Attention Reebok Lovers everywhere! The iconic sneakers that soared to popularly in 1986 may be returning to a shoe store near you. When you think about the 198os the first thing that comes to mind are boomboxes, headbands, teased and overly sprayed hair, headbands, spandex, leg warmers, tracksuits, and of course Reeboks Sneakers.
It seemed like every time you turned a corner, you encountered at least a handful of people wearing solid white Reeboks Court Classics. The shoe brand challenged and for a short-time overpowered household names such as Nike and Adidas who have ironically stolen back the limelight, but as of today the brand has begun easing its way back onto the market. In an attempt to renew its image and improve the steep decline in sales, in 2007 Reebok partnered with $487.60 billion-dollar big box retailer Walmart. Likely one of the best moves the company has made to date.
The idea was to reach a larger audience with the potential to expand even further. But can the brand make a comeback? Let’s take a peek at how it all got started it and see if the company has what it takes to be competitive in today’s highly influential market.
How Reeboks Sneakers Got Started
The Reebok company as it is known today was founded in Bolton, Lancashire in the United Kingdom in 1958 by brothers Joseph William and Jeffrey Foster as J.W. Foster and Sons. However, because the business had been in the family since 1895, the brothers had an idea to expand its legacy beyond that of the original spiked-soled running shoe and focus on a profitable, fashionable, and affordable athletic sneaker. Did you know the Sneaker’s original name was slated to be Mercury? After trouble with patenting the new idea for a name came from the South African Antelope the Grey Rhebok.
Little did they realize just how successful it would become throughout the 1960s and 70s and remained in the United Kingdom in 1979 until the brand was brought to the attention of United States wholesaler and outdoor gear salesman Paul Fireman in Chicago, Illinois at an annual International Sneaker Trade Show. His proposal was too big an offer to resist and thus J.W. Foster and Sons partnered with Fireman to introduce Reebok North America.
The Influence of Aerobics on Reeboks Sneakers North America’s Success
Shortly after the acquisition of Reebok North America, Fireman began searching for a way to make it profitable. It took until 1981, but he finally discovered the answer he was looking for and ironically the idea came from his wife’s love for aerobics. Aerobics were soaring in popularity in the 1980s with over 22 million people participating in Aerobics classes. In fact, the popularity of the exercise grew so much that competitions became a regular thing, and a category was even added to the 1984 Summer Olympic Games.
Playing off of the Aerobics craze, Fireman took a chance and introduced the sneakers to the aerobics world causing Reeboks success to soar while Nike and Adidas still dominated the Men’s Market. But not for long. Once the brand introduced the Men’s Reebok Club Classic and Club Classic 85.
Fitness met fashion changing the dynamic for the future of athletic shoe market. After its domination in the market, Reebok would sadly lose its momentum in 1989 and be overpowered by Nike and Adidas’ initiative to be back on top. Perhaps if they had expanded their ideas into the future maybe they would have continued to dominate, but maybe not. Do you think the company can make a comeback in 2024? Let’s See.
Can Reeboks Sneakers Dominate Once Again?
It is pretty apparent that Reebok was a bust in the 1980s in terms of market advantage. But can the company dominate once again? Aside from the partnership with stores we all know and love like Walmart, the brand is beginning to slowly trickle back into many popular retailers and shoe stores such as Rack Room Shoes, Burlington, TJ Maxx, JCPenney, and Journeys. The only downside to this is that the majority of versions being sold are the classics.
There is, however, a silver lining to this as the company rolled out the $120 dollar Hunter X Hunter X on March 22nd, which is available in the United States only. More recently Reebok unveiled the Unity for Pride Collection in support of the LGBTQ community pledging $10,000 USD to the Boston Alliance of LGBTQ+ Youth (BAGLY). Reaching all audiences and supporting communities such as LGBTQ will definitely put the company back in the limelight and in turn increase its revenue.
There will also be more of an appeal to a much younger generation of people with designs that are classic yet edgy. How do you think Reebok will fair moving forward? Will it dominate once again? Like the old saying goes all good things take time.
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