Rollerblade

Rollerblade
Private, parent company Tecnica Group[1]
Industry Sporting Goods[2]
Founded Minnesota, incorporated 1982 as Ole's Innovative Sports[3]
Founder Brennan Olson
Scott Olson[2]
Headquarters West Lebanon, New Hampshire[2]
Area served
 Worldwide
Key people
 Rollerblade USA
Jeremy Stonier(Co-President)
Stephen Charrier(Co-President)
Pamela Kidder(CFO)[2]
Revenue Increase US$ Estimated $20 million (2008)[2]
Number of employees
 27 (2008)[2]
Website Rollerblade.com
A rollerblade skate

Rollerblade is a brand of inline skates owned by Nordica, part of the Tecnica Group of Giavera del Montello, Treviso, Italy.[4][5]

The company was started by Scott Olson (b. 1960) and Brennan Olson (b. 1964) in Minneapolis as Ole's Innovative Sports; when they sold the company, it became Rollerblade, Inc.[6] and has changed hands over time between Nordica, Benetton Group and Tecnica.[7]

Even though the long established Roces company was the first to manufacture in-line skates in 1981,[8] their distribution was limited to Italy and Central Europe for the first few years. For the first few years after Rollerblade was developed, Rollerblade, Inc. were the only manufacturer of in-line skates that had worldwide distribution. This allowed Rollerblade, Inc. to capitalize and grab a huge percentage of the world market share and almost total dominance of the North American market with their aggressive advertising campaigns and sponsored in-line-only sporting events.[9]

Rollerblade, Inc. manufactures different types of skates, such as those for aggressive skating, fitness, or recreational use with removable "walkable" liners, as well as adjustable skates for younger bladers.[10]

References

  1. ↑ "Rollerblade brand skates over to Tecnica - Hardlines - Brief Article". DSN Retailing Today. 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Rollerblade USA Corp. Company Profile". Yahoo. Archived from the original on 18 December 2014. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
  3. ↑ "History of Rollerblade, Inc. – FundingUniverse". Retrieved 6 June 2016.
  4. ↑ U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (July 15, 1984). "Trademark Applications and Registrations Retrieval". Retrieved 2007-02-25.
  5. ↑ "Rollerblade: Good things come to those who skate". Philadelphia Inquirer. 18 July 2005. p. C11. Retrieved 24 January 2012.
  6. ↑ Lemelson-MIT (August 1997). "Inventor of the Week Archive:Jake golden & Scott & Brennan Olson (spelling corrected per rowbike.com)". MIT School of Engineering. Retrieved 2007-02-25.
  7. ↑ Skate Log (February 5, 2003). "Benetton Confirms Selling Rollerblade". Retrieved 2007-02-25. and DSN Retailing Today via Find Articles (March 24, 2003). "Rollerblade brand skates over to Tecnica". DSN Retailing Today. Retrieved 2007-02-25.
  8. ↑ "Roces". Retrieved 6 June 2016.
  9. ↑ "Rollerblade - About Us - en - International". Retrieved 6 June 2016.
  10. ↑ "Skates". Rollerblade. Tecnica Group S.p.A. Retrieved 26 September 2014.
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