The Brief History of New Balance Athletic Shoes

New Balance is an American footwear company and the head company locates in Boston, Massachusetts. It started as the name of New Balance Arch Support Company and sold arch supports and other shoe accessories exclusively. As the specialized shoe design, New Balance began to expand in the 1970's. Today this company has possessed the brands Dunham, PF Flyers, Aravon, Warrior and Brine.


New Balance Arch Support Company was founded in 1906 by William J. Riley, a 33 year old English immigrant to the US. The original company then only provided some accessories designed for making people's shoes fit better. In 1934, Arthur Hall joined the company and took charge of New Balance's marketing strategy that was to advertise their products to people who needed to be standing for hours everyday for the jobs. Some sources show that most of New Balance company's primary customers at that time were police officers and waiters.


The first New Balance tennis shoe (called the "Trackster") was designed out by Riley's daughter and son-in-law in 1961, however, New Balance did not gain much benefit until it switched hands to Jim Davis. In the US there was a jogging craze in the 1970s, and Boston was just at the epicenter of that storm.


In fact, New Balance had only six employees who manufactured roughly 30 pairs of shoes a day. Those specialty shoes were designed for customers with specific needs. Davis was greatly successful in expanding markets for the company. In very short time, New Balance athletic shoes had been in large demand in North America.


New Balance experienced much things in the last few decades. New factories were opened in England and later in China for the market expansion. There are some principles in New Balance First, New Balance must keep five factories in the US. The company also maintains that they do not need any celebrity spokesperson in advertisement. Most people look it as a consumer-friendly policy.