Levi Strauss & Co.
| Levi Strauss & Co.
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|---|---|
 |
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| legal form | Corporation |
| ISIN | US52736R1023 |
| founding | 1853 |
| Seat | San Francisco , United States |
| management |
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| Number of employees | 15,800 (2019) |
| sales | $ 5.8 billion (2019) |
| Branch | Textile and clothing industry |
| Website | levistrauss.com |
| As of January 30, 2020 | |
Levi Strauss & Co. [ ˌliːvaɪ stɹaʊs ] is a listed trading company for textiles , the world for its denim - Jeans is known. It was founded in 1853 when the Frankish immigrant Levi Strauss (actually Löb Strauss ) came to San Francisco to open a textile shop with his brother on the west coast. The company was already making denim overalls in the 1870s, but modern jeans did not emerge until the 1920s. The company is owned by the descendants and relatives of Levi Strauss' four nephews, who inherited the company after his death. The group is the global market leader in the sale of jeans and other casual trousers. Its headquarters are in San Francisco.
history
The company was founded in 1853, but did not really take off until the 1870s. In December 1870 , tailor Jacob Davis , who worked in Reno , had the idea of reinforcing the corners of the trouser pockets in work trousers and the lower end of the trouser bib with a rivet from a harness. Because he didn't have the money to patent the process he had developed in 1872, he turned to Levi Strauss , who supplied him with balls of cloth. Strauss supported the project and received a patent on May 20, 1873 together with Davis. The riveted waist overalls met with huge demand. In 1890 the batch number “501” was used for a series of these practical work trousers, which from then on established itself as a term.
In 1981 Levi Strauss & Co. began closing operations in the USA and gradually relocating production overseas. The last domestic factory was closed in January 2004 in San Antonio, Texas for cost reasons.
organization
Levi Strauss & Co. is a worldwide operating company that is divided into three geographical areas:
- Levi Strauss North America (LSNA) at its headquarters in San Francisco, 7300 employees
- Levi Strauss Europe (LSE) with headquarters in Brussels , 4600 employees
- Asia Pacific Division (APD) based in Singapore , 3900 employees
According to its own information, the group employs around 11,400 people worldwide. He owns 260 stores of his own and has used franchise terms for over 1,500 stores . The production facilities are now located outside of the USA for cost reasons. Around 40 percent of its products are manufactured in South and Central America, and around 40 percent in Asia. The group purchases the goods it orders from independent suppliers in around 45 countries around the world.
Products and brands
The product range has evolved over time from the original jeans production into related clothing or accessories . Outerwear, knitwear, children's clothing , casual clothing, hosiery , underwear , bags, suitcases and golf clothing are now available under the brand names mentioned below .
Levi's
To this day, the company is one of the largest jeans manufacturers in the world and Levi's (Americanized livaɪs ) one of the most famous brands . The term jeans for these hard-wearing trousers did not arise until the 1960s.
The Levi's 501 is probably the most famous and most worn jeans in the world. It was first named with the production number in 1890. The Levi's commercials are legendary. Trademarks since 1886 have been the “two-horse-brand”, which points to the robust workmanship and shows two horses trying in vain to tear a pair of clamped jeans, and since 1936 the fabric logo on the rear right pocket, depending on the model in red (red tab ) or in orange. From 1936 to 1971 the “Big E” was still used on the red tab, ie LEVI'S, unlike the spelling with a lowercase “e” (LeVI'S) that has been used since then, which is now known within the company as “Small E”. The copper rivets, which were originally intended to stabilize the back pockets, scratched saddles and furniture and were therefore initially covered with fabric. From 1966 these rivets were replaced by hard-wearing seams.
In 1943, the embroidery patterns, reminiscent of eagle wings, were registered as trademarks on the back pockets. Levi's name has been protected as a trademark since 1928 .
The Levi's 501 reached its greatest popularity in the 1970s in the American homosexual scene, where it was often worn with leather boots and a T-shirt as a kind of uniform clothing. Levi Strauss also became one of the first large American companies in February 1992 to offer homosexuals who were in permanent partnerships the same benefits as married couples.
Dockers
Originally conceived in 1986 specifically for the needs of dock workers, the brand has also been well received by men and women. The company was able to enjoy constant growth here until the 1990s, when jeans sales fell into weak demand. An attempt to sell this brand in 2004 to reduce corporate debt came to nothing. The brand is not related to Dockers by Gerli , a private label of Gerli GmbH.
Levi Strauss Signature
Levi Strauss & Co. responded with this product line according to their own statements to the observed success of the mail order business via the Internet, which led to the expectation of mass demand. In early 2002 this brand was created in collaboration with Walmart. Signature products have long been available in other stores, such as the American chain Target .
Further information
owner
The company is largely family-owned. The company's shares have been listed on the stock exchange again since March 21, 2019 after the company withdrew from the stock exchange in the mid-1980s. The only exception in the meantime was the Japanese subsidiary Levi Strauss Japan KK , from which shares could be acquired.
Corporate activities
The company is the largest global strategic partner of the Wal-Mart group, which receives a custom-made product line “Levi Strauss Signature” exclusively for its stores.
According to the New York Times , Levi Strauss & Co. leads the apparel industry in disputes over trademark infringement and has initiated around 100 lawsuits against competitors since 2001. Most of the cases focus on the alleged imitation of the Levi's pattern US-Trademark 1,139,254 with the double arch on the back pocket.
production
Today the company no longer makes jeans in the United States. Levi Strauss has its goods produced in Bangladesh , among others .
Others
The company logo, in which two horses try to tear a pair of Levi's jeans, was inspired by the illustration of Otto von Guericke's famous experiment to separate two evacuated hemispheres joined together to form a ball using horse power, which did not succeed.
In July 2017, Levi Strauss heir Bill Goldman, 38, died when his private plane crashed near Sonoma , California.
literature
- Katja Doubek: Blue Jeans - Levi Strauss and the story of a legend. Piper Verlag , Munich 2003, ISBN 3-492-04380-1
- Hans Schaub: From Löb Strauss to Levi Strauss , Heinrichs, Bamberg 2011, ISBN 978-3-89889-176-9 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ A b Levi Strauss & Co. - Financials. In: https://investors.levistrauss.com/financials/annual-reports/default.aspx . Levis, accessed July 5, 2020 .
- ↑ Patent US139121A : Improvement in fastening pocket openings. Applied August 9, 1872 , published May 20, 1873 , Applicant: Jacob W. Davis; Levis Strauss & Co, inventor: Jacob W. Davis.
- ↑ Last Levi's plants in US close on findarticles.com, January 9, 2004
- ^ Mark Thompson: Long Road to Freedom: The Advocate. History of the Gay and Lesbian Movement. St. Martin's Press, New York 1995, ISBN 0-312-09536-8 , p. 393.
- ^ Levi's tries to polish Dockers image. on SFGate.com, September 11, 2005
- ↑ [1] Schuhversand.org - Dockers by Gerli
- ↑ Levi's posts a fabulous stock market return - stock shoots 32 percent. Retrieved April 5, 2019 .
- ^ CIO: Supply Chain Partnerships: How Levi's Got Its Jeans into Wal-Mart. , July 15, 2003 or The Wal-Mart You Don't Know. on fastcompany.com, December 2003
- ↑ Police shoot demonstrating workers in Bangladesh. In: Wertheimer Zeitung. dated December 13, 2010
- ↑ JTA : Bill Goldman, 38, historian, philanthropist and Levi Strauss heir, killed in plane crash . July 14, 2017.