called new balance arch support company type privately held company industry footwear founded 1906 ; 110 years ago 1906 founder william j. riley headquarters boston massachusetts usa key people jim davis chairman robert t. demartini ceo 1 products athletic shoes shoes apparel cricket bats sportswear sports equipment revenue us 2.29 billion 2012 2 number of employees 3 908 worldwide 2009 2 website newbalance.com new balance headquarters in boston s brighton neighborhood part of boston landing . new balance athletic shoe inc. nb best known as simply new balance is an american multinational corporation based in the brighton neighborhood of boston massachusetts . the company was founded in 1906 as the new balance arch support company and is one of the world s major sports footwear manufacturers . new balance maintains a manufacturing presence in the usa as well as in the united kingdom for the european market where they produce some of their popular models such as the 990 model in contrast to its competitors who manufacture outside of the usa and uk . as a result new balance shoes tend to be more expensive than those of many other manufacturers . to offset this pricing difference new balance claims to differentiate their products with technical features such as blended gel inserts heel counters and a greater selection of sizes particularly for very narrow and or very wide widths . the company has reached a total profit of approximately 40 billion since 1991 . contents 1 history 2 made in usa and uk stance 3 new balance numeric 3.1 team 4 toning footwear 5 sponsorships 5.1 olympic committees 5.2 association football 5.3 athletics 5.4 australian football 5.5 basketball 5.6 cricket 5.7 cycling 5.8 tennis 6 references 7 external links history edit in 1906 william j. riley british emigrant founded the new balance arch support company manufacturing arch supports and other accessories designed to improve shoe fit in the boston area . his first product a flexible arch support was designed with three support points to provide greater balance and comfort in the shoe . it is believed that riley came up with the name new balance by observing chickens in his yard and demonstrated the way his arch supports worked by keeping a chicken foot on his office desk . he explained to customers that the chicken s three pronged foot resulted in perfect balance . in 1927 riley hired arthur hall to be a salesman . in 1934 hall became a business partner and found his niche by marketing to people whose jobs required them to spend a lot of time standing . 3 in 1956 hall sold the business to his daughter eleanor and her husband paul kidd . 4 eleanor and paul kidd continued to sell mainly arch supports until 1960 when they designed and manufactured the trackster the world s first running shoe made with a ripple sole . it was also the first running shoe to come in varying widths . the trackster was given a big boost through the ymca programs in which it became the unofficial shoe . college track teams such as massachusetts institute of technology mit tufts university and boston university adopted the new balance trackster for their cross country teams soon to be followed by other colleges and private high schools around the country . 3 marketing was mostly word of mouth or local sports fairs . sales languished until 1972 when current chairman jim davis bought the company on the day of the boston marathon . at the time the company consisted of six people making 30 pairs of shoes daily and selling products mostly through mail order with a few u.s. retailers . jim committed himself to uphold the company s traditional commitment to individual preferences customer service and quality products . his future wife anne who joined the company in 1978 focused on building a distinct culture for new balance employees and customers . their timing was perfect as the boston area became a center for the running boom that struck the u.s. in the 1970s . their product line expanded and sales grew rapidly . the company prospered and the davises looked to expand new balance into a global company . the company is now run by rob demartini . demartini s background includes procter & gamble and gillette shave company . today 30 percent of the new balance shoes sold in the european market are manufactured at the new balance facility in flimby england . 5 in february 2015 the company announced its entry into the global soccer association football market . new balance had started its soccer business through its subsidiary warrior sports in 2012 punctuated by a 40 million a year sponsorship deal with liverpool but made the move to rebrand based on the global reach of the parent brand . 6 made in usa and uk stance edit the new balance mascot newbie at the head of the charles regatta in october 2013 . new balance is one of several shoe companies that makes some of their products in the united states . green america states in the new balance responsible shopper company information page that around one quarter of nb s shoes are made in the united states . 7 new balance owns five factories in the united states two in massachusetts boston and lawrence and three in maine norridgewock skowhegan 8 and norway 9 10 in 1994 new balance manufactured 70 percent of its shoes in the united states . 11 in 2006 new balance stated on its customer help site that approximately 25 % of the new balance shoes sold in north america are made in the usa and we will continue domestic manufacturing . 12 according to fortune in 2006 about 70 percent of its shoes are now made in china and the other 5 percent in vietnam . 13 the new balance production facility in the united kingdom has been since 1982 at flimby cumbria in north west england where 28 000 pairs of shoes are produced each week . 5 in the spring of 2016 new balance worked with massachusetts and maine legislators to craft a bill that would force the department of defense to purchase their athletic shoes for new recruits and military members in the us . the bill would amend the 1941 berry amendment and require the military to purchase 150 000 pairs of shoes each year that would be made in the united states . new balance s running shoes currently have some overseas components but if the company received the military contract then 100 % of the shoes would then be made in the united states . 14 new balance numeric edit in 2013 new balance launched a skateboarding shoe brand dubbed new balance numeric that is distributed by black box distribution a company founded by professional skateboarder jamie thomas . following the announcement of the partnership in december 2012 thomas stated in an interview with the transworld business publication i am most hyped about the positive energy this partnership creates for the future of our distribution as well as how this partnership enables us to further support skate retailers with a new brand they can trust and depend on . 15 the numeric brand is overseen by brand manager sebastian palmer who was formerly with skate shoe brand es while mike west of westlife distribution and snowboarding brand 686 is creative director . west explained at the launch event i myself was a sponsored skateboarder back in the late eighties so for me skateboarding is always at my heart it s something that i bleed in . same with running before skateboarding so it kind of just all came to what we are today which is new balance numeric skateboarding . palmer explained further at the same event new balance is about doing things right . they are about doing things they wan na do and following those through . we saw the chance to do something really authentic in a youthful culture that they new balance hadn t really had a presence in before . more than that they saw an authentic culture that they wanted to be a part of . 16 the brand also consists of a sponsored team that is co ordinated by professional skateboarder john rattray . 17 team edit pj ladd arto saari levi brown tom karengelov jordan taylor tyler surrey 18 tom knox toning footwear edit a class action lawsuit against new balance filed in 2011 alleges that the company s toning footwear touts unproven benefits . in support of its claim of false advertising it cites a university of wisconsin la crosse research study on toning shoes that has been funded and published by the american council on exercise . 19 researchers reported that there were no statistically significant increases in either exercise response or muscle activation as a result of wearing the toning shoes . there was no statistically significant difference between participants wearing special toning shoes and controls wearing normal sneakers . the researchers concluded that there is simply no evidence to support the claims that these shoes will help wearers exercise more intensely burn more calories or improve muscle strength and tone . however it was noted that these shoes may be encouraging a fair number of people who probably wouldn t put on a normal pair of walking shoes and go out and walk . 20 sponsorships edit olympic committees edit the company debut on the olympics stage dressing the olympic council of ireland at rio 2016 . association football edit when the company announced its entry into the soccer market in february 2015 it also acquired warrior sports roster of sponsored clubs including liverpool club sport emelec porto shamrock rovers sevilla seoul e land junior o higgins and celtic bury fc citation needed and more again in later that year ; . 21 new balance keeping in his range even some national teams that of costa rica and panama ; 22 23 as well as players such as aaron ramsey kendall waston marouane fellaini tim cahill and massimo luongo . 24 in march 2015 the company revealed their first ever soccer advertisement which starred aaron ramsey lvaro negredo samir nasri jes s navas joe ledley kasper schmeichel kevin mirallas aaron lennon and marouane fellaini . 25 athletics edit from 2013 new balance has seen a big increase in the amount of athletes it sponsors . noticeable athletes sponsored by the company include olympian stephanie twell . from 2015 they signed a great young rising star trayvon bromell . new balance also sponsors athletics teams such as new zealand and the antigua and barbuda national team . australian football edit new balance is the apparel partner of melbourne fc and renewed its arrangement with the club for a further three years in december 2013 . 26 basketball edit the company previously partnered with matt bonner of the national basketball association nba s san antonio spurs providing him with shoes over a period of several years . james worthy from the los angeles lakers also used new balance shoes . during the 2010 11 nba season bonner was sent a prototype for a signature shoe that he was developing with the brand but the shoes fell apart at the beginning of the game that he first wore them in . after bonner was informed that the prototype shoes were not meant to be worn a representative informed him that new balance was ceasing its sponsorship of basketball . 27 cricket edit following the 2015 icc cricket world cup new balance signed a deal with cricket south africa that includes the national cricket teams of south africa . 28 new balance also sponsor international cricketers joe root steve smith pat cummins david miller nic maddinson ben stokes aaron finch and dale steyn . 29 cycling edit a member key for the new balance hubway system in boston . following the