183:
106:; eight years later the company employed 700. In 1945, Saul Katz took control of Hubbard from his father. In the 1960s, U.S. shoe manufacturing increasingly moved to countries with lower labor costs, making it difficult for U.S. plants to stay competitive in the face of less expensive imports. Saul Katz urged Congress to aid the American shoe industry and in 1977 the Carter administration imposed quotas on shoe imports, but the controls arrived too late for Hubbard, which went out of business in 1970.
36:
217:, which were gaining in popularity as all-purpose footwear. Rockport focused on designing shoes that more closely resembled traditional styles, but sought to incorporate the lightness and comfort of running shoes. This development effort made the RocSport "perhaps the first real 'high technology shoe'", according to James A. Phills, Jr., who teaches at the
124:
In 1971, Saul Katz and his son, Bruce, formed The
Rockport Company from Highland Import. The company was started with $ 15,000 and grew by staying profitable each year. In 1986, shortly before the company was sold, Rockport's sales were reaching nearly $ 100 million a year, having turned a profit
120:
The 3,000 pairs of moccasins brought into
Marlborough arrived too late for Highland’s customer and so the shoes remained in the warehouse for some months. Bruce Katz then began working with his father and travelled the East Coast from Boston to Washington, D.C., selling these shoes in plain white
228:
In 1984, Rockport sponsored an 11,600-mile walk across the country and traversing every state to promote walking as a popular form of exercise. Company-sponsored walkers participating in “Walk for the Health of It” included Robert
Sweetgall, whose books helped popularize walking for exercise.
121:
boxes to small leather shops and shoe boutiques in many small towns. The shoes carried no name until Katz learned that others were copying the shoes and calling them "Rockport type" shoes. He subsequently returned to
Marlborough and started branding the shoes as "Rockport".
166:
protection, citing a "costly and time-consuming separation" from their former owner, Adidas AG. Charlesbank
Capital Partners purchased the company out of bankruptcy in July 2018; on July 23, the company's 60 brick-and-mortar retail locations were closed.
229:
Sweetgall and the other walkers wore
Rockport shoes and their trek was documented in a film, Walk America! Largely as a result of the company’s promotional activities, Rockport shoes became closely associated with walking.
132:. Bruce Katz remained as president for one year before turning over the management to a new Reebok CEO. Saul Katz stayed on as part of the management team until retiring in his 70s. Later Reebok was sold to German company
113:, and imported shoes from Brazil. Highland Import worked with American branded shoe companies to develop special products. One was a hand sewn heavy leather moccasin modeled after a shoe developed by Walter Dyer in
690:
205:
Rockport's first product was the
Country Walker, introduced in 1973. On the basis of the company’s subsequent RocSport shoe and those that followed, Bruce Katz is credited by the shoe industry monthly
595:
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27:
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147:, to form a new company called The Rockport Group. Drydock brought with it the Aravon, Cobb Hill, and Dunham brands to the new firm. Rockport moved its headquarters from
861:
198:. It invested heavily in design and spent lavishly on marketing to create a strong brand name and carve out a market niche. Rockport also invested in research into the
700:
143:
and New
Balance Holding, Inc. completed the acquisition of The Rockport Company from the Adidas Group, and combined Rockport with Drydock Footwear, an affiliate of
109:
Saul Katz continued to run a surviving subsidiary spun off from
Hubbard, called Highland Import. It operated out of offices in the old Diamond Shoe Company in
624:
671:
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773:
856:
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162:, a major creditor of The Rockport Group, acquired ownership of Rockport from Berkshire Partners. On May 14, 2018, Rockport filed for
94:, the company marketed walking as a healthy alternative to running. In 2023 the Rockport Group was acquired by Authentic Brands Group.
128:
In 1986, Rockport was preparing to go public when the family decided instead to sell the company to
British athletic footwear giant
163:
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On June 14, 2023, Rockport filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy again. In August, the brand was acquired by
110:
87:
186:
The Rockport "World Tour" model, the company's signature walking shoe from the late 1990s until 2015.
103:
519:"By the Numbers; How Rockport Grew From a Small Family Operation to a Leading Men's Casual Brand"
114:
484:
83:. Associated brands include Aravon, Dunham and Rockport, and the Rockport Cobb Hill Collection.
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The Challenge of Organizational Change: How Companies Experience it and leaders Guide it
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with creating the "modern-day lightweight and technology-infused comfort shoe concept."
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In 1930, Samuel Katz founded the Hubbard Shoe Company, which had its first factory in
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117:. When Saul Katz went to the tannery in Brazil he named the leather Rockport.
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278:"Saul Katz, 95; Shoe Executive Reinvented Himself with Rockport Brand"
625:"Berkshire Partners and New Balance to Acquire The Rockport Company"
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191:
596:"Can Cobb Hill, Aravon, And Dunham Products Still Be Purchased?"
213:
Rockport shoes of this period were designed as alternatives to
133:
129:
672:"Shoemaker Rockport explores options including sale: sources"
553:
882:
Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2023
877:
Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2018
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64:
691:"Shoemaker Rockport files for bankruptcy protection"
862:Companies based in Middlesex County, Massachusetts
833:
669:
578:"Rockport is a Massachusetts shoe company again"
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331:
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722:"2 LI shoe stores close in parent's bankruptcy"
272:
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452:
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646:"The Rockport Group Relocates To Newton, MA"
304:"Reagan Expected to Drop Shoe-import Quotas"
486:Hoover's Handbook of American Business 2003
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267:
447:
243:
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34:
25:
399:"Talking about footwear with Bruce Katz"
225:'s in-house business management school.
181:
158:In December 2017, sources reported that
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190:Rockport is credited with popularizing
90:, in 1971 by Saul L. Katz and his son,
857:Clothing companies established in 1971
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771:
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379:. Main Street Journal. 13 October 2017
337:
688:
670:Jessica DiNapoli (14 December 2017).
872:1971 establishments in Massachusetts
516:
457:Butterfield, Fox (August 18, 1985).
219:Stanford Graduate School of Business
847:Shoe companies of the United States
549:"Adidas agrees to buy rival Reebok"
541:
79:is an American shoe brand owned by
13:
14:
893:
816:
627:. Business Wire. January 23, 2015
459:"Shoes that Sell—Made in America"
401:. Worldfootwear.com. 4 March 2019
125:every year since it was founded.
517:Abel, Katie (December 3, 2001).
421:"Bruce Katz: The Man Who Build (
202:of walking to design its shoes.
792:
776:. Footwear Plus. Archived from
747:"Rockport files for bankruptcy"
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638:
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588:
569:
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391:
369:
338:Kanter, Rosabeth Moss (1992).
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772:Dutter, Greg (June 1, 2012).
689:Nanos, Janelle (2018-05-14).
377:"The era of the shoe factor"
232:
194:as a healthy alternative to
7:
177:
10:
898:
584:. Boston Business Journal.
489:. Hoover's. p. 1178.
111:Marlborough, Massachusetts
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88:Marlborough, Massachusetts
249:"Rockport Privacy Notice"
59:
48:
33:
24:
104:Rochester, New Hampshire
115:Rockport, Massachusetts
600:support.newbalance.com
221:and Apple University,
187:
172:Authentic Brands Group
160:Crescent Capital Group
81:Authentic Brands Group
867:Newton, Massachusetts
483:Hoover, Gary (2002).
308:The Bangor Daily News
185:
164:Chapter 11 bankruptcy
153:Newton, Massachusetts
42:Newport, Rhode Island
40:A Rockport store in
774:"Follow the Leaker"
139:On August 3, 2015,
21:
16:American shoe brand
780:on 16 October 2014
463:The New York Times
348:. pp. 63–79.
188:
141:Berkshire Partners
19:
529:on March 29, 2015
496:978-1-57311-081-5
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803:. Retrieved
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200:biomechanics
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852:Shoe brands
676:reuters.com
425:) Rockport"
145:New Balance
86:Founded in
836:Categories
800:"Linkedin"
732:2018-07-30
707:2018-05-14
678:. Reuters.
656:2023-08-19
631:2022-03-25
610:2017-12-30
346:Free Press
255:. Rockport
223:Apple Inc.
54:Bruce Katz
805:12 August
233:Footnotes
52:Saul and
757:June 15,
259:7 August
178:Products
65:rockport
20:Rockport
784:12 July
533:13 July
468:12 July
439:13 July
405:9 April
383:9 April
361:12 July
314:14 July
288:13 July
196:running
192:walking
98:History
60:Website
49:Founder
842:Reebok
493:
352:
149:Canton
134:Adidas
130:Reebok
807:2014
786:2014
759:2023
650:FDRA
563:2010
535:2014
504:2010
491:ISBN
470:2014
441:2014
407:2019
385:2019
363:2014
350:ISBN
316:2014
290:2014
261:2023
75:The
67:.com
554:BBC
423:Sic
174:.
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
