The Aldo Group (corporately styled "ALDO") is a private Canadian corporation that owns and operates a worldwide chain of shoe and accessory stores. The company was founded by Aldo Bensadoun in Montreal, Quebec, in 1972, where its corporate headquarters remain today. It has grown to become a worldwide corporation, with nearly 1,600 stores under four retail banners: Aldo, Call It Spring/Spring, Little Burgundy and Globo.
Converse is an American shoe company with a production output that primarily consists of shoes, lifestyle fashion, and athletic apparel. The company has been in existence since the early 20th century and a subsidiary of Nike, Inc. since 2003.
The Bally Shoe company was founded as "Bally & Co" high fashion in 1851 by Carl Franz Bally (1821-1899) and his brother Fritz in the basement of their family home in Schonenwerd in the Canton of Solothurn, Switzerland.
G.H. Bass & Co.is an Americanfootwearbrandfounded by George Henry Bass in 1876.
Bata (also known as Bata Shoe Organisation) is a family-owned global footwear and fashion accessory manufacturer and retailer with acting headquarters located in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Birkenstock Orthopadie GmbH & Co. KG is a shoe manufacturer headquartered in Vettelschos, Germany. The company sells Birkenstock, a German brand of sandals and other shoes notable for their contoured cork and rubber footbeds, which conform somewhat to the shape of their wearers' feet. Representative products include the two-strap sandal, the Arizona, and the Boston clog.
Caterpillar sells the right to manufacture, market and sell products bearing the Caterpillar brand and trademarks to licensees worldwide. Wolverine World Wide is one example, a licensee since 1994 and currently the sole manufacturer, worldwide licensed to produce Cat branded footwear. Other licensees sell items including clothing, hats, watches, scale models of Cat machinery and other consumer products.
Crocs, Inc. is a shoe manufacturer founded by Scott Seamans, Lyndon "Duke" Hanson, and George Boedecker, Jr. to produce and distribute a foam, clog design acquired from a Quebec company called Foam Creations. The shoe had originally been developed as a spa shoe. The first model produced by Crocs, the Beach, was unveiled in 2002 at the Ft. Lauderdale Boat Show in Florida, and sold out the 200 pairs produced at that time.
Williamson-Dickie Manufacturing Company, more commonly referred to as the brand Dickies, is an American company headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas that manufactures and sells work-related clothing and other accessories, including back packs, steel-toe boots, and belts. Its major competitors are Ben Davis and Carhartt.
Dr. Martens is a British footwear brand, which also makes a range of accessories – shoe care products, clothing, luggage, etc. In addition to Dr. Martens, they are known as Doctor Martens, Doc Martens, Docs or DMs. The footwear is distinguished by its air-cushioned sole (dubbed Bouncing Soles), upper shape, welted construction and yellow stitching.
Dr. Scholl's is a footwear and foot care brand owned by British-company SSL International and manufactured in China. Founded in 1906 by podiatrist William Mathias Scholl in Chicago, United States, the company expanded globally through his dual-talents to design and patent over 1000 footcare products, and find original ways to market.
Flip-flops (also called zōri, thongs, jandals, go-aheads, slappies, slides, step-ins or a variety of other names throughout the world) are a type of open-toed sandal typically worn in casual situations, such as outside or at the beach. They consist of a flat sole held loosely on the foot by a Y-shaped strap that passes between the first and second toes and around either side of the foot.
Hi-Tec Sports is a global sports company that designs, develops, manufactures and sells a range of performance footwear, apparel and accessories.Founded in 1974 by Frank van Wezel, the company’s original success grew from their first ever shoe, the Hi-Tec Squash, specifically designed for the then fast growing game of squash, but in 1978 they pioneered the lightweight-hiking category with the introduction of their Sierra Sneaker and Sierra Lite hiking boot.
Hush Puppies is an international brand of contemporary, casual footwear for men, women and children. The shoes have been described as "the classic American brushed-suede shoes with the lightweight crepe sole". A division of Wolverine Worldwide, Hush Puppies is headquartered in Rockford, Michigan. Wolverine markets or licenses the Hush Puppies name for footwear in over 120 countries throughout the world. In addition, the Hush Puppies name is licensed for non-footwear fashion categories, including clothing, eyewear and plush toys.
Keds is an American brand of plimsoll-style canvas shoe with rubber soles. Keds were introduced in 1916 by U.S. Rubber (later known as Uniroyal, then Uniroyal Goodrich, and finally acquired by Michelin). The shoe brand was later acquired by Stride Rite Corporation and is currently owned by Wolverine World Wide.
Keen is an American shoe manufacturing company based in Portland, Oregon. Founded in 2003 by Martin Keen and Rory Fuerst, their shoes are now available in more than a thousand retail locations in the United States, and are distributed worldwide.
Kenneth Cole Productions, Inc. is an American fashion house founded in 1982 by Kenneth Cole. Cole originally named the company Kenneth Cole Incorporated in September 1982 and planned to showcase his new line of shoes during market week at the Hilton New York Hotel. Finding that he could not afford to purchase a hotel room or showroom to exhibit his line, he borrowed a truck and asked the mayor's office for permission to park two blocks away from the Hilton Hotel in front of a fancy shoe building. Upon learning that permits were only granted to utility companies and production companies shooting full-length motion pictures, Cole changed the name of the company to Kenneth Cole Productions, Inc. and applied for a permit to shoot a full-length motion picture entitled "The Birth of a Shoe Company".
Merrell is a footwear company founded by Clark Matis, Randy Merrell, and John Schweitzer in 1981 as a maker of high-performance hiking boots. Since 1997 the company has been a wholly owned subsidiary of shoe industry giant Wolverine World Wide. The company recorded total sales of footwear and clothing of nearly $500 million in 2010.
Reef is a brand of casual sandals, known as Thongs. Two Argentine brothers, Fernando and Santiago Aguerre, created their brand in the 1980s to support their active lifestyles. Their involvement in the surfing scene led them to open their own surf shop in Argentina in the 1970s.
Sebago is a Michigan-based company that produces a large variety of upscale boating shoes and dress shoes. Originally founded in 1946, Sebago is currently a subsidiary of Wolverine World Wide.
Skechers is an American shoe company headquartered in Manhattan Beach, California, founded by CEO Robert Greenberg and his son Michael in 1992 right after Robert left LA Gear, which he had founded in 1983. Michael was a distributor for Doc Martens. Importing knock-off Doc Martens boots ended in a legal battle between Skechers and Doc Martens.
Sperry Top-Sider is the original brand of boat shoe designed in 1935 by Paul Sperry, older brother of Armstrong Sperry. The Top-Siders were the first boat shoes introduced into the boating market.
Steve Madden (born 1958) is the founder and former CEO of Steven Madden, Ltd., a footwear company that bears his name.Born in Far Rockaway, Queens, Madden grew up in adjoining Lawrence in Nassau County, New York. The youngest of three brothers, he started the company with $1,100 in 1990 by selling shoes out of the trunk of his car. Today, the brand boasts revenues of $1.23 billion (FY 2012), and is sold throughout the world.
Superga is an Italian brand of shoes founded in 1911. It originally made tennis shoes, including the famous model "2750 Classic" but then diversified.
Timberland LLC is an American manufacturer and retailer of outdoors wear with a focus on footwear.Timberland footwear is marketed towards people intending outdoor and casual use. The company also sells apparel such as clothes, watches, glasses and leather goods.
Ugg boots (sometimes called uggs) are known in Australia and New Zealand as a unisex style of sheepskin boot. It is typically made of twin-faced sheepskin with fleece on the inside, a tanned outer surface and a synthetic sole. Ugg boots originated from Australia, initially as utilitarian footwear worn for warmth. They were often worn by surfers during the 1960s. In the 1970s, the boots were introduced to the surf culture of the United Kingdom and the United States by local surfers returning from surfing competitions in Australia. Ugg boots emerged as a fashion trend in the United States in the late 1990s and as a world-wide trend in the mid-2000s, yet in Australia they are worn predominantly as slippers and often associated with "daggy" fashion sense, and "bogan" culture.
Vans is a United States (U.S.) based manufacturer of shoes - the company also produces apparel, and other products such as t-shirts, hoodies, socks, hats, and backpacks. As of August 2013, the brand is active in the actions sports industry and sponsors skateboard, surf, snow, BMX, and Moto X teams.
Wolverine World Wide, Inc. is an American footwear manufacturer based in Rockford, Michigan, known for their own brand, Wolverine Boots and Shoes, as well as their subsidiaries such as Hush Puppies and Merrell. The company also manufactures footwear for other companies, such as Caterpillar, Harley-Davidson and Patagonia, as well as shoes and boots for the military.
