Saucony ( ) is an American brand of athletic footwear and

apparel Clothing (also known as clothes, garments, dress, apparel, or attire) is any item worn on a human human body, body. Typically, clothing is made of fabrics or textiles, but over time it has included garments made from animal skin and other thin s ...

. 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,

jacket A jacket is a garment for the upper body, usually extending below the hips. A jacket typically has sleeves and fastens in the front or slightly on the side. Jackets without sleeves are vests. A jacket is generally lighter, tighter-fitting, and ...

hoodie A hoodie is a type of sweatshirt with a hood that, when worn up, covers most of the head and neck, and sometimes the face. The most common 'pullover' style hoodies often include a single large knife pocket or muff on the lower front, whil ...

T-shirt A T-shirt (also spelled tee shirt, or tee for short) 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-shir ...

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 ar ...

, and

sock A sock is a piece of clothing worn on the feet and often covering the ankle or some part of the Calf (leg), calf. Some types of shoes or boots are typically worn over socks. In ancient times, socks were made from leather or matted animal hair. ...

s. Accessories include

hat A hat is a Headgear, 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 incorpor ...

s and

backpack A backpack, also called knapsack, schoolbag, rucksack, pack, booksack, bookbag, haversack, packsack, 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; b ...

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. ...

. Saucony also makes shoes for specific

track and field athletics Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

events.

History

The Saucony Shoe Manufacturing 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 2020 census, the borough had a population of 4,162. Kutzto ...

by businessmen William A. Donmoyer, Thomas S. Levan, Walter C.C. Snyder, and Benjamin F. Reider. The company took its name from Saucony Creek, which flows next to the original factory in Kutztown. In 1910,

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

n immigrant Abraham R. Hyde started a shoe company, A.R. Hyde and Sons, in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...

. Over the years, Hyde became known for making athletic footwear including brands such as SpotBilt and PF Flyers. On June 13, 1968, Hyde entered into an agreement to buy Saucony, and the sale was completed on October 24, 1968. In 1977, two of Saucony's running shoes were selected in the top 10 by ''

Runner's World ''Runner's World'' is a global magazine and website for runners of all abilities. It has additionally developed experiential formats, including a digital membership program, called Runner's World+. It is published by Hearst in Easton, Pennsylva ...

'' magazine (the Hornet was chosen best value), and by the following spring the demand for the product had gone up 2,000%. 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 a ...

for $170 million. Stride Rite was acquired in 2007 for $800 million by

Payless ShoeSource Payless ShoeSource Worldwide, LLC (formerly known as Payless ShoeSource Inc.), was an American multinational discount footwear chain. Established in 1956 by cousins Louis and Shaol Pozez. Payless was a privately held company owned by Blum Capit ...

. The combined company became known as

Collective Brands Payless ShoeSource Worldwide, LLC (formerly known as Payless ShoeSource Inc.), was an American multinational discount footwear chain. Established in 1956 by cousins Louis and Shaol Pozez. Payless was a privately held company owned by Blum Capita ...

. In 2012, Collective Brands' Performance Lifestyle Group, which included Saucony, along with

Keds Keds is an American brand known for its canvas shoes with rubber soles. Founded in 1916 by U.S. Rubber, its original shoe design was the first mass-marketed canvas-top sneaker. The brand was sold to Stride Rite in 1979, which was acquired by ...

, Stride Rite and

Sperry Top-Sider Sperry or Sperry Top-Sider is an American brand of Boat shoes, 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. Until January 2024, the Sperry brand ...

, 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 or private equity company (often described as a financial sponsor) is an investment management company that provides financial backing and makes investments in the private equity of a startup or of an existing operating com ...

Blum Capital Partners 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 Technological and industrial history of the United States, American Industrial Revoluti ...

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

Footwear

The company offers shoes for

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

, trail running, racing, and walking, utilizing specific technology relevant to the type of activity. Shoes are also made by focusing on the runner's foot size, type of running, arch type, and

pronation Motion, the process of movement, is described using specific anatomical terminology, anatomical terms. Motion includes movement of Organ (anatomy), organs, joints, Limb (anatomy), limbs, and specific sections of the body. The terminology used de ...

. On April 3, 2018, Saucony teamed up with the Massachusetts-based doughnut and coffee company,

Dunkin' Donuts DD IP Holder LLC, doing business as Dunkin', and originally Dunkin' Donuts, is an American multinational coffee and doughnut company, as well as a quick service restaurant. It was founded by Bill Rosenberg in Quincy, Massachusetts, in 19 ...

to produce a doughnut-themed, strawberry-frosted-looking running shoe to commemorate the 122nd running of the

Boston Marathon The Boston Marathon is an annual marathon race hosted by eight cities and towns in greater Boston in eastern Massachusetts, United States. It is traditionally held on Patriots' Day, the third Monday of April. Begun in 1897, the event was ins ...

. The Saucony X Dunkin’ Kinvara 9 comes in a doughnut box. The heel of the shoe is covered in rainbow

sprinkles Sprinkles are small pieces of confectionery used as an often colorful cake decorating, decoration or to add Texture (food), texture to desserts such as chocolate brownie, brownies, cupcakes, doughnuts or ice cream. The tiny candies are produced ...

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

Originals

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

Sponsorship

The company sponsors and has sponsored many athletes, including American long-distance runners Molly Huddle, Laura Thweatt, and Jared Ward.

References

External links

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