K-Swiss
| K-Swiss
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|---|---|
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| legal form | Corporation |
| founding | 1966 |
| Seat | Westlake Village , United States |
| sales | 500 million USD (2005) |
| Branch | Shoe manufacturer |
| Website | www.kswiss.de |
K-Swiss, Inc. (also spelled as K • Swiss ) is a shoe and sportswear manufacturer from the US state of California . The company designs, develops, and markets a range of shoes; from sports shoes to sneakers .
history
K-Swiss was founded in Los Angeles in 1966 by the Swiss brothers Art and Ernie Brunner, who were interested in tennis . After immigrating to the United States, they brought an all- leather tennis shoe on the market.
Initially, the company "Brunner Enterprises" imported tennis shoes from the Künzli brand from their Swiss homeland. The novelty with the 5-stripe lacing and made entirely of leather was successful. In 1972 the company was renamed K-Swiss, and a little later production was organized in-house. In 1978 her sister Elsie Bianchi Brunner and her husband took over the management of the factory.
In 1985, Steven Nichols, who worked at Stride Rite Corporation , tried to convince his managers to buy K-Swiss but was unsuccessful. So he found a group of investors himself who bought the company in 1987 for $ 20 million. Nichols described the classic K-Swiss model with white stripes on brown leather as a “shoe of the 50s”.
In the 1990s, Steven Nichols expanded K-Swiss's marketing budget. The popularity of K-Swiss rose sharply as a result of the advertising measures. The brand is one of the leaders in the footwear industry .
In 2005, K-Swiss achieved sales of 500 million US dollars. The company is growing worldwide and in 2006 raised more than $ 100 million in Europe. Steven Nichols owns a little more than 22 percent of K-Swiss shares, and his son David has been Deputy Chairman of the Board of Management since 1995.
On January 17, 2013, the South Korean company E-Land announced that it would take over K-Swiss for 200 trillion won (approx. 189 million US dollars). The takeover was completed on April 30, 2013.
Web links
- K-Swiss (English)
- K-Swiss (German)
- Kuenzli shoes history
Individual evidence
- ↑ E-Land buys K-Swiss for W200 bil. , at www.koreatimes.co.kr , accessed January 21, 2017
- ↑ K-Swiss and E.Land World Complete Merger to www.businesswire.com , accessed on January 21, 2017