Reebok (/ˈriːbɒk/) is an English footwear and apparel company, subsidiary of German

sportsgiant Adidas[1] since 2005.[2][3] Reebok produces and

distributes fitness, running and CrossFit sportswear including clothing and footwear. It is the official
footwear and apparel sponsor for Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), CrossFit, and Spartan
Race.[4]
In 1958, Reebok was established as a companion company to J.W. Foster and Sons, founded in
1895 in Bolton, Lancashire, England.[5] From 1958 until 1986, all Reebok apparel featured with the
UK flag.[6] The Union Jack is featured on Reebok's "Classic" line of apparel.
The company's global headquarters are located in Boston, Massachusetts,[7] U.S. with regional
offices in Amsterdam, Montreal, Hong Kong, and Mexico City.
In November 2016, Reebok announced they would be moving their headquarters from the Boston
suburb of Canton to the innovation and design building in the seaport district of South Boston. The
reasons for the move, according to the company, is to be located in an urban environment that is
more desirable to millennial workers and to “clarify the roles” of United States offices.[8] The move
was completed in the fall of 2018.[9

Early history[edit]
In 1895, Joseph William Foster at the age of 14 started work in his bedroom above his father's sweet
shop in Bolton, England, and designed some of the earliest spiked running shoes.[10] After his ideas
progressed, he founded his business 'J.W. Foster' in 1900, later he joined with his sons and
changed the company name to J.W. Foster and Sons.[11][12] Foster opened a small factory called
Olympic Works, and gradually became famous among athletes for his "running pumps".[10] For
pioneering the use of spikes, the company's revolutionary running pumps appear in the
book, Golden Kicks: The Shoes that changed Sport.[13] The company began distributing shoes across
the Union Jack flag which were worn by British athletes.[13] They were made famous by 100m
Olympic champion Harold Abrahams (who would be immortalized in the Oscar winning film Chariots
of Fire) in the 1924 Summer Olympics held in Paris.[13][14]
In 1958, in Bolton, two of the founder's grandsons, Joe and Jeff Foster, formed a companion
company "Reebok," having found the name in a South African dictionary won in a running race
by Joe Foster as a boy.[11] The name is Afrikaans for the grey rhebok, a type of African antelope.[15][13]
In 1979, at the Chicago International Sneaker Trade show an American businessman, Paul Fireman,
took notice of Reebok. Fireman was working for team sports and negotiated a deal to license and
distribute the Reebok brand in the United States. The division was called Reebok USA Ltd.[16] Later
that year, Fireman introduced three new shoes to the market at $60. By 1981, Reebok reached more
than $1.5 million in sales.[5]

1980s–1990s[edit]
In 1982, Reebok debuted the Reebok Freestyle aerobics shoe, the first athletic shoe designed for
women.[5][17] Fitness professional Gin Miller became the face of "Step Reebok," the
company's aerobics fitness campaign and program.[15] The following year, Reebok's sales were $13
million.[18]
Ryan Giggs in his Reebok Sprintfit football boots. The former Manchester Unitedwinger signed an endorsement
with Reebok in the early 1990s

The company began expanding from tennis and aerobics shoes to running and basketball
throughout the mid to late 1980s, the largest segments of the athletic footwear industry at the
time.[19] Fireman bought the British-based parent company in 1984. In 1985, Reebok had its initial
public offering on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol RBK.[14][19]
In 1986, Reebok switched its logo from the Union Jack flag it had since its founding, to the vector
logo with an abstract Union Jack streak across a race track.[20][21] The switch signaled the transition of
the company into a performance brand as it began licensing deals with professional athletes in
the NBA and NFL.[22]
During the 1980s, Reebok began introducing sports clothing and accessories (alongside entering the
college/pro sports arena), along with a new line of children's athletic shoes (called 'Weeboks')[23] at
the end of 1980. By the end of the year, Reebok's sales were about $1 billion.[2] One of the
company's most signature technologies,[24] the Reebok Pump, debuted in 1989[25][26] with more than
100 professional athletes wearing the footwear by 1992, including Shaquille O'Neal.[5][27]
Reebok named Carl Yankowski president and chief executive officer of the brand in 1998, replacing
former president Robert Meers.[28][29] Yankowski stepped down one year later to accept an executive
position at another company. Reebok chairman and CEO Paul Fireman took over as president for
the first time in 12 years.[29]

2000s–present[edit]

Reebok footwear animation

Reebok headquarters in Canton, Massachusetts, U.S.

Reebok 11k Pump Inline hockey-Skates from 2011

Reebok signed Venus Williams after winning singles titles at Wimbledon and the 2000 Summer
Olympics.[30] In December 2000, Reebok signed a 10-year licensing agreement with the NFL for the
exclusive rights to manufacture and sell NFL licensed merchandise, including uniforms and
footwear, for all 32 teams.[31]
In 2001, Reebok became the exclusive apparel outfitter for the 29 teams in the NBA,[32] and
16 WNBA teams for ten years beginning in the 2004-2005 season.[33] The deal also added the
Reebok vector logo to the 2004 U.S. Olympic basketball team's uniforms.[34] Later in 2001, Jay
Margolis was named as Reebok's president and COO.[35] After launching retail flagship stores in
China, Dhaka, London, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia and Tokyo, Margolis resigned in
October 2004. Fireman took over as president after signing a new long-term employment agreement
with the Reebok board of directors.[36]
In 2003, Reebok also became the official uniform and apparel provider for the Canadian Football
League, which took effect in 2004.[37]
Reebok acquired official National Hockey League sponsor CCM in 2004. The company began
manufacturing ice hockey equipment under the CCM and Reebok brands. Reebok phased out the
CCM name on NHL authentic and replica jerseys, using the Reebok logo since 2005. CCM became
Reebok-CCM Hockey in 2007. Reebok moved most of its hockey equipment lines to CCM after
2015.[38]
Adidas acquisition[edit]
In August 2005, Adidas acquired Reebok as a subsidiary, uniting two of the largest sport outfitting
companies, but maintaining operations under their separate brand names.[39] Adidas acquired all of
the outstanding Reebok shares and completed the deal valued at $3.8 billion.[40] Following the
acquisition, Adidas replaced Reebok as the official uniform supplier for the NBA in 2006[20] with an
11-year deal that includes the WNBA and replica jerseys and warm-up gear.[41]
Reebok named Paul Harrington president and CEO of the company in January 2006, replacing Paul
Fireman who was acting president since 2004. Harrington joined the company in 1994 and was
Reebok's senior vice president of global operations and chief supply chain officer.[42]

Reebok Delta Logo

In 2010, Reebok announced a partnership with CrossFit, a fitness company and competitive fitness
sport, including sponsoring the CrossFit Games, opening CrossFit studios, and introducing a line of
co-branded footwear and apparel for Fall 2011.[43] In 2011, Reebok debuted the CrossFit delta
symbol on the brand's fitness apparel line. Around that time, Reebok, as it slowly began to lose its
contracts to make sports uniforms and apparel to professional sports leagues and college teams (its
last uniform rights contract, with the NHL, ended in 2017) began repositioning itself as a largely
fitness-oriented brand, just as it had been during the 1980s and early 1990s.[44]
In 2013, Reebok announced another fitness partnership with Les Mills, a group fitness and team
training program in eighty countries in more than 15,000 studios. The agreement included Reebok
footwear and clothing integration into Les Mills' fitness programs and media marketing. By July 2013,
the red delta sign began showing up on all of Reebok's fitness collections. The brand announced it
was phasing out the vector logo and replacing it with the delta sign, making it the company's second
logo change in more than 120 years.[20] The delta symbol represents the three pillars of positive self-
change including mental, physical and social, as Reebok increases its presence in the fitness
industry with yoga, dance, aerobics and CrossFit.[22]

Offices[edit]
Reebok's parent company, Adidas, is headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, Germany, while
the Reebok world headquarters remains located in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A. Reebok EMEA
(Europe, Middle East, Africa) has its regional office in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The company also
has additional regional offices located in Panama City (Reebok Latin America), Shanghai (Reebok
Shanghai International Commerce Centre), Singapore, Taikoo Shing, and Toronto.[45] Reebok first
entered the South Korean market in 1987 and has since been making substantial revenue in South
Korea. It is shown that it is the third most popular sports brand in South Korea. Through the merger
and acquisition of Adidas International, Reebok is no longer listed as a corporation in South Korea.

Products[edit]
Reebok Royal Glide Ripple Clip men's shoe

Reebok designs, manufactures, distributes and sells fitness, running and CrossFit sportswe