section may not adequately summarize key points of its contents . please consider expanding the lead to provide an accessible overview of all important aspects of the article . please discuss this issue on the article s talk page . october 2013 converse inc. type subsidiary of nike inc. traded as nyse nke industry accessories apparel and sporting goods founded february 1908 ; 108 years ago 1908 02 malden massachusetts u.s. 1 founder marquis mills converse headquarters boston massachusetts united states number of locations more than 75 u.s. retail stores 2014 area served worldwide key people jim calhoun c.e.o and president charles chuck taylor designer of the chuck taylor all star products apparel clothing and shoes revenue 2.0 billion 2015 number of employees 2 658 in u.s parent nike inc. website www.converse.com a red pair of converse chuck taylor all stars converse k nv rs is an american shoe company with a production output that primarily consists of apparel skating shoes and lifestyle brand footwear . converse is known as one of america s most iconic footwear companies . the company was founded in 1908 by marquis mills converse and has been a subsidiary of nike inc. since 2003 . 2 it was one of the few producers of athletic shoes and for over a half century the company dominated the american court shoe market . converse shoes are distinguished by a number of features including ; the company s star insignia the all star s rubber sole smooth rounded top and wrap around strip that have become extremely distinguishable internationally . converse manufactures its products under the cons chuck taylor all star john varvatos and jack purcell trade names . in addition to apparel and footwear the company sells other items globally through retailers in over 160 countries and through approximately 75 company owned retail stores across the united states and employed 2 658 in the u.s. in 2015 . 3 contents 1 early years 2 1941 2000 s war bankruptcy and new management 3 nike 3.1 new headquarters 3.2 chuck taylor all star ii 3.3 skateboarding market 3.4 lawsuit 4 shoes 4.1 the weapon 4.2 special editions 5 causes 6 former converse college teams 7 references 8 external links early years edit at age 47 marquis mills converse who was previously a respected manager at a footwear manufacturing firm opened the converse rubber shoe company 108 years ago in february 1908 in malden massachusetts . the company was a rubber shoe manufacturer providing winterized rubber soled footwear for men women and children . by 1910 converse was producing shoes daily but it was not until 1915 that the company began manufacturing athletic shoes for tennis . the company s main turning point came in 1917 when the converse all star basketball shoe was introduced . then in 1921 a basketball player named charles h. chuck taylor walked into converse complaining of sore feet . converse gave him a job he worked as a salesman and ambassador promoting the shoes around the u.s. and in 1932 taylor s signature was added to the all star patch on the classic high topped sneakers . he continued this work until shortly before his death in 1969 . 4 converse also customized shoes for the new york renaissance the rens the first all african american professional basketball team . in 1962 center wilt chamberlain of the philadelphia warriors scored 100 points in an nba game while wearing a pair of chucks taking a 169 147 victory over the new york knicks in hershey pennsylvania on march 2 . 5 1941 2000 s war bankruptcy and new management edit when the u.s. entered world war ii in 1941 converse shifted production to manufacturing rubberized footwear outerwear and protective suits for the military . widely popular during the 1950s and 1960s converse promoted a distinctly american image with its converse yearbook . artist charles kerins created cover art that celebrated converse s role in the lives of high school and college athletes . converse jack purcells through its shoes converse developed into an iconic brand and came to be seen as the essential sports shoe . in the 1970s converse purchased the trademark rights to jack purcell sneakers from b.f. goodrich . 6 converse lost much of its apparent near monopoly from the 1970s onward with the surge of new competitors including puma and adidas then nike then a decade later reebok who introduced radical new designs to the sports market . converse found themselves no longer the official shoe of the national basketball association a title they had relished for many years . the chevron and star insignia a logo that remains on a large portion of converse footwear other than the all star was created by jim labadini an employee . canvas rubber shoes regained popularity in the 1980s as casual footwear but converse eventually became over dependent on the all stars brand whose market collapsed by 1989 1990 as america entered a severe economic recession and the icons of the decade were subject to a wide backlash . by the second half of the 1990s converse was slipping repeatedly into receivership as debt piled up yearly and its products were rejected by consumers in an increasingly competitive environment . the loss of market share combined with poor business decisions forced converse to file for bankruptcy on january 22 2001 . in april 2001 footwear acquisitions led by marsden cason and bill simon purchased the brand from bankruptcy and added industry partners jack boys jim stroesser lisa kempa and david maddocks to lead the turnaround of america s original sports company . nike edit in july 2003 nike paid 309 million to acquire converse . 2 nike approached the 1980s revival around 2005 to relaunch the footwear of choice of that decade and the chucks quickly became a cultural phenomenon once again . as a result nike expanded the converse brand to other businesses apart from shoes much akin to its other brands . by november 2012 converse had disappeared completely from the nba as the last dozen players wearing the brand either left the nba or switched shoes over a period of a year and a half . carlos arroyo went overseas in late 2011 and maurice evans last played for the washington wizards in april 2012 . nine switched to nike acie law who went overseas in late 2011 ; jj barea and kirk hinrich during the 2011 12 season ; luke harangody and larry sanders after the season ; elton brand louis williams and kyle korver for the 2012 13 season ; and chris andersen during the season . udonis haslem the last nba player wearing converse on the court followed miami heat teammate dwyane wade to switch to li ning in late november 2012 . converse shoes have become a fashionable shoe of choice for many . celebrities have taken to wearing them on the red carpet including matt and kim snoop dogg kristen stewart rihanna and many others . the growth of converse being a casual fashion accessory among nearly all generations has contributed to the strong success in not only the united states but in europe resulting in a 1.7 billion revenue in 2014 and 2 billion in 2015 . 7 new headquarters edit converse world headquarters building on boston s lovejoy wharf in january 2013 converse announced plans for a new headquarters building and moved in april 2015 . it was constructed near north station in downtown boston on the historic lovejoy wharf overlooking the charles river as part of a major site overhaul and restoration of public waterfront access . 8 the 10 story 214 000 square foot 19 900 m2 office building includes a permanent music recording studio for the new converse rubber tracks project 5 000 square foot 460 m2 gym with a separate yoga studio designed in partnership with nike and a brand new 3 500 square foot 330 m2 retail flagship store . 9 chuck taylor all star ii edit an improved model of the chuck taylor all star the chuck taylor ii was announced by company management in july 2015 . 10 the chuck taylor ii s were released on july 28 2015 11 incorporating nike technology it retains the most of outward appearance of the original while employing a modern lightweight insole for increased comfort and reduced fatigue . 10 the notable changes made to the new sneakers are the removal of the wrap around strip premium canvas with higher quality stitching and a no slip tongue . the new sneakers are priced at 75 for the high tops and 70 for low tops as opposed to the original all stars priced at 55 for high top and 50 for low top 10 skateboarding market edit under the cons name converse launched its skateboarding program in 2009 with a team of ambassadors kenny anderson anthony pappalardo nick trapasso sammy baca ethan fowler raymond molinar and rune glifberg . 12 in 2012 the company added jason jessee and mike anderson to its ambassadors team . 13 in august 2012 converse sponsored a skate event at huntington beach california us including trapasso tom remillard 14 aaron homoki greyson fletcher ben raemers ben hatchell robbie russo and ben raybourn participated in the competition that was held . raybourn eventually won the us 20 000 grand prize and homoki won the us 3 000 best trick contest . 15 as of july 2014 the cons skateboard team consists of original members anderson trapasso baca and glifberg while jessee anderson julian davidson remillard zered basset ben raemers jake johnson eli reed louis lopez sage elsesser and sean pablo were subsequently added . 13 bassett filmed a new advertisement that was broadcast online during july 2014 in which he skateboards through new york city us in a newly launched skate shoe version of the converse weapon model the cons weapon skate . 16 lawsuit edit starting in july 2008 converse tried to send around 180 cease and desist letters to over 30 other companies who converse says to be violating the chuck taylor all star trademark and selling knock off look alike sneakers . in october 2014 converse filed a lawsuit against 30 companies for infringing on its classic sneaker style s bumper toe striped midsole and toe cap . the brand argued that companies were violating a common law trademark by importing knockoff sneakers with similar elements . a number of companies settled with converse and they were dropped from the list . 17 18 while as of february 2016 the lawsuit is still on going charles bullock chief administrative judge at the international trade commission has ruled that several brands converse filed against were violating converse s design trademarks though the notice didn t specify which trademarks have been violated or by which brands . however judge bullock ruled that while skechers twinkle toes brands did share similarities to converse twinkle toes were different enough and marketed in a way for it not be mistaken for chuck taylor all stars 19 on june 23 2016 ironically on the anniversary of the death of chuck taylor the international trade commission ruled that converse s alleged trade dress for the midsole design of a combined toe cap toe bumper and stripe was not entitled to trademark protection under the common law and found invalid converse s federal trademark registration . shoes edit the weapon edit the weapon manufactured in many different color schemes in 1986 converse released the weapon basketball shoe . manufactured in two color schemes to match the kit colors of basketball teams it has been available in both high top and low cut varieties . the unique citation needed aspect of this shoe is the leather construction throughout including the inside heel which is also heavily padded for comfort . converse re released the weapon classic which kobe bryant wore at least three times in 2002 and andre miller wore numerous