Stride Rite Corporation
| The Stride Rite Corporation
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|---|---|
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| legal form | Corporation |
| founding | 1919 |
| Seat | Lexington , Massachusetts |
| Number of employees | 3100 (YE 2008) |
| Branch | Shoe trade |
| Website | striderite.com |
The Stride Rite Corporation is a marketer of footwear for children in the US and one of the largest marketers of shoes for athletes as well as everyday footwear for children and adults. In addition to the Stride Rite brand, the company also markets its footwear under the following owned or licensed brands: Keds , Grasshoppers (shoes) , Robeez , Saucony , Sperry Top-Sider, and Jessica Simpson Kids .
The company is a wholesaler that sells its footwear through department stores, independent shoe stores, major retailers and specialty stores. Outside of countries such as the USA or Canada, the products are sold through independent distributors and licensees. Stride Rite also has its own children's shoe stores that sell Stride Rite products as well as other brands. The company imports its products from independent suppliers in the Far East who manufacture the products according to the specifications and quality standards of each brand.
history
In 1919 in Boston , Massachusetts , Jacob A. Slosberg and Philip Green founded the Green Shoe Manufacturing Company ("Green Shoe"). Green Shoe was listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 1960 . The name change to Stride Rite Corp. was made in 1966 to emphasize the brand name of one of their most famous products. The name had been acquired by another shoe manufacturer in 1933. In 1968 Arnold Hiatt , the son of a Lithuanian immigrant born in 1928 , became president of the company, which at that time had a turnover of 35 million US dollars. Hiatt pursued a corporate policy characterized by acquisitions in order to focus the company on customer requirements.
"Three times in a row in the last two decades there have been major changes in the consumer taste in footwear, and he's been there every time with a new acquisition."
Trivia
The company's main office address is 191 Spring Street. This building in Lexington, MA was used in the 1978 film Coma as the backdrop for the Jefferson Institute. At that time, however, the building was the headquarters of Xerox .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Collective Brands 2009 Annual Report - Form 10-K - March 26, 2010. (PDF; 690 kB) secdatabase.com. Retrieved May 16, 2012. Page 6
- ↑ a b c STEPHANIE STROM: Stride Rite Chairman To Resign , The New York Times . April 20, 1992. Retrieved December 13, 2011. "Arnold Hiatt, the shoe salesman who pioneered no-smoking offices and child care at the work place, is stepping down as chairman of the Stride Rite Corporation to devote himself full time to the company's philanthropic foundation. "