Industry Sporting goods Number of employees 301 | Founded 1974 Type Privately held company | |
 | ||
Key people Geoff Fox, Founder and CEO
Peter Fox, President Products Motocross gear, Clothing, Footwear, Eyewear, Bags, Stickers Parent Altamont Capital Partners Headquarters Irvine, California, United States CEO Paul E. Harrington (11 Mar 2015–) Profiles | ||
Fox Head, Inc. (Fox Racing) is an American extreme sports, primarily motocross, lifestyle clothing brand founded in 1974. Fox is a privately held company run by the founder and his son, Geoff and Peter Fox, and is owned by private equity company Altamont Capital Partners. The sportswear Fox designs, develops, and distributes is sold worldwide.
Contents
History
The early history of Fox Racing and Fox Racing Shox were intertwined. Fox Racing Shox is a brand of offroad racing suspension components founded by Geoff Fox's brother, Bob Fox. Fox Racing Shox was originally under the corporate umbrella of Moto-X Fox. But in 1978 Bob's division split out as a separate company called Fox Factory Inc.
Fox Head, Inc. headquarters are in Irvine, California, with additional offices in Barcelona, Spain and Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Fox built its business by developing clothing for motocross. Through sponsoring and working closely with riders such as Ricky Carmichael, James Stewart, Damon Bradshaw, Rick Johnson, Mark Barnett, Doug Henry, Jeremy McGrath and Steve Lamson, the company has researched and developed race clothing that provides riders with protection, performance and freedom of movement. They also used to make and develop racing engines for Yamaha.
Fox Racing first opened for business in February 1974, when Geoff Fox, a Ph.D. who taught physics at the Santa Clara University, launched Moto-X Fox, a distribution business for European motocross parts and accessories in a 1,500-square-foot (140 m2) building in Campbell, California. Within two years, Moto-X Fox was manufacturing suspension and engine components for racers looking for an on-track advantage. In the spring of 1977, Geoff was determined to show the American motocross public that his products were superior to those of the competition. He created his own privately owned professional motocross team, Team Moto-X Fox. Going up against the Japanese factory teams, Team Moto-X Fox riders became the top non-factory riders in the series, finishing fifth, sixth and seventh in the highly competitive AMA 125 cc National Championship series.
During the series, Team Moto-X Fox riders wore bright red, yellow and orange race outfits. Handmade by Fox, the clothing became a hit with the fans and interested enthusiasts started calling the Fox shop in Campbell enquiring about its availability. In 1980, Fox rider Mark Barnett won the company's first National Championship, and two years later, Brad Lackey won Fox 's (and the United States') first Motocross World Championship. In the ensuing two-plus decades, Fox-sponsored riders have won over forty National Motocross and Supercross Championships. In 2006 Fox rider Ricky Carmichael won the AMA Supercross Championship, while longtime Fox rider James Stewart won the FIM World Supercross Championship.
In July 2006, Fox Racing decided to change its corporate name to Fox Head, Inc. The move was complete by the fall of that year. Fox decided such a change would help the brand further penetrate sporting venues aside from motocross, such as mountain bike, wake boarding, surfing; as well as expand into other products.
Peter Fox was named CEO in 2008, with Greg Fox remaining on the board of directors. Peter Fox subsequently left the company, but rejoined when Fox Head was acquired by Altamont Capital Partners in 2014, leaving the founder and his son in charge of the company.
Retail and distribution
Fox products are sold worldwide with distributors and partners in over 50 different countries including Australia, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Japan, New Zealand, Perú, South Africa, United Kingdom and United States. Notable stores in the United States that sell Fox Racing include, BikeBandit, Tilly's, PacSun, and Zumiez.
Fox Teams
Fox recruits people for Fox Teams from a number of sports, including motorcross, BMX, surfing, mountain biking and wakeboarding.