Rollerblade

This article is about the company and trademark. For the generic skates, see inline skates. For the songs, see Rollerblades (Eliza Doolittle song) and Rollerblades (Kwes song).
Rollerblade
Company typePrivate
IndustrySporting Goods[1]
FoundedMinnesota, incorporated 1982 as Ole's Innovative Sports[2]
FounderBrennan Olson
Scott Olson[1]
Headquarters
West Lebanon, New Hampshire[1]
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Rollerblade USA
Jeremy Stonier (Co-President)
Stephen Charrier (Co-President)
Pamela Kidder (CFO)[1]
RevenueIncrease ~US$ $20 million (2008)[1]
Number of employees
27 (2008)[1]
ParentTecnica Group[3]
Websiterollerblade.com
A rollerblade skate

Rollerblade is a brand of inline skates owned by Nordica, part of the Tecnica Group of Giavera del Montello, Treviso, Italy.[4][5]

The company was started by Scott Olson (b. 1960), Brennan Olson (b. 1964) and Christopher Middlebrook in Minneapolis as Ole's Innovative Sports; when they sold the company, it became Rollerblade, Inc.[6] and has changed hands over time between Nordica, Benetton Group and Tecnica.[7]

Inline-skates had been used for many years by ice speed skaters before they became mainstream. For the first few years after Rollerblade was developed, Rollerblade, Inc. were the only manufacturer of in-line skates that had worldwide distribution. This allowed the company to capitalize and grab a huge percentage of the world market share and almost total dominance of the North American market with aggressive advertising campaigns and sponsored in-line-only sporting events.[8]

Rollerblade, Inc. manufactures different types of skates, such as those for aggressive skating, fitness, or recreational use with removable "walkable" liners, as well as adjustable skates for younger users.[9]

  1. ^ a b c d e f "Rollerblade USA Corp. Company Profile". Yahoo. Archived from the original on 18 December 2014. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
  2. ^ "History of Rollerblade, Inc. – FundingUniverse". Retrieved 6 June 2016.
  3. ^ "Rollerblade brand skates over to Tecnica - Hardlines - Brief Article". DSN Retailing Today. 2013.
  4. ^ U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (July 15, 1984). "Trademark Applications and Registrations Retrieval". Retrieved 2007-02-25.
  5. ^ "Rollerblade: Good things come to those who skate". Philadelphia Inquirer. 18 July 2005. p. C11. Retrieved 24 January 2012.
  6. ^ Lemelson-MIT (August 1997). "Inventor of the Week Archive:Jake golden & Scott & Brennan Olson (spelling corrected per rowbike.com)". MIT School of Engineering. Archived from the original on 2003-03-02. Retrieved 2007-02-25.
  7. ^ Skate Log (February 5, 2003). "Benetton Confirms Selling Rollerblade". Retrieved 2007-02-25. and DSN Retailing Today via Find Articles (March 24, 2003). "Rollerblade brand skates over to Tecnica". DSN Retailing Today. Retrieved 2007-02-25.[permanent dead link‍]
  8. ^ "Rollerblade - About Us - en - International". Retrieved 6 June 2016.
  9. ^ "Skates". Rollerblade. Tecnica Group S.p.A. Retrieved 26 September 2014.