citations for verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . january 2016 learn how and when to remove this template message wolverine worldwide type public traded as nyse www industry textile founded 1883 founder g. a. krause and fredrick hirth headquarters rockford michigan u.s. key people blake krueger ceo products footwear subsidiaries bates cat footwear chaco grasshoppers hush puppies hytest safety footwear merrell sebago company wolverine boots and shoes saucony stride rite corporation sperry top sider keds website wolverineworldwide.com wolverine world wide inc. or wolverine worldwide is an american footwear manufacturer based in rockford michigan known for their own brand wolverine boots and shoes as well as their subsidiaries such as hush puppies and merrell . the company also manufactures footwear for other companies such as caterpillar and harley davidson as well as shoes and boots for the military . in 2012 wolverine world wide added saucony keds stride rite and sperry top sider to their list of subsidiaries after a joint agreement with blum capital partners and golden gate capital acquired the performance lifestyle group of collective brands for us 1.23 billion . 1 contents 1 history 1.1 founding and early years 1883 to 1959 1.2 name change & expansion 1960 to 1989 1.3 growth & acquisitions 1990s and 2000s 1.4 present day 2 references 3 external links history edit founding and early years 1883 to 1959 edit the company was founded in 1883 by g. a. krause and fredrick hirth . fredrick hirth and mr. krause bought a small leather shop in grand rapids michigan . they started with a capital investment of 2 900 . in 1901 they decided to build a plant in rockford michigan just north of grand rapids . they purchased and expanded the rogue river electric light and power company to power their new plant and the city of rockford . in 1903 operations began and in 1908 a tannery followed . the company now processed its own raw materials and manufactured its own shoes sold through the hirth krause company . in 1921 the company changed its name to wolverine shoe and tanning corporation.from 1916 1923 its earnings increased 700 % . 2 wolverine world wide booklet 11 1 1983 a tradition of success in 1941 during world war ii the wolverine shoe and tanning company began to work for the u.s. navy developing pigskin gloves and inventing what later became known as pigskin suede . name change & expansion 1960 to 1989 edit in 1964 the company changed its name to wolverine worldwide inc. and in 1965 became a publicly traded company listed on the new york stock exchange . 2 hush puppies a casual footwear brand founded by the company quickly rose to popularity in the 1960s . 2 growth & acquisitions 1990s and 2000s edit caterpillar branded work boots manufactured by wolverine world wide in 1994 wolverine worldwide introduced cat footwear a licensed brand of shoes using the caterpillar inc. name . 2 in 1995 hush puppies were voted fashion accessory of the year by the council of fashion designers of america . in 1997 the company continues expanding and purchases the merrell brand and acquired the global license for footwear from the harley davidson motor company . these acquisitions were followed by the purchase of sebago in 2003 and chaco footwear chaco in 2009 . 3 and uk based brand cushe . 2 present day edit the company has offices in lexington massachusetts rockford michigan london hong kong and ontario . wolverine worldwide portfolio of owned and licensed brands include chaco hush puppies merrell sebago wolverine keds shoes sperry top sider stride rite and saucony . 2 the company sources a majority of its footwear from numerous third party manufacturers in asia pacific and south america . 4 references edit saucony keds and sperry acquired by wolverine worldwide . inside insight . 2012 05 01 . retrieved 2012 12 14 . a b c d e f wolverine world wide history wolverine world wide acquires chaco footwear brand . associated press . 2009 01 22 . retrieved 17 august 2013 . wolverine worldwide 2013 annual report with form 10 k pdf . wolverine worldwide . wolverine worldwide . march 5 2014 . retrieved july 20 2016 . wolverine world wide booklet a tradition of success 11 1 1983 external links edit official website retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title wolverine world wide & oldid 742764413 categories companies listed on the new york stock exchangemanufacturing companies based in michigancompanies based in kent county michigancompanies established in 1883shoe companies of the united stateshidden categories articles needing additional references from january 2016all articles needing additional references navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent 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