Timberland (company)

The Timberland Company

Timberland Company Logo
Company type	Public (NYSE: TBL)
Industry	Textile
Founded	Boston, Massachusetts (1952)
Headquarters	Stratham, New Hampshire , United States
Number of locations	85 (US) 18 (Canada) 4 (U.K.)
Key people	Sidney W. Swartz, Chairman Jeffrey B. Swartz, President/CEO Kenneth P. Pucker, Executive VP/COO
Products	Apparel
Services	Heavy Duty Boots
Revenue	$1,566 million USD
Number of employees	2,016 (US) 3,402 (foreign)
Website	Timberland.com
Footnotes / references

Timberland (NYSE: TBL) (or more informally Timbs or Timbos) is a trademark for a number of lines of outdoors wear, primarily boots, manufactured by The Timberland Company. Its three key locations are in Stratham, New Hampshire; Danville, Kentucky; and Ontario, California.

Although their boots are designed for hiking and mountain climbing, they are popular as a primary element of fashion, originating from their popularity with African-American and Latin youths in New York City, New Jersey, and Connecticut areas. The Timberland Company also has many items for sale in the apparel market including watches, leather goods, eyeware and other goods.

In 2007, Timberland was named one of the hundred best companies to work for by CNN Money, and the best company to work for in the state of New Hampshire.

Company history

• In 1918, Timberland founder Nathan Swartz began his shoemaking career in Boston, Massachusetts as an apprentice stitcher.
• In 1952, Swartz bought half an interest in The Abington Shoe Company in Boston, mainly doing contract work for other manufacturers.
• In 1955, he bought the remaining interest and brought his sons into the company.
• In 1960, the Swartz family introduced the then innovative injection-molding technology into the footwear industry. This enabled the production of virtually waterproof boots by connecting the soles to the leather uppers without stitching.
• In 1973, the brand name "Timberland" was introduced for the waterproof leather boots produced by the company. Because the boot proved to be very popular, the company name was officially changed to The Timberland Company.
• In 1978 and 1979, Timberland added casual and boat shoes to its boots product line.
• In the 1980s, the company expanded internationally, first into the Italian market and later to many other countries.
• Sidney Swartz, one of the founder's sons, took the helm at the company (he still serves as chairman). Under his leadership, Timberland started to become a lifestyle brand and added clothing and women's shoes to its products.
• Throughout the 1990s, the Timberland Company added more product lines such as backpacks, watches, and kids' footwear.
• In 1998, the Timberland PRO series of "Workboots for the Professional" was launched to further expand into the lifestyle market. Jeffrey Swartz stepped up to become CEO of the company and brand his grandfather and father had started.
• In December 2006, the company acquired howies, the Welsh clothing company.
• On 2007-04-26, Timberland acquired skateboard footwear company, Ipath.
• In October 2007, the company launched a UK website www.timberlandonline.co.uk

Community involvement

The Timberland Company is also active in community service, partly through its sponsorship of the Boston-based City Year (a program labeled as an “urban Peace Corps”, striving to unite young people of varied backgrounds. It also participates in the Path of Service program, which gives employees 40 hours of paid time-off to serve in their communities, and now gives 30 employees two to three weeks a year to aid with disaster relief. Timberland aided over 170 projects with over 9,000 volunteers and generating over 53,000 hours labour during their latest Earth Day on 2007-04-19 across the globe.

In popular culture

• The American composer and record producer Timbaland (birth name Timothy Z. Mosley) got his stage name after the Timberland boot popular in hip-hop fashion, when he was an apprentice with fellow producer DeVante Swing.
• Many hardcore and underground rappers of the 1990s made references to Timberland boots, particularly members of the Wu-Tang Clan and the Boot Camp Clik

External links

• Company web site
• www.timberlandonline.co.uk : e-commerce web site
• www.timberland.fr : French web site
• Profile of Timberland's carbon neutrality on NBC Video