Saucony is an American brand of athletic footwear and apparel. Founded in 1898, the company is owned by

Wolverine World Wide Wolverine World Wide, Inc. or Wolverine Worldwide, is a publicly traded American footwear manufacturer based in Rockford, Michigan. The shoemaker is known for its eponymous brand, Wolverine Boots and Shoes, as well as other brands, such as Hush ...

. Products commercialised by Saucony include footwear and clothing ranges, such as

athletic shoes Sneakers (also called trainers, athletic shoes, tennis shoes, gym shoes, kicks, sport shoes, flats, running shoes, or runners) are shoes primarily designed for sports or other forms of physical exercise, but which are now also widely used fo ...

, jackets,

hoodie A hoodie (in some cases spelled hoody and alternatively known as a hooded sweatshirt) is a sweatshirt with a hood. Hoodies with zippers usually include two pockets on the lower front, one on either side of the zipper, while "pullover" hoodie ...

t-shirt A T-shirt (also spelled tee shirt), or tee, is a style of fabric shirt named after the T shape of its body and sleeves. Traditionally, it has short sleeves and a round neckline, known as a ''crew neck'', which lacks a collar. T-shirts are general ...

s, sweatpants,

shorts Shorts are a garment worn over the pelvic area, circling the waist and splitting to cover the upper part of the legs, sometimes extending down to the knees but not covering the entire length of the leg. They are called "shorts" because they ...

, and socks. Accessories include

hat A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mecha ...

s and

backpack A backpack—also called knapsack, schoolbag, rucksack, rucksac, pack, sackpack, booksack, bookbag or backsack—is, in its simplest frameless form, a fabric sack carried on one's back and secured with two straps that go over the shoulders ...

s. Saucony's shoe boxes once had the phrase "sock a knee" printed on them, which represents the correct pronunciation of the company's name. The Saucony brand logo represents the Saucony Creek's constant flow, and the boulders lining its creek bed. The company is a popular racing shoe producer, making

track spikes Track spikes, or just spikes, are a type of footwear featuring protruding spikes on the soles used by athletes when racing on the track. Some spikes are designed for longer-term training on tracks, but generally the shoes are used for racing. Th ...

and cross country

racing flats Racing flats, or simply flats, are lightweight athletic shoes designed for "long distance" track and field, cross country, and most often, road races. They differ from normal training shoes mainly by the lack of a substantial heel to toe drop. Fl ...

. Saucony also makes shoes for specific

track and field athletics Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

events.

History

The company's first factory was founded in 1898 at

Kutztown, Pennsylvania Kutztown (Pennsylvania German: ''Kutzeschteddel'') is a borough in Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located southwest of Allentown and northeast of Reading. As of the 2010 census, the borough had a population of 5,012. Kutztown ...

, on the high banks of the Saucony Creek (from which the company would get its name) by four business men. In 1910,

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

n immigrant A. R. Hyde started a shoe company in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston ...

, called Hyde Athletic Industries. Over the years, Hyde became known for making athletic footwear including brands such as SpotBilt and

PF Flyers PF Flyers is an American brand of lifestyle shoes owned by Kassia Designs, LLC. Founded in 1937 by B.F. Goodrich, it is one of the original American sneaker brands. History In 1933, inventor Hyman L. Witman and rubber manufacturing company ...

; Hyde Athletic Industries bought Saucony in the late 1960s, and moved it to Cambridge. In 1979, two of Saucony's running shoes were selected in the top 10 by Runner's World magazine (the Hornet was chosen best value) and by the following spring the demand for the product had gone up 20 fold. In the late 1980s, when Saucony became Hyde's dominant brand, the name of the company was officially changed from Hyde Athletic Industries to Saucony. In 2005, Saucony was acquired by

Stride Rite Corporation Stride Rite, formerly the Stride Rite Corporation and stylized in all lowercase, is an American children's footwear company. The company markets Stride Rite products globally through brand licensee Vida Shoes International. History Founding an ...

for $170 million. Stride Rite Corporation was then acquired in 2007 for $800 million by Payless ShoeSource and the combined company became known as Collective Brands. In 2012, the Performance Lifestyle Group of Collective Brands, which included Saucony, along with

Keds Keds is an American brand of canvas shoes with rubber soles. Founded in 1916, the company is owned by Wolverine World Wide. The original shoe design, the Champion, was the first mass-marketed canvas-top "sneaker". History Early history In 1 ...

, Stride Rite and

Sperry Top-Sider Sperry or Sperry Top-Sider is an American brand of boat shoe designed in 1935 by Paul A. Sperry. Sperrys, or Top-Siders, were the first boat shoes introduced into the boating and footwear markets. Today the Sperry brand is owned by Wolverine Worl ...

, became part of

in a $1.23 billion transaction that also involved the sale of Payless ShoeSource and Collective Licensing International to

private equity firms A private equity firm is an investment management company that provides financial backing and makes investments in the private equity of startup or operating companies through a variety of loosely affiliated investment strategies including leve ...

Blum Capital Partners Blum Capital Partners, L.P., also known as Blum Capital, is an American private equity firm headquartered in San Francisco, California. The firm is focused on leveraged buyout, growth capital and private investment in public equity, PIPE investme ...

and

Golden Gate Capital Golden Gate Capital is an American private equity firm based in San Francisco. The firm makes investments in a number of select industries, including technology, financial services, retail and industrial, through leveraged buyout transactions, as ...

. In 2016, Wolverine World Wide relocated Saucony and its other Boston-area brands to a new regional headquarters location in

Waltham, Massachusetts Waltham ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, and was an early center for the labor movement as well as a major contributor to the American Industrial Revolution. The original home of the Boston Manufacturing Company, ...

. Wolverine World Wide sources a majority of its footwear from numerous third party manufacturers in Asia Pacific and South America.

Footwear

The company offers a variety of shoes, such as

running Running is a method of terrestrial locomotion allowing humans and other animals to move rapidly on foot. Running is a type of gait characterized by an aerial phase in which all feet are above the ground (though there are exceptions). This is ...

, trail running, racing, walking, and a college collection. Each of these types of shoes utilizes specific technology relevant to the type of targeted activity. The shoes are designed for 3 main purposes: racing, running, and walking. Shoes are also made by focusing on the runner's foot size, type of running, arch type, pronation, and running location. On April 3, 2018, Saucony teamed up with the Massachusetts-based doughnut and coffee company, Dunkin' Donuts to produce a strawberry-frosted donut themed running shoe to commemorate the 122nd running of the Boston Marathon. The Saucony X Dunkin’ Kinvara 9 comes in a donut box and the heel of the shoe is covered in rainbow

sprinkles Sprinkles are very small pieces of confectionery used as an often colourful decoration or to add texture to desserts such as brownies, cupcakes, doughnuts or ice cream. The tiny candies are produced in a variety of colors and are generally use ...

. The company again released a Dunkin' themed running shoe in March 2019 on the successor to the Kinvara 9, the Kinvara 10.

Originals

Originals are Saucony's heritage range, which includes reintroduced older shoe styles produced by the company, which have been improved with better materials and different colorways. These include the popular Shadow model, Jazz model, and Hornet model. The latter of which remains the company's biggest selling product.

Sponsorship

Molly Huddle Molly Huddle (born August 31, 1984) is an American long-distance runner who competes in track and cross country running events. Huddle set the American record in the 5000 m at the 2014 Herculis Diamond League meet in Fontvieille, Monaco (14:42. ...

, American long-distance runner *

Laura Thweatt Laura Thweatt (born December 17, 1988) is an American long-distance runner. Early life, family and education Thweatt was born in Durango, Colorado. She began running competitively at Durango High School for which she placed 2nd at the 2006 ...

, American long-distance runner *

Jared Ward Jared Ward (born September 9, 1988) is an American long distance runner. He qualified for the 2016 Summer Olympics when he placed third in the marathon at the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials.

, American long-distance runner

References

External links

* {{Running shoe brands Wolverine World Wide Shoe brands Companies based in Lexington, Massachusetts Clothing companies established in 1898 1898 establishments in Pennsylvania