needs additional citations for verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . january 2011 learn how and when to remove this template message levi strauss & co. type private industry clothing founded 1853 ; 163 years ago 1853 founder levi strauss headquarters san francisco california u.s. number of locations 2 800 company operated stores 1 area served worldwide key people chip bergh ceo ; 2 harmit singh cfo 2 products jeans brands levi s dockers denizen signature by levi strauss & co. revenue 4.494 billion 2015 3 operating income 431 million 3 net income 209 million 2015 3 total assets 3.13 billion 2013 2 owner relatives of levi strauss number of employees 15 000 2013 2 website www.levistrauss.com tag from a pair of levi 501 button fly jeans levi strauss advertising on a building in woodland california levi strauss & co. li va stra s is a privately owned american clothing company known worldwide for its levi s li va z brand of denim jeans . it was founded in 1853 when levi strauss came from buttenheim bavaria to san francisco california to open a west coast branch of his brothers new york dry goods business . the company s corporate headquarters is located in the levi s plaza in san francisco . 4 contents 1 organization 2 history 2.1 1960s 1980s 2.2 1990s present 3 current products 4 advertising 5 references 6 further reading 7 external links organization edit levi s plaza corporate headquarters levi strauss & co. is a worldwide corporation organized into three geographic divisions levi strauss americas lsa headquartered in san francisco ; levi strauss europe lse based in brussels ; and levi strauss asia pacific middle east and africa lsama based in singapore . the company employs a staff of approximately 16 000 people worldwide . levi strauss started the business at the 90 sacramento street address in san francisco . he next moved the location to 62 sacramento street then 63 & 65 sacramento street . citation needed jacob davis a latvian jewish immigrant was a reno nevada 5 tailor who frequently purchased bolts of cloth made from denim from levi strauss & co. s wholesale house . after one of davis customers kept purchasing cloth to reinforce torn pants he had an idea to use copper rivets to reinforce the points of strain such as on the pocket corners and at the base of the button fly . 6 davis did not have the required money to purchase a patent so he wrote to strauss suggesting that they go into business together . after levi accepted jacob s offer on may 20 1873 the two men received u.s. patent 139 121 from the united states patent and trademark office . the patented rivet was later incorporated into the company s jean design and advertisements . contrary to an advertising campaign suggesting that levi strauss sold his first jeans to gold miners during the california gold rush which peaked in 1849 the manufacturing of denim overalls only began in the 1870s . the company created their first pair of levis 501 jeans in the 1890s a style that went on to become the world s best selling item of clothing . citation needed modern jeans began to appear in the 1920s but sales were largely confined to the working people of the western united states such as cowboys lumberjacks and railroad workers . levi s jeans apparently were first introduced to the east during the dude ranch craze of the 1930s when vacationing easterners returned home with tales and usually examples of the hard wearing pants with rivets . another boost came in world war ii when blue jeans were declared an essential commodity and were sold only to people engaged in defense work . between the 1950s and 1980s levi s jeans became popular among a wide range of youth subcultures including greasers mods rockers and hippies . levi s popular shrink to fit 501s were sold in a unique sizing arrangement ; the indicated size referred to the size of the jeans prior to shrinking and the shrinkage was substantial . the company still produces these unshrunk uniquely sized jeans and they are still levi s number one selling product . although popular lore abetted by company marketing holds that the original design remains unaltered this is not the case the crotch rivet and waist cinch were removed during world war ii to conform to war production board requirements to conserve metal and was not replaced after the war . additionally the back pocket rivets which had been covered in denim since 1937 were removed completely in the 1950s due to complaints they scratched furniture . 7 from a company with fifteen salespeople two plants and almost no business east of the mississippi in 1946 the organization grew in thirty years to include a sales force of more than 22 000 with 50 plants and offices in 35 countries . 8 levi s has been worn by people from all walks of life from miners to award nobelprize winners including albert einstein himself whose famous leather jacket was made by levi strauss & co in the 30 s and has recently been sold at auction house christies for 110 500 . 9 history edit 1960s 1980s edit this section does not cite any sources . please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . may 2014 learn how and when to remove this template message a pair of levi s 501 raw jeans from the early 1960s through the mid 1970s levi strauss experienced significant growth in its business as the more casual look of the 1960s and 1970s ushered in the blue jeans craze and served as a catalyst for the brand . levi s under the leadership of walter haas peter haas sr. paul glasco and george p. simpkins sr. expanded the firm s clothing line by adding new fashions and models including stone washed jeans through the acquisition of great western garment co. gwg a canadian clothing manufacturer acquired by levi s. the acquisition lead to the introduction of the modern stone washing technique still in use by levi strauss . simpkins is credited with the company s record paced expansion of its manufacturing capacity from 16 plants to more than 63 plants in the united states from 1964 to 1974 and 23 overseas . levi s expansion under simpkins was accomplished without a single unionized employee as a result of levi s and the haas family s strong stance on human rights and simpkins use of pay for performance manufacturing from the sewing machine operator level up . as a result levi s plants were perhaps the highest performing best organized and cleanest textile facilities of their time . the dockers brand launched in 1986 and which is sold largely through department store chains helped the company grow through the mid 1990s as denim sales began to fade . dockers were introduced into europe in 1996 and led by ceo jorge bardina . levi strauss attempted to sell the dockers division in 2004 to relieve part of the company s 2.6 billion outstanding debt . 1990s present edit levi s 506 inside a levi s outlet store in canada by the 1990 levi s faced competition from other brands and cheaper products from overseas and began accelerating the pace of its us factory closures and its use of offshore subcontracting agreements . in 1991 levi strauss became implicated in a scandal involving pants made in the northern mariana islands some 3 % of levi s jeans sold annually with the made in the usa label were shown by whom to have been made by chinese laborers under what the united states department of labor called slavelike conditions . as of 2016 update most levi s jeans are made outside the us though a few of the higher end more expensive styles are still made in the u.s. cited for sub minimum wages seven day work weeks with 12 hour shifts poor living conditions and other indignities tan holdings corporation levi strauss marianas subcontractor paid what were then the largest fines in u.s. labor history distributing more than 9 million in restitution to some 1 200 employees . 10 11 12 levi strauss claimed no knowledge of the offenses then severed ties to the tan family and instituted labor reforms and inspection practices in its offshore facilities . the activist group fuerza unida united force formed following the january 1990 closure of a plant in san antonio texas in which 1 150 seamstresses some of whom had worked for levi strauss for decades saw their jobs exported to costa rica . 13 during the mid and late 1990s fuerza unida picketed the levi strauss headquarters in san francisco and staged hunger strikes and sit ins in protest at the company s labor policies . 14 15 16 the company took on multibillion dollar debt in february 1996 to help finance a series of leveraged stock buyouts among family members . shares in levi strauss stock are not publicly traded ; the firm as of 2016 update is owned almost entirely by indirect descendants and collateral relatives of levi strauss whose four nephews inherited the san francisco dry goods firm after their uncle s death in 1902 . 17 the corporation s bonds are traded publicly as are shares of the company s japanese affiliate levi strauss japan k.k. in june 1996 the company offered to pay its workers an unusual dividend of up to 750 million in six years time having halted an employee stock plan at the time of the internal family buyout . however the company failed to make cash flow targets and no worker dividends were paid . 18 in 2002 levi strauss began a close business collaboration with walmart producing a special line of signature jeans and other clothes for exclusive sale in walmart stores until 2006 . 19 as of 2016 update levi strauss signature jeans sell at several quantify stores in the us canada australia new zealand pakistan and japan . levi strauss leads the apparel industry in trademark infringement cases filing nearly 100 lawsuits against competitors since 2001 . 20 most cases center on the alleged imitation of levi s back pocket double arc stitching pattern u.s. trademark 1 139 254 which levi filed for trademark in 1978 . 21 levi s has successfully sued guess polo ralph lauren esprit holdings zegna zumiez and lucky brand jeans among other companies . 20 in 2002 the company closed its valencia street plant in san francisco which had opened the same year of the city s april 1906 earthquake . 22 23 by the end of 2003 the closure of levi s last u.s. factory in san antonio ended 150 years of jeans made in the usa . production of a few higher end more expensive styles of jeans resumed in the us several years later . 23 by 2007 levi strauss was again said by whom to be profitable after declining sales in nine of the previous ten years . 24 its total annual sales of just over 4 billion were 3 billion less than during its peak performance 23 in the mid 1990s . 25 after more than two decades of family ownership rumors of a possible public stock offering were floated by whom in the media in july 2007 . 26 in 2009 it was noted by whom in the media for selling jeans on interest free credit due to the global recession . 27 28 in 2010 the company partnered with filson an outdoor goods manufacturer in seattle to produce a high end line of jackets and workwear . 29 on may 8 2013 the nfl s san francisco 49ers announced that levi strauss &