| Type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Textile |
| Founded | Waitsfield, Vermont 1981 |
| Headquarters | Rockford, Michigan, U.S. |
| Products | Footwear |
| Parent | Wolverine World Wide |
| Website | merrell.com |
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 totaling nearly $500 million in 2010.
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Merrell was established in 1981 when two executives for the Rossignol ski company, Clark Matis and John Schweizer, decided to launch a new maker of hiking boots based in Waitsfield, Vermont.[1] The pair decided to join forces with Randy J. Merrell (R.J. Merrell), a maker of highly-praised custom boots which retailed for $500 a pair.[1] Matis set to work designing a more affordable high-performance boot, which was developed in 1982.[1] Plans were made for production of the new line in factories located in Italy, a leading exporter of footwear to the world market at the time.[1]
In 1983, the new Merrell company delivered its first product to the market, making shipments to a pair of east coast retailers specializing in hiking gear.[1]
In 1986, Randy J. Merrell sought to return to his previous life as a maker of custom boots and sold his share of the company bearing his name.[1] That same year the company sold its 25,000th pair of boots.[1]
In 1987 Merrell was purchased by Karhu. The new owners moved production of Merrell products to Asia, reducing retail prices and expanding sales.[1] In 1988 sales of Merrell products topped the $4 million mark.[1]
A period of rapid growth for Merrell followed with 1989 sales increasing by 50%, to the $6 million mark.[1] By 1990, some 300,000 pairs of shoes and boots were being sold annually, with sales for the year topping the $10 million mark for the first time.[1] The company became a global enterprise, with divisions established in Canada, the United Kingdom, and Scandinavia in addition to the United States.[1]
The year 1992 saw another doubling of the company's sales volume, topping the $20 million mark.[1] By the middle of the decade, Merrell products were being sold in 22 countries.[1]
In 1997, Karhu sold Merrell to Wolverine World Wide, a giant footwear corporation which manufactured Hush Puppies shoes and Wolverine brand boots. In the year of the Wolverine acquisition, Merrell sales volume totaled $23 million.[2]
Wolverine introduced a new lighter-weight sensibility to the line, beginning with a trail running shoe called the "Jungle Runner."[3] This initial foray into lightweight footwear was not a commercial success, but a team led by Clark Matis came up with the idea of using a very aggressive trail running outsole with a casual slip-on upper made of pigskin suede, a material previously perfected and used extensively in the Hush Puppies line.[3]
The work of Matis' design group culminated with the introduction of what would become the brand's signature shoe, the "Jungle Moc."[1] The new product was a smash success, with total shipments of Jungle Mocs hitting 3.5 million pairs by 2002.[1] The 10 millionth pair of Jungle Mocs was shipped in 2009, with the style continuing in production to the present date.[1]
In 2007, the Merrell line was expanded yet again to include apparel and accessories.[1]
By 2010, Merrell products were being sold in 151 countries.[1] Annual sales for the brand totaled nearly $500 million in 2010.[2]
The company operates 116 of its own concept stores around the world, with another 20 to 25 new stores planned to open in 2011.[4] Merrell has declared that it is aiming for 15% of its sales to come through company stores and e-commerce sometime in the near future.[4]