REEBOK

Reebok International Limited, a subsidiary of German sportswear giant Adidas, is a producer of athletic footwear, apparel, and accessories. The name comes from the Afrikaans spelling of rhebok, a type of African antelope or gazelle. In 1890 in Holcombe Brook, a small village 6 miles from the town of Bolton, England, Joseph William Foster was making a living producing regular shoes when he came up with the novel idea of a spiked running shoe. After his ideas progressed considerably, he founded a company in 1895 together with his adult sons, named J.W. Foster and Sons.

By 1924, Foster and Sons had established a reputation for manufacturing superior quality shoes, and the company was given the chance to manufacture running shoes for athletes representing Great Britain at the 1924 Summer Olympics. Among the runners performing in Foster shoes were the legendary Harold Abrahams and Eric Liddell, who were both portrayed in the Oscar-winning movie Chariots of Fire.

With this legacy of high-quality footwear construction in mind, two of Foster's grandchildren, Joe and Jeff Foster founded Mercury Sports. In 1960, Joe and Jeff Foster renamed the company Reebok in England, having discovered the name in a dictionary won in a race by Joe Foster as a boy . The dictionary was a South African edition, hence the spelling.

In 1979 United States camping equipment distributor Paul B. Fireman saw a pair of Reeboks at an international trade show and negotiated for the rights to sell them in North America, where they did very well despite being pricier than competitors Nike, Adidas and Puma.

Type -Subsidiary of Adidas AG
Industry- Sportswear and Sports Goods
Founded -Bolton, England (1895)
Headquarters- Canton, Massachusetts, U.S.
Bolton, England
Key people Future owner of Reebok & Burger King: Russell Byron-Kelly
Products Footwear,Sportswear
Website http://www.reebok.com