Adidas

Adidas

Adolf (“Adi”) Dassler started to produce his own sports shoes in his mother’s wash kitchen in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, after his return from World War I. In 1924, his brother Rudolf (Rudi) Dassler joined the business which became Gebrüder Dassler Schuhfabrik (Dassler Brothers Shoe Factory) and prospered.

At the 1928 Olympics, Dassler equipped several athletes, laying the foundation for the international expansion of the company. During the 1936 Summer Olympics on Berlin, Dassler equipped quadruple gold medal winner Jesse Owens of the U.S. with his shoes.

Late in World War II, the shoe factory shifted to production of the Panzerschreck anti-tank weapon.

The brothers split up in 1947, with Rudi forming Puma, and Adi forming adidas.

The company formally registered as adidas AG (with lower case lettering) on 18 August 1949. The phrase All Day I Dream About Soccer, although sometimes considered the origin of the adidas name, was applied retroactively. The name is actually a portmanteau from “Adi” (a nickname for Adolf) and “Das” (from “Dassler”).

Adidas AG is a German sports apparel manufacturer and part of the Adidas Group, which consists of Reebok sportswear company, TaylorMade-adidas golf company, and Rockport. Besides sports footwear, the company also produces other products such as bags, shirts, watches, eyewear and other sports and clothing related goods. The company is the largest sportswear manufacturer in Europe and the second biggest sportswear manufacturer in the world, to its US rival Nike

The company’s clothing and shoe designs typically feature three parallel bars, and the same motif is incorporated into Adidas’s current official logo. The company revenue for 2008 was listed at €10.799 billion and the 2007 figure was listed at €10.299 billion, or about US$15.6 billion.