"In 1921, flush with success, the company took the name Wolverine Shoe and Tanning Corporation. Wolverine’s headquarters still remain in Rockford, Michigan today. (...) In the early 1910's the Wolverine tannery was able to develop a unique method of processing shell horsehide which made it soft and pliable, something that no other tannery had been able to accomplish. A few years later, the company introduced the "1000 Mile Shoe", handcrafted with durable shell horsehide, and named because it was said to give you 1000 miles of wear."
http://www.wolverine.com/US/en/about...oz8q1hsey4k2lh
De acuerdo con lo anterior, en sus inicios la empresa no solo confeccionaba zapatos y botas sino era una tenería que procesaba sus propias pieles, entre ellas el
shell horsehide, con sus propios métodos. No se en que momento dejaron de hacerlo (si dejaron de hacerlo) para utilizar las pieles de
Horween...
Sin embargo, al explorar la historia de Wolverine hay datos que son bastante sorprendentes y desconocidos: es una empresa mucho mas amplia y difundida de lo que en un inicio se puede imaginar. Por ejemplo, no sabía que los
Hush Puppies que usé cuando niño o los
Sebago o
Sperry (que se asumen como competencia) pertenecen al mismo grupo:
"In 1964 the company changed its name to Wolverine Worldwide, Inc. and in 1965 became a publicly traded company listed on the New York Stock Exchange.Hush Puppies, a casual footwear brand founded by the company, quickly rose to popularity in the 1960s.
In 1994 Wolverine Worldwide introduced Cat Footwear, a licensed brand of shoes using the Caterpillar Inc. name. In 1995 Hush Puppies were voted Fashion Accessory of the Year by the Council of Fashion Designers of America.
In 1997 the company continues expanding and purchases the Merrell brand and acquired the global license for footwear from the Harley-Davidson Motor Company. These acquisitions were followed by the purchase of Sebago in 2003 and Chaco in 2009 and UK-based brand Cushe.
Wolverine Worldwide portfolio of owned and licensed brands include Chaco, Hush Puppies, Merrell, Sebago, Wolverine, Keds, Sperry Top-Sider, Stride Rite, and Saucony.
http://www.wolverineworldwide.com/about-us/history/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolverine_World_Wide
http://kent.migenweb.net/towns/rockf...l/history.html