brand . russell brands llc type wholly owned subsidiary industry sporting goods sporting equipment founded 1973 as russell corporation in alexander city alabama 1 2 headquarters bowling green ky usa area served worldwide key people eugene c. gwaltney jr. products clothing athletic shoes sports equipment accessories revenue 1.438 billion 3 number of employees 10 000 3 parent berkshire hathaway subsidiaries russell athletic brooks spalding jerzees bike dudley aai website www.russell brands.com russell brands llc headquartered in bowling green kentucky is an american manufacturer of sports equipment which markets its products under many brands and subsidiaries including russell athletic its flagship brand spalding huffy and brooks . formerly a publicly traded company russell brands has been a wholly owned subsidiary of berkshire hathaway since 2006 . contents 1 history 1.1 the beginning russell manufacturing co. 1.2 russell corp. established 1.3 major restructuring 2 brands 3 honduran labor controversy and boycott 4 sponsorships 5 references 6 external links history edit the beginning russell manufacturing co. edit main article russell athletic brand russell corp. established edit the original russell manufacturing company founded by benjamin russell in alexander city alabama in 1902 2 became russell corporation in 1973 under the presidency of eugene c. gwaltney jr. who had taken over in 1968 . 1 2 by 1990 the company owned and operated 13 sewing plants outside alexander city and employed 15 000 workers . since 1976 sales revenues had increased by 13 percent annually . with the acquisition of two subsidiaries quality mills in north carolina and cloathbond ltd. in scotland in 1988 and 1989 respectively the company had become a global contender in the sportswear industry . under president and ceo john c. adams russell corporation had become the top manufacturer of athletic uniforms in the us . in 1992 the company was awarded a five year contract to be the exclusive producer and marketer of athletic uniforms for most mlb teams . the contract also stipulated that the company held the exclusive right to manufacture and market replicas of major league uniforms t shirts and shorts . this put the company in an advantageous position in relation to its main rival champion inc. the supplier of uniforms to the nba teams . in 1992 alone russell s international sales increased by 40 percent over 1991 . 2 major restructuring edit although sales and net income reached record levels in 1996 in part because of the impact of the summer olympics which were held in atlanta that year russell s fortunes turned down in 1997 when both sales and net income fell . the decline was caused by intensifying competition as industry wide over capacity and price cutting by rivals forced russell to lower its own prices all of which hurt the company s results . particularly troubled was the licensed products division which russell dissolved in 1997 dividing its operations among the other divisions . in 1997 russell also ended its licensing deals with the professional football basketball and hockey leagues . in early 1998 as the company s troubles continued adams retired . john jack ward stepped in as chairman president and ceo . within months of his arrival russell announced a major restructuring . over a three year period the company planned to eliminate about 4 000 jobs or 23 percent of its workforce ; close about 25 of its 90 plants distribution centers and other facilities ; and move most of the final assembly of garments abroad to mexico honduras and elsewhere in the caribbean basin . the company expected to take charges of 100 to 125 million during the restructuring period . russell hoped these efforts would result in annual savings of 50 70 million . part of these funds would then be used to bolster the marketing and advertising of russell s brands including tripling the advertising budget to 25 million per year . russell also established a second headquarters in atlanta in february 1999 . restructuring charges led russell to post a net loss for fiscal year 1998 of 10.4 million on revenues of 1.18 billion . results for the first half of 1999 also showed a net loss of 12.9 million but the restructuring had resulted in a decrease in selling general and administration costs of 13 percent . russell had also increased its offshore apparel assembly to 55 percent of total capacity a substantial increase from the 17 percent level before the restructuring was launched . russell had far to go before it could be considered fully turned around but it appeared that the company was well on its way . 2 the company completed its restructuring process in 2001 . nearly all of its retail outlets had been closed over 6 000 jobs had been cut and most of its manufacturing operations had moved abroad . in 2000 russell corp. acquired the apparel operations for haas outdoors inc. . this later became the mossy oak apparel company . 4 in 2002 the company added the bike athletic company and spalding to its holding . russell continued its acquisition spree in 2004 by purchasing american athletic inc. aai huffy corp. s sports division and brooks sports . it also secured an extended contract to provide spalding and huffy branded products to the national basketball association . the company faced challenges in 2005 due to rising costs and falling sales . during hurricanes rita and katrina over 40 containers of russell products were lost or destroyed and nearly 70 percent of the ports it used for shipping were closed . amid intense competition and faltering profits the company launched a restructuring plan much like the effort of the late 1990s . russell continued shifting its manufacturing base overseas and cut a total of 2 300 jobs . conglomerate berkshire hathaway inc. acquired russell corporation for 600 million in early 2006 . berkshire led by the billionaire warren buffett believed russell would be a good fit with its fruit of the loom inc. subsidiary . 2 brands edit the russell corporation is made up of the following brands and their products 5 brands products year of acquisition russell athletic clothing uniforms for college and school teams former company brooks athletic shoes clothing 2004 2 spalding balls accessories 2003 6 jerzees t shirts 1992 bike protections 2002 2 dudley softball balls and accessories 2003 6 aai american athletic gymnastics tables bars rings horses 2004 2 honduran labor controversy and boycott edit members of united students against sweatshops march outside of russell corporation s offices in atlanta ga. since january 2009 russell faced the largest collegiate boycott of an apparel company in history over labor violations in its honduran factories . 7 8 9 10 the boycott was co ordinated by united students against sweatshops in the united states and canada in support of the honduran garment workers union sitrajerzeesh . 11 12 the worker rights consortium has documented violations of the rights of workers by russell in its factory jerzees de honduras . the report found that russell illegally fired nearly 2 000 in two of its factories in retaliation for employees protesting against working conditions and forming a union . the report also stated that death threats were allegedly made against some members of the union though not by senior management . 13 in response over eighty universities have canceled their contracts with russell including duke university georgetown university columbia university university of michigan university of miami university of maryland university of washington university of houston penn state university rutgers university university of minnesota twin cities university of wisconsin madison purdue university cornell university university of florida and the university of aberdeen in scotland . 14 15 16 17 on may 13 2009 sixty five members of congress wrote to russell ceo john holland to express their concern over the labor violations . 18 on june 25 2009 russell became the first collegiate licensee to be placed on probation by the fair labor association . 19 at first russell said it was being unfairly targeted by the garment workers union and student activists and that the plant closure was due to the general downturn in the world economy . 20 five schools announced they planned to continue doing business with russell . 21 22 however at least one of those the university of florida has since terminated its licensing deal with russell . 23 24 the company had issued a statement noting that it had recognized the unionization of the jerzees de honduras plant on october 3 2007 . in later statements the company admitted wrongdoing although the violations are yet to be resolved . 25 sponsorships edit throughout its history russell corporation has been involved in the manufacturing and selling of equipment for many professional collegiate and high school sports teams . most notable of these are its stint of manufacturing uniforms for mlb through its flagship brand russell athletic the production of official basketballs for the nba through its subsidiary spalding and the production of official footballs for the afl under the sherrin brand . references edit a b russell corporation history in funding universe website a b c d e f g h i russell corporation history in reference for business website a b russell corp. profile in manta.com website http www.referenceforbusiness.com history2 48 russell corporation.html brands of the russell corporation a b russell is buying most of spalding sporting goods unit new york times 2003 04 18 michigan is the latest university to end a licensing deal with an apparel maker new york times february 23 2009 retrieved july 30 2009 . bonior david february 13 2009 . schools score points by standing up for workers huffington post . retrieved on july 30 2009 . labor pains ua ends contract with russell athletics after labor report alleges abuses daily wildcat july 22 2009 retrieved july 31 2009 . brand responsibility project records . 2004 2012 . 0.84 cubic feet 2 boxes of textual materials plus 83.8 gb of digital files . dreier peter june 14 2009 . human rights activists protest nba linked sweatshops . huffington post . retrieved july 30 2009 . congressional letter new video & 70 universities boycott warren buffett s russell athletic . united students against sweatshops . retrieved july 31 2009 . russell corporation s rights violations threaten 1 800 jobs in honduras workers rights consortium november 7 2008 retrieved february 13 2009 schools score points by standing up for workers huffington post february 13 2009 retrieved february 13 2009 michigan joins list of schools scrapping deals with russell . usa today . february 25 2009 . retrieved may 23 2010 . univ. of wash . drops russell logo license 25 february 2009 university of florida cuts sportswear ties with russell tampa bay times letter from congressmembers to russell . retrieved july 31 2009 . fla board resolution fair labor association june 25 2009 retrieved july 31 2009 . http www.dailycardinal.com article 22040 1 http www.wbko.com news headlines 40305312.html university of florida cuts sportswear ties with russell athletic st. petersburg times june 5 2009 retrieved july 31 2009 . uf terminates licensing agreement with russell athletic officials with uf and russell would not make additional comments . gainesville sun may 29 2009 retrieved july 31 2009 . russell athletic open letter july 15 2009 retrieved july 31 2009 . external links edit russell corporation russell athletic brooks jerzees bike athletic dudley sports american athletics aai report on russell corporation labor violations in honduras v t e berkshire hathaway board of directors warren buffett chairman and ceo charlie munger howard graham buffett susan decker bill gates david gottesman charlotte guyman donald keough thomas murphy ronald olson walter scott jr. insurance applied underwriters berkshire hathaway assurance berkshire hathaway homestate companies kansas bankers surety company berkshire hathaway specialty insurance boatus central states indemnity gateway underwriters agency geico gen re medical protective national indemnity company guard insurance seaworthy insurance company united states liability insurance group materials and construction acme brick benjamin