Shoemaker: The Untold Story of the British Family Firm that Became a Global Brand

by Joe Foster

Overview

The remarkable story of how Joe Foster developed Reebok into one of the world's most famous sports brands, having started from a small factory in Bolton.

Since the late 19th century, the Foster family had been hand-making running shoes, supplying the likes of Eric Liddell and Harold Abrahams - later immortalised in the film Chariots of Fire - as well as providing boots to most Football League clubs. But a family feud between Foster's father and uncle about the direction of their business led to Joe and his brother Jeff setting up a new company, inspired by the success of Adidas and Puma, and so Reebok was born.

At first, money was so short that Joe and his wife had to live in their rundown factory, while the machinery that made the shoes was placed around the edge of the floor, because it was so weak it could have collapsed if they'd been positioned in the middle. But, from this inauspicious start, a major new player in the sports equipment field began to emerge, inspired by Joe's marketing vision. By the 1980s, Reebok had become a global phenomenon, when they were the first to latch onto the potential of the aerobics craze inspired by Jane Fonda. Soon, Reeboks were being seen on Hollywood red carpets and even in the film Aliens, where Sigourney Weaver wore a pair of Reebok Alien Stompers. 

Like the international bestseller Shoe Dog, by Nike's Phil Knight, Shoemaker is a powerful tale of triumph against all the odds, revealing the challenges and sacrifices that go into creating a world-beating brand; it is also the story of how a small local business can transform itself, with the right products and the right vision, into something much, much bigger. 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781471194016
Publisher:	Simon & Schuster UK
Publication date:	01/26/2021
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Joe Foster was born in Bolton, Lancashire, in 1935 and with his brother founded the sports shoe manufacturer Reebok in the late 1950s, which went on to become one of the biggest sports brands in the world by the late 1980s, rivalling Nike and Adidas. He remains a global ambassador for the company.

Table of Contents

1 Some People Run to Win 1

2 First World Records 11

3 Lessons in Survival 21

4 Taking My Place 31

5 The Beginning of the End 41

6 The Showdown 50

7 Mercury Rises 54

8 It's All About the People 66

9 Changing Names 73

10 A Challenge 80

11 A Spell on the Road 86

12 Time to Move 95

13 America on My Mind 105

14 An Opening to the World 114

15 A Near-death Experience 121

16 New Openings 127

17 A Key to America? 132

18 Dad, Death and a New Distributor 140

19 Back to Square One 148

20 Fated 155

21 Finding Fireman 160

22 The Waiting Game 169

23 Hong Kong and Beyond 180

24 Back to Boston 191

25 My Brother Jeff 198

26 A Major Fault 204

27 Our Angel 214

28 Keeping Up 221

29 Changes Afoot 229

30 Dealing with the Rest 239

31 Reebok Goes Celebrity 245

32 A Clash of Cultures 251

33 A Rollercoaster Ride 261

34 Death, and a Rebirth 267

35 A Founder's Role 273

Afterword: Who and what made a difference 283

Acknowledgements 295

Index 297