New Balance
New Balance was founded in 1903 by the English immigrant William J. Riley in Boston, Massachusetts. The 33-year old shoemaker wanted to help people, who had problems with their feet by developing inlay soles and special shoes. He was inspired by chickens, which had the perfect balance with their three-crawled feet. When Arthur Hall joined the company as a salesman the company moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts. After Hall retired in 1949 and Hall also retired in 1953, Arthur Halls Daugther & her Husband Eleanor and Paul Kidd took over the company. In 1961 New Balance released the very successful “Trackster”, which was the first running shoe with a ripple sole and came in varying widths. The couple sold the company to Jim Davis in 1972 for 100.000$. In the late 70s, New Balance started to sell their shoes worldwide and even opened a headquarter in Europe a couple of years later. From then on the number of employees grew rapidly.