history

In 1925, in a small German village, the world got it's first taste of adidas. It was there, in a village by the name of Herzogenaurach, located 12 miles to the north and the west of Nuremberg, that those simple three stripes were brought to life by adidas' founder, Adolf "Adi" Dassler. Adi created adidas after realizing the need for performance athletic shoes. Adidas began small, producing soccer and running shoes, which ironically enough are still the main products that adidas is known for. Adidas has continued to gain momentum through the years. Many attribute this to adidas' quality, styling and reputation. Adidas is currently the largest supplier of athletic shoes in Europe. Adidas ranks second worldwide, with their products selling in almost 200 countries. In 1994 alone, adidas sales totaled 3 billion dollars. In late 1995, adidas went public with its stock. It was a tremendous success and continues to trade internationally. Adidas posted an amazing 40% increase in net sales in the first half of 1997.

The Dassler family has a rich heritage in shoes. Adi's brother, Rudolf went on to create the puma brand in 1948 after a dispute with Adi. And, another Adi Dassler, who just happens to be the grandson of the founder of adidas, has launched his own shoe company, A. D. One. which specializes in adventure and sub-urban footware.

Adidas, always on the cutting edge, launched their own website in 1996. The site continues to evolve, yet maintains its simplistic and dazzling form, just like the brand with the three stripes that is known the world over.

L o g o    H i s t o r y

For years the only symbol associated with adidas was the trefoil (flower) logo. This is the logo on top of the three you see on the right. In 1991 a new adidas logo was introduced. This logo evolved to become the performance logo (on the bottom) featured on most adidas products today. The performance logo was actually a part of the logo used for adidas' higher line of product's called adidas equipment. The equipment line began in 1991 with a trio of soccer shoes. The trio consisted of the following.

• equipment turf for turf surfaces (List $109.95)
• equipment hard ground for grassy surfaces (List $161.95)
• equipment soft ground for wet conditions (List $167.95)

Questions? Comments? Send me an email.