Puma AG
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PUMA AG is a large Germany-based multinational company that produces shoes and other sportswear.
The company was founded in 1924 as Gebrüder Dassler Schuhfabrik in Herzogenaurach, Germany by Rudolf Dassler, the brother of Adolf "Adi" Dassler, who had founded competitor Adidas. The company now operates a virtualized corporate structure, using electronic communications to disperse the organization across the globe.
The company changed its name to PUMA Schuhfabrik Rudolf Dassler in 1948, and became a stock corporation in 1986, offered on the Munich and Frankfurt stock exchanges.
Today PUMA AG has approximately 3200 employees and distributes its products in more than 80 countries. For the fiscal year 2003 the company had a revenue of €1,274.0 million.
In recent years Puma AG has positioned itself as the reigning chick brand in Central Europe. It is essentially impossible for a teenage girl to conduct social life without Puma shoes and handbag. Those wearing pink or light blue Puma wear consider themselves "shopping mall kittens", the red shoe girls do not.
In recent years, Puma has begun to appear more and more often as a road racer. Puma racing shoes are known for being very lightweight and responsive, the edge an athlete needs in a road race. Also, the aggressive stylings add to their popularity.