Puma Definition | Apparel Search

PUMA is a large German-based multinational company that produces shoes and other sportswear. The company was founded in 1924 as Gebruder Dassler Schuhfabrik in Herzogenaurach, Germany by Rudolf Dassler, the brother of Adolf "Adi" Dassler, who founded competitor adidas.

PUMA AG Rudolf Dassler Sport (PUMA) is a large German-based multinational company that produces shoes and other sportswear.

The company was founded in 1924 as Gebrder Dassler Schuhfabrik in Herzogenaurach, Germany by Rudolf Dassler, the brother of Adolf "Adi" Dassler, who founded competitor adidas. The company now operates a virtualized corporate structure, using electronic communications to disperse the organization across the globe.

The company changed its name to PUMA Schuhfabrik Rudolf Dassler in 1948, and became a stock corporation in 1986, listed on the Brse Mnchen and Frankfurt Stock Exchange.

Today, PUMA AG has approximately 3,200 employees and distributes its products in more than 80 countries. For the fiscal year 2003, the company had a revenue of 1,274 million.

Puma shoe and clothing are still very popular in the hip-hop and graffiti subcultures, like adidas, Puma is considered part of the old school hip-hop and graffiti culture of the 1970s and 1980s. It can also be noted that Puma owns a 65% market share in sneakers to Mexican Americans in the male 12-25 age group.

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External links

Puma - Official site

The above article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puma_(brand) 1/23/06

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Two Brothers, Two Companies, One Town

Puma's founding is inseparable from a family division. The company was founded in 1924 as Gebruder Dassler Schuhfabrik — Dassler Brothers Shoe Factory — in Herzogenaurach, Germany by Rudolf Dassler, the brother of Adolf "Adi" Dassler, who founded competitor adidas. A single family shoe factory therefore stands behind two of the largest sportswear companies in the world, and the two brothers' names remain attached to the two rival firms. The company changed its name to PUMA Schuhfabrik Rudolf Dassler in 1948, keeping Rudolf Dassler's own name inside the company name while adding the PUMA brand in front of it, and became a stock corporation in 1986, listed on the Munich and Frankfurt Stock Exchange. The progression from a brothers' factory, to a named founder's company, to a listed corporation traces the standard path of a twentieth-century German manufacturer, with the unusual feature that its closest competitor shares its founding family.

A Virtualised Structure Across 80 Countries

Today, PUMA AG has approximately 3,200 employees and distributes its products in more than 80 countries, and for the fiscal year 2003 the company had a revenue of 1,274 million. Those figures describe a company whose distribution is far wider than its headcount, and the definition explains how: the company now operates a virtualized corporate structure, using electronic communications to disperse the organization across the globe. A staff of about 3,200 spread virtually can administer sales in over 80 countries because the structure is built on communication rather than on large offices in each market. For a producer of shoes and other sportswear, that distinction matters — the physical work of making and moving product sits with manufacturing and distribution partners, while the company's own employees coordinate the brand, the product range and the markets from a dispersed network.

Old School Hip-Hop and a Defined Sneaker Market

Puma's cultural position is stated alongside its corporate one. Puma shoes and clothing are still very popular in the hip-hop and graffiti subcultures, and like adidas, Puma is considered part of the old school hip-hop and graffiti culture of the 1970s and 1980s. That places the German sportswear maker inside an American street culture two decades after its founding generation, on the strength of its shoes being adopted as part of that culture's dress. It can also be noted that Puma owns a 65 percent market share in sneakers to Mexican Americans in the male 12 to 25 age group — a strikingly specific measure, naming an age band, a demographic and a product category, and indicating how closely the company's sneaker business was tracked in the markets where its shoes held a cultural as well as a sporting role.

Common Questions

How was Puma founded?

The company was founded in 1924 as Gebruder Dassler Schuhfabrik in Herzogenaurach, Germany by Rudolf Dassler, the brother of Adolf "Adi" Dassler, who founded competitor adidas. The company changed its name to PUMA Schuhfabrik Rudolf Dassler in 1948.

When did Puma become a listed company?

Puma became a stock corporation in 1986, listed on the Munich and Frankfurt Stock Exchanges. For the fiscal year 2003, the company had a revenue of 1,274 million.

How large is Puma's operation?

PUMA AG has approximately 3,200 employees and distributes its products in more than 80 countries. The company operates a virtualized corporate structure, using electronic communications to disperse the organization across the globe.

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