Adidas

Adidas AG is a German-based sports apparel manufacturer and parent

company of the Adidas Group, which consists of the Reebok sportswear
company, TaylorMade-adidas golf company, and Rockport. Besides sports
footwear, the company also produces other products such as bags, shirts,
watches, eyewear and other sports and clothing related goods. The company
is the largest sportswear manufacturer in Europe and the second biggest
sportswear manufacturer in the world, after its U.S. rival Nike. The
company's clothing and shoe designs typically feature three parallel bars,
and the same motif is incorporated into Adidas's current official logo. The
"Three Stripes" were bought from the Finnish sport company Karhu Sports
in the 1950s. The company revenue for 2009 was listed at €10.38 billion and
the 2008 figure at €10.80 billion.

History

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 1924, his brother Rudolf (Rudi) Dassler joined the business which
became Gebrüder Dassler Schuhfabrik (Dassler Brothers Shoe Factory) and
prospered. The pair started their 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.

By the 1936 Summer Olympics, Adi Dassler drove from Bavaria on one of
the world's first motorways to the Olympic village with a suitcase full of
spikes and persuaded United States sprinter Jesse Owens to use them, the
first sponsorship for an African-American. After Owens won four gold
medals, his success cemented the good reputation of Dassler shoes among
the world's most famous sportsmen. Letters from around the world landed on
the brothers' desks, and the trainers of other national teams were all
interested in their shoes. Business boomed and the Dasslers were selling
200,000 pairs of shoes each year before World War II. Late in World War II,
the shoe factory shifted to production of the Panzerschreck anti-tank
weapon.
To get Adidas perfume or other branded and genuine perfume at low and
discount prices visit http://www.mallshop2u.com/perfume.html .

1
Company split

Both brothers joined the National Socialist Party, but Rudolf was slightly
closer to the party. During the war, a growing rift between the pair reached a
breaking point after an Allied bomb attack in 1943 when Adi and his wife
climbed into a bomb shelter that Rudolf and his family were already in: "The
dirty bastards are back again," Adi said, apparently referring to the Allied
war planes, but Rudolf was convinced his brother meant him and his family.
After Rudolf was later picked up by American soldiers and accused of being
a member of the Waffen SS, he was convinced that his brother had turned
him in.

The brothers split up in 1947, with Rudi forming a new firm that he called
Ruda - from Rudolf Dassler, later rebranded Puma and Adi forming a
company formally registered as adidas AG (with lower case lettering) on 18
August 1949. The acronym All Day I Dream About Soccer, although
sometimes considered the origin of the adidas name, was applied
retroactively. The name is actually a portmanteau word formed from "Adi"
(a nickname for Adolf) and "Das" (from "Dassler").

The Tapie affair

After a period of trouble following the death of Adolf Dassler's son Horst
Dassler in 1987, the company was bought in 1989 by French industrialist
Bernard Tapie, for 1.6 billion French francs (now €243.918 million), which
Tapie borrowed. Tapie was at the time a famous specialist of rescuing
bankrupt companies, an expertise on which he built his fortune.

Tapie decided to move production offshore to Asia. He also hired Madonna

for promotion. He sent, from Christchurch, New Zealand, a shoe sales
representative, to Germany and met Adolf Dassler's descendants (Amelia
Randall Dassler and Bella Beck Dassler) and was sent back with a few items
to promote the company there.

To get Adidas perfume or other branded and genuine perfume at low and
discount prices visit http://www.mallshop2u.com/perfume.html .

2
In 1992, Tapie was unable to pay the interest from his loan. He mandated the
Crédit Lyonnais bank to sell Adidas, and the bank subsequently converted
the outstanding debt owed into equity of the enterprise, which was unusual
as per the prevalent French banking practice. Apparently, the state-owned
bank had tried to get Tapie out of dire financial straits as a personal favour to
Tapie, reportedly because Tapie was Minister of Urban Affairs (ministre de
la Ville) in the French government at the time.

In February 1993, Crédit Lyonnais sold Adidas to Robert Louis-Dreyfus, a

friend of Bernard Tapie for a much higher amount of money than what Tapie
owed, 4.485 billion (€683.514 million) francs rather than 2.85 billion
(€434.479 million). Tapie later sued the bank, because he felt "spoiled" by
the indirect sale.

Robert Louis-Dreyfus became the new CEO of the company. He was also
the president of Olympique de Marseille, a team Tapie had owned until
1993.

Tapie filed for personal bankruptcy in 1994. He was the object of several
lawsuits, notably related to match fixing at the soccer club. During 1997, he
served 6 months of an 18 month prison sentence in La Santé prison in Paris.

In 2005, French courts awarded Tapie a €135 million compensation (about

886 million francs).

Post-Tapie era

In 1994, combined with FIFA Youth Group, SOS Children's Villages

became the main beneficiary.

In 1997, Adidas AG acquired the Salomon Group who specialized in ski

wear, and its official corporate name was changed to Adidas-Salomon AG
because with this acquisition Adidas also acquired the Taylormade Golf
company and Maxfli which allowed them to compete with Nike Golf.

To get Adidas perfume or other branded and genuine perfume at low and
discount prices visit http://www.mallshop2u.com/perfume.html .

3
In 1998, Adidas sued the NCAA over their rules limiting the size and
number of commercial logos on team uniforms and apparel. Adidas
withdrew the suit, and the two groups established guidelines as to what
three-stripe designs would be considered uses of the Adidas trademark.

In 2003, Adidas filed a lawsuit in a British court challenging Fitness World

Trading's use of a two-stripe motif similar to Adidas's three stripes. The
court ruled that despite the simplicity of the mark, Fitness World 's use was
infringing because the public could establish a link between that use and
Adidas's mark.

In September 2004, top English fashion designer Stella McCartney launched

a joint-venture line with Adidas, establishing a long-term partnership with
the corporation. This line is a sports performance collection for women
called "Adidas by Stella McCartney", and it has been critically acclaimed.

Also in 2005, on 3 May, Adidas told the public that they sold their partner
company Salomon Group for €485m to Amer Sports of Finland.

In August 2005, Adidas declared its intention to buy British rival Reebok for
$3.8 billion (US). This takeover was completed with partnership in January
2006 and meant that the company will have business sales closer to those of
Nike in North America. The acquisition of Reebok will also allow Adidas to
compete with Nike worldwide as the number two athletic shoemaker in the
world.

Adidas has corporate headquarters in Germany, and many other business

locations around the world such as Hong Kong, Toronto, Taiwan, England,
Japan, Australia and Spain. Mainly sold in the U.S., Adidas makes lots of
assets from these countries and is expanding to more oversea countries.

To get Adidas perfume or other branded and genuine perfume at low and
discount prices visit http://www.mallshop2u.com/perfume.html .

4
In 2005, Adidas introduced the Adidas 1, the first ever production shoe to
utilize a microprocessor. Dubbed by the company "The World's First
Intelligent Shoe", it features a microprocessor capable of performing 5
million calculations per second that automatically adjusts the shoe's level of
cushioning to suit its environment. The shoe requires a small, user-
replaceable battery that lasts for approximately 100 hours of running. On 25
November 2005, Adidas released a new version of the Adidas 1 with an
increased range of cushioning, allowing the shoe to become softer or firmer,
and a new motor with 153 percent more torque.

On 11 April 2006, Adidas announced an 11-year deal to become the official

NBA apparel provider. They will make NBA, NBDL, and WNBA jerseys
and products as well as team-coloured versions of the "Superstar" basketball
shoe. This deal (worth over $400 million) takes the place of the previous 10-
year Reebok deal that was put in place in 2001.

Products

Running

Adidas currently manufactures several running shoes, including the adiStar

Control 5, the adiStar Ride (the replacement for the adiStar Cushion 6), the
Supernova Sequence (the replacement for the Supernova Control 10), and
the Supernova Cushion 7 (which will soon be replaced by the Supernova
Glide), among others. In addition, their performance apparel is widely used
by runners. Adidas also uses kangaroo leather to make their more expensive
shoes.

Association football

One of the main focuses of Adidas is football kit and associated equipment.
Adidas also provides apparel and equipment for all teams in Major League
Soccer. Adidas remain a major company in the supply of team kits for
international football teams. Current examples include Scotland, Spain,
Russia, France, Germany, Greece, Romania, Argentina, Mexico, South
Africa, Japan and Ukraine.

To get Adidas perfume or other branded and genuine perfume at low and
discount prices visit http://www.mallshop2u.com/perfume.html .

5
Adidas also makes referee kits that are used in international competition and
by many countries and leagues in the world. In the United States, referees
wear the Adidas kits in MLS matches even though the primary referee
supplier is Official Sports. The company has been an innovator in the area of
footwear for the sport with notable examples including development of the
Copa Mondial moulded boot used for matches on firm dry pitches for almost
forty years. The studded equivalent was named World Cup follow in
celebration of the 1978 tournament won by Argentina, one of the nations it
supplied at the time. Some of the famous football teams currently sponsored
by Adidas include Real Madrid, Milan, Dynamo Kyiv, Palmeiras, Chelsea,
River Plate, Liverpool, Marseille, Universidad de Chile, Bayern Munich,
Schalke 04, Benfica, Wolfsburg, Galatasaray, Panathinaikos, Derby County,
Ajax and Lokomotiv Moscow, Al-Ahly among others.

Adidas became renowned for advancing the Predator boot design developed
by ex-Liverpool and Australian international player Craig Johnston. This
design featured a ribbed rubber structure for the upper leather of the shoe,
used to accent the movement of the ball when struck; highly skilled players
claimed they were able to curve the flight of the ball more easily when
wearing this new contoured design. The Predator also features the Craig
Johnston-invented Traxion sole.

FIFA, the world governing body of football, commissioned specially

designed footballs for use in its own World Cup tournaments to favour more
attacking play. The balls supplied for the 2006 World Cup were particular
noteworthy for their ability to travel further than previous types when struck,
leading to longer range goal strikes that were intended to increase the
number of goals scored. Goalkeepers were believed to be less comfortable
with the design, claiming it would move significantly and unpredictably in
flight.

To get Adidas perfume or other branded and genuine perfume at low and
discount prices visit http://www.mallshop2u.com/perfume.html .

6
Tennis

Adidas has sponsored tennis players and recently introduced a new line of
tennis racquets. While the Feather is made for the "regular player", and the
Response for the "club player", Adidas targets the "tournament player" with
the 12.2 oz Barricade tour model. Adidas sponsors the following
professional players: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Dinara Safina, Ana Ivanovi ,
Daniela Hantuchová, Andy Murray, Fernando Verdasco, Gilles Simon,
Marcos Baghdatis, Fernando González, Marat Safin, Flavia Pennetta and
upcoming players like Melanie Oudin, Sorana Cirstea and Grigor Dimitrov.
Adidas tennis apparel contains the ClimaCool technology found in other
athletic jerseys and shoes.

In Cincinnati, at the ATP Tennis Tournament in Mason, they have also

sponsored the ball-boy and ball-girl uniforms.

Golf

In 1997, Adidas purchased TaylorMade. The image and focus of

TaylorMade was redirected shortly after the acquisition to take over the
driver market. The company succeeded in achieving this goal in late 2004
when it officially became the No. 1 driver in golf. On 14 October 2008,
Adidas, through its subsidiary TaylorMade, acquired Ashworth for $72
million, assuming $46.3 million in debt.

Cricket

In the 1990s, Adidas signed the world No. 1 batsman Sachin Tendulkar and
made shoes for him. He is still wearing Adidas shoes when he plays
matches. Adidas even made action figures after Sachin Tendulkar.

To get Adidas perfume or other branded and genuine perfume at low and
discount prices visit http://www.mallshop2u.com/perfume.html .

7
In 2008, Adidas made their move into English cricket market by sponsoring
English batting star Kevin Pietersen after the cancellation of his lifetime deal
with Woodworm, when they ran into financial difficulties. The following
year they signed up fellow England player Ian Bell Pakistan player Salman
Butt and Indian Player Ravindra Jadeja. Having made cricket footware for
many years, the company finally entered the field of bat manufacture in
2008 and their products are available in the Incurza, Pellara and Libro ranges

Adidas also manufactures the uniforms worn by both the England cricket
team and the Australian cricket team.

In 2008 and 2009 in both the seasons of the Indian Premier League (IPL), it
took up the sponsorship of the Mumbai Indians and the Delhi Daredevils.

In 2009, Adidas signed Sachin Tendulkar and started sponsoring his bat. It
created a new bat 'Adidas ST' for him and 'Adidas Pellara KP' for Kevin
Pietersen, the same year. Now both of them use their personalized bats in
cricket.

Basketball

Adidas has been a longtime basketball shoe manufacturer and is one of the
leading basketball brands in the world. They are most famous for their iconic
Superstar and Pro Model shoes, affectionately known as "shelltoes" for their
stylized hard rubber toe box. These were made very popular in the 1980s hip
hop streetwear scene alongside Adidas' stripe-sided polyester suits.

Adidas is also the current outfitter of all 30 franchises in the National

Basketball Association (replacing the Reebok brand after the merger) and
sponsors numerous players past and present like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and
Tracy McGrady, as well as Dwight Howard, Chauncey Billups, Derrick
Rose, Kevin Garnett, Michael Beasley, Josh Smith, Tim Duncan, and
Candace Parker.

To get Adidas perfume or other branded and genuine perfume at low and
discount prices visit http://www.mallshop2u.com/perfume.html .

8
Lacrosse

In 2007, Adidas announced the future production of lacrosse equipment, and

will sponsor the Adidas National Lacrosse Classic in July 2008 for the top
600 high school underclassmen lacrosse players in the United States.

Rugby

Adidas make rugby balls and other rugby gear. They are the current kit and
ball supplier to the New Zealand All Blacks, Irish Munster Rugby, and the
Argentinian Pumas, among others.

Gymnastics

Since 2000, adidas has provided men's and women's gymnastics wear for
Team USA, through USA Gymnastics. In 2006, adidas gymnastics leatards
for women and adidas mens comp shirts, gymnastics pants and gymnastics
shorts have been available in the USA, with seasonal leotards offered for
Spring, Summer, Fall and Holidays. Starting in 2009, adidas gymnastics
wear has been available worldwide through GK Elite Sportswear.

Skateboarding

Adidas SB (Skateboarding) are shoes made specifically for skateboarding.

Many of the shoes Adidas previously made were redesigned for
skateboarding.

Adidas Skateboarding also has a skateboarding team. The team consists of:
Mark Gonzales, Dennis Busenitz, Tim O'Connor, Silas Baxter-Neal, Pete
Eldridge, Dave Bachinsky, Benny Fairfax, Nester Judkins, Lem Villemin,
and Vince Del Valle.

Accessories

Adidas also designs and makes sandals, watches, eyewear, bags, baseball
caps, and socks. As well, Adidas has a branded range of male and female
deodorants, perfumes, aftershave and lotions.

To get Adidas perfume or other branded and genuine perfume at low and
discount prices visit http://www.mallshop2u.com/perfume.html .