Head (company)
Public | |
Traded as | OTC Pink: HEDYY |
Industry | sportswear and Sports equipment |
Founded | 1950 (Baltimore, Maryland, United States) |
Headquarters |
Amsterdam, Netherlands Kennelbach, Austria |
Key people |
Howard Head (founder) Johan Eliasch (CEO) |
Products |
Footwear Accessories sportswear |
Revenue | $375.4 million (2014)[1] |
Profit | $2.8 million (2014)[1] |
Number of employees | 2,499 (2014)[1] |
Subsidiaries |
Penn Mares |
Website | Head.com |
HEAD Inc. is a Dutch sports equipment and clothing company, which sells alpine skis and tennis rackets. The company includes parts of several previously independent companies, including Head Ski Company, founded in Delaware, United States, in 1950; Tyrolia, an Austrian ski-equipment manufacturer; and Mares, an Italian manufacturer of diving equipment.[2] Head Ski Company produced one of the first successful metal-wood composite downhill ski, the Head Standard, and one of the first oversized metal tennis rackets.[3] The company is headquartered in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
History
The company was founded in Baltimore, Maryland, United States, in 1950 by aeronautical engineer Howard Head, after he took a ski trip and was astonished to see his skis were made of wood in an era when metals and plastics were replacing wood in many product designs. Head worked at the Glenn L. Martin Company where they used a form of aluminum and plastic laminate to build the fuselages of aircraft, and he felt the same material would make an ideal ski. After two years of constantly breaking skis, by the winter of 1950 they had a design that not only stayed together, but made turning dramatically easier.
The Head Standard would rapidly grow in sales through the 1950s, until it and other Head designs were capturing over 50% of the US market during the 1960s, making them the leading ski manufacturer in the U.S. and the UK. Head resisted the change to fibreglass construction and was known for interfering in day-to-day operations. In 1967, Howard Head hired Harold Seigle as company president, and became the Chairman of the Board and CEO. Bored of the results, in 1969 Head sold the company to AMF in 1969, and took up tennis. He later bought a controlling interest in Prince Sports.
In the late 1960s, a tennis division was created when Howard Head figured out a way of strengthening the tennis racket by introducing the aluminium frame. The idea became a success and was first introduced in the 1969 US Open. After Howard Head's departure, one of the tennis players that Head sponsored, Arthur Ashe, won Wimbledon, defeating favored Jimmy Connors in 1975. Also during the 1970s, Head acquired a diving manufacturer, Mares, and a ski binding company, Tyrolia. While under AMF ownership, Head manufactured tennis racquets in Boulder, Colorado, and Kennelbach, Austria. Also in 1969, Head signed Olympic champion ski racer Jean-Claude Killy to endorse a new metal and fiberglass ski, the Killy 800. Head subsequently developed an entire product line of Killy skis.
In 1985, Minneapolis-based Minstar Inc. acquired Head through hostile takeover of AMF.[4] Two years later, Head started making athletic footwear, and introduced the "Radial Tennis Shoes". The following year, Head opened a new plant in Austria in order to produce more tennis rackets. In 1989, management bought out Head, Tyrolia, and Mares, to form HTM. The takeover was backed by private equity firm Freeman Spogli & Co. In 1993, HTM was sold to tobacco conglomerate Austria Tabak. Johan Eliasch, the current chairman, took over the company in 1995, which in 2014 was a Netherlands Antilles corporation.[5]
In 1997, Head created the first titanium and graphite tennis racket. Over the next two years, Head acquired three more companies, DACOR, BLAX, and Penn Racquet Sports Penn tennis balls are used in many high-profile tournaments worldwide, while Penn racquetballs are the official ball of the IRT and U.S. Racquetball Association. Penn once produced tennis balls and racquetballs in Phoenix, Arizona. In March 2009, Head shut down the Penn ball manufacturing factory. Now all tennis balls are produced in China.
Head also licenses its brand to makers of clothing apparel (including shoes), accessories, bicycles, skates, watches, balls and fitness Equipment.[6]
Head proved to be successful in 2012, with three Major winners during the year: Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open, Maria Sharapova at the French Open and Andy Murray at the US Open.[7]
- A Snowboarder equipped with Head Snowboard
- A head Snowboard
Head athletes
Alpine Skiing World Cup
Men:
Women:
Notable former skiers
Men:
Women:
Baseball
Tennis
Women:
- Tsvetana Pironkova
- Peng Shuai
- Virginie Razzano
- Bojana Jovanovski
- Svetlana Kuznetsova
- Klara Koukalova
- Maria Sharapova
- Roberta Vinci
- Yaroslava Shvedova
- Anabel Medina Garrigues
- Christina McHale
- Sloane Stephens
- Casey Dellacqua
Notable former players
Men:
Women:
Squash
Men
Women:
Former Players:
See also
- Shock stop, invention by the firm
References
- 1 2 3 "Annual Report 2014" (PDF). Retrieved 2015-10-26.
- ↑ "Head N.V. History". Retrieved March 28, 2013.
- ↑ "Howard Head: Ski and Racquet Revolutionary". Retrieved March 28, 2013.
- ↑ Daniels, Lee A. (15 June 1985). "AMF Agrees to Offer By Jacobs of $24 a Share". The New York Times. Retrieved 27 July 2011.
- ↑ "http://www.head.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Corporate/Head_-_Annual_Report_2014_bw.pdf" (PDF). External link in
|title=
(help) - ↑ "About".
- ↑ "Tennis".
- ↑ "Cyprien Richard rejoint Head" [Cyprien Richard joins Head]. Le Dauphiné libéré (in French). 8 June 2013. Retrieved 21 March 2015.
- ↑ Aksel Lund Svindal - http://msn.tv2sporten.no/ovrig/lund-svindal-bytter-skimerke-faar-gullkantet-avtale-3182196.html
- ↑ skiracing.com - May–2010
- ↑ fisalpine.com - April–2011
- ↑ "Lara Gut - Professional Skier from Switzerland".
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Head (brand). |