Adolf Dassler

Adolf Dassler

            Christoph von Wilhelm Dassler was a worker in a shoe factory, while his wife Pauline ran a small laundry in the Bavarian town of Herzogenaurach, 20 km from the city of Nuremberg. After leaving school, their son, Rudolf "Rudi" Dassler,joined his father at the shoe factory. When he returned from fighting in World War I, Rudolf received a management position at a porcelain factory, and later in a leather wholesale business in Nuremberg.

                 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 July 1924, his brother Rudolf returned to Herzogenaurach to join his younger brother's business, which became Dassler Brothers Shoe Factory and prospered. The pair started the venture in their mother's laundry but, at the time, electricity supplies in the town were unreliable, and the brothers sometimes had to use pedal power from a stationary bicycle to run their equipment.

At the 1928 Olympics Dassler equipped many athletes, laying the foundation for the international expansion of the company. During the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin Dassler equipped Jesse Owens of the USA with his shoes. Jesse Owens won 4 gold medals in the year he wore Adi's shoes.

With the rise of Adolf Hitler in the 1930s, both Dassler brothers joined the Nazi party, with Rudolf reputed as being the more ardent National Socialist Rudolf was drafted, and later captured, while Adi stayed behind to produce boots for the Wehrmacht. The war exacerbated the differences between the brothers and their wives. Rudolf, upon his capture by American troops, was suspected of being a member of the SS, information supposedly supplied by none other than his brother Adi.

By 1948, the rift between the brothers widened. Rudolf left the company to found Puma on the other side of town and Adolf Dassler renamed the company Adidas after his own nickname (Adi Dassler).

In 1973, Adolf Dassler's son Horst Dassler founded Arena, a producer of swimming equipment. After Adolf Dassler's death in 1978, Horst and his wife Käthe took over the management. Horst died nine years later, in 1987. Adidas was transformed into a private limited company 1989, but remained family property until its IPO in 1995.

Football (soccer)

One of the main focuses of Adidas is football kit and associated equipment. Adidas remain a major company in the supply of team kits for international football teams.
Adidas also makes referee kits that are used in international competition and by many countries and leagues in the world. The company has been an innovator in the area of footwear for the sport, with notable examples including the 1979 release of the Copa Mundial moulded boot used for matches on firm dry pitches. It holds the accolade of the best selling boot of all time. The soft-ground equivalent was named World Cup and it too remains on the market, timeless and iconic. Some of the most famous football teams are currently sponsored by Adidas.
About Adidas

1.Industry   - Clothing and consumer goods manufacture

2.Founded  - 1924 as Dassler Brothers Shoe Factory (registered in 1949)

3.Founder(s)  - Adolf Dassler

4.Headquarters -  Herzogenaurach, Germany

5.Area served    - Worldwide

6.Products         - Footwear, sportswear, sports equipment, toiletries

(sourses-wikipedia,Magazins)