arnell Group for its marketing. They created successful ad campaigns, including the funny Terry Tate commercials. They also helped develop the Yao Ming shoe line and the fashion-focused Rbk brand.
Reebok also bought CCM in 2004, a company that made hockey equipment. Reebok started making ice hockey gear under both the CCM and Reebok names. For a while, Reebok's logo was used on NHL jerseys. Later, most of Reebok's hockey equipment moved back to the CCM brand.
Owned by Adidas
In 2005, the German sports giant Adidas bought Reebok for $3.8 billion. Reebok became a part of Adidas, but they kept their own brand names. After this, Adidas replaced Reebok as the official uniform supplier for the NBA in 2006.
In 2010, Reebok teamed up with CrossFit, a popular fitness company and sport. Reebok started sponsoring the CrossFit Games and created a line of shoes and clothes for CrossFit. In 2011, Reebok started using the CrossFit delta symbol on its fitness clothing. As Reebok lost contracts to make uniforms for professional sports teams, it began to focus more on being a fitness brand, just like it was in the 1980s.
In 2013, Reebok announced another fitness partnership with Les Mills International. This deal meant Reebok shoes and clothes would be part of Les Mills' fitness programs. By July 2013, the red delta sign started appearing on Reebok's fitness collections. The brand announced it was replacing its old "vector" logo with the delta sign. This delta symbol is meant to represent three important parts of positive self-change: mental, physical, and social.
However, in 2019, Reebok decided to bring back its classic 1992 vector logo and original "Reebok" writing. They found that customers still recognized and liked these older designs more, though the delta logo continued to be used on some fitness products.
Authentic Brands Group Takes Over
In February 2021, Adidas announced it planned to sell Reebok. After looking at different options, on August 12, 2021, it was announced that Authentic Brands Group would buy Reebok from Adidas for at least $2.5 billion. The deal was completed on March 1, 2022.
What Reebok Makes
Reebok designs, makes, and sells sportswear for fitness, running, and CrossFit. This includes clothes and accessories.
One of Reebok's most famous shoes is the Reebok Freestyle, launched in 1982, which was made especially for women. By 1984, this shoe made up more than half of Reebok's sales! The company then released similar styles like the Princess and Empress. Following the aerobics trend, Reebok also launched workout programs called Reebok Step in 1989.
To compete with other shoe technologies, Reebok introduced the Energy Return System (ERS) in 1987. This system used cylinders in the shoe's middle sole to act like springs. Later, they developed "Hexalite" cushioning. In 1989, the brand introduced the Reebok Pump, a basketball shoe where you could manually add air for a perfect fit. The Reebok Ventilator, a light athletic shoe with special side vents, came out in 1990.
In 1996, Reebok signed a big deal with basketball star Allen Iverson. He worked with Reebok to create one of the longest-running basketball shoe lines in history, starting with the Question shoe in 1996.
In 2010, Reebok released the Reebok Zig, a shoe with a unique zigzag foam sole designed to help athletes move forward. The Reebok Nano, the first official CrossFit shoe, came out in 2011. Reebok also partnered with Les Mills and CrossFit to create more fitness clothes, shoes, and workouts.
Reebok has also developed new technology called Liquid Factory. This uses a robot to "draw" shoe parts with liquid material, without needing traditional molds.
Famous Partnerships
Reebok has partnered with many famous athletes, teams, and even celebrities around the world.
Sports Teams and Athletes
- Football (Soccer): Reebok sponsored Indian football clubs like Mohun Bagan AC and East Bengal FC. In England, they had a long-term sponsorship with Bolton Wanderers F.C.. Their new home stadium was even named the Reebok Stadium for many years. Other English clubs like Liverpool F.C. also had Reebok deals.
- Cricket: Indian cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni was a prominent Reebok athlete.
- Rugby: Reebok sponsored the Wales national rugby union team until 2008.
- Basketball: Reebok was the official uniform supplier for the NBA and WNBA teams for ten years starting in 2004. They also signed basketball stars like Shaquille O'Neal and Allen Iverson.
- American Football: From 2002 to 2012, Reebok had the rights to make uniforms and gear for all National Football League (NFL) teams.
- Hockey: Reebok held the rights to produce uniforms and gear for the National Hockey League (NHL) from 2007 to 2017.
- Combat Sports: In 2014, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) announced a six-year deal with Reebok.
- Baseball: In 2004, Reebok signed a four-year deal to be the official shoe supplier for Major League Baseball (MLB).
Celebrities and Artists
Reebok has also partnered with people outside of sports:
- Jay-Z: The famous New York rapper Jay-Z was the first non-athlete to get his own signature shoe from Reebok. His "S. Carter Collection by Rbk" launched in 2002 and became the fastest-selling shoe in the company's history.
- Other Musicians: Rappers 50 Cent and Nelly, and violinist Miri Ben-Ari have also worked with Reebok.
- Actresses and Models: Actress Scarlett Johansson had her own line of clothing and footwear called Scarlett Hearts. Other high-profile figures like Ariana Grande, Gal Gadot, Gigi Hadid, Victoria Beckham, Cardi B, and Camille Kostek have also partnered with Reebok.
Offices
Reebok's main global office is in Boston, Massachusetts. In other parts of the world, like Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, Authentic Brands Group works with local partners to help Reebok grow its business.
Logo Evolution
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1958–1977 -
1977–1993 Alongside with the flag of the United Kingdom, on Reebok Classic models -
1993–1997 -
1997–2000 -
2000–2005 -
2005–2008 -
2008–2014 -
2014–2019 -
2019–2022 -
2022–present
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Images for kids
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The Reebok logo on the seating of what was then Reebok Stadium (now Toughsheet Community Stadium) in the founder's home town of Bolton, England.
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Ryan Giggs in his Reebok Sprintfit football boots. The former Manchester United winger signed an endorsement with Reebok in the early 1990s.
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Reebok store in North America
See also
In Spanish: Reebok para niños
