Industry Snowsports, Hiking Revenue €683 million (2004) Headquarters Annecy, France Founded 1947, Annecy, France Number of employees 2,800 (2004) | Key people millaud Website salomon.com Founder Georges Salomon Motto Freedom, Action, Sports Parent organization Amer Sports | |
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Type Subsidiary
of Amer Sports Subsidiaries Arc'teryx, Mavic, TaylorMade-Adidas, Bonfire Snowboarding, Salomon/North America, Inc. Profiles | ||
The Salomon Group (also just known as "Salomon") is a sports equipment manufacturing company that originated in Annecy, France. The company was started in 1947 by François Salomon, his wife, and son Georges (1925-2010). In 1997, it was acquired by Adidas in a $1Bn deal.
Contents
In 2005, Adidas-Salomon announced on May 2 that it had agreed to sell the Salomon Group for €485 million to Amer Sports of Finland; the transaction was completed on October 20.
Company information
The family's metalworking shop opened in 1947 to produce saw blades. They soon adapted their equipment to make steel edges for skis and progressed to cable bindings. Bindings were the primary focus until 1979, when the rear-entry SX90 ski boot was introduced; skis came a decade later. Taylor Made golf was acquired by the company in the mid-1980s.
Salomon currently does not have a global CEO, as the business is separated between Winter Sports, Footwear and Apparel. Heikki Takala is the CEO of its mother group, Amer Sports, headquartered in Helsinki (Finland). The US operations of Salomon are located in in Ogden, Utah.
Other companies owned by the Salomon brand include:
Market
Salomon produces products for various sports markets, including trail running, hiking, climbing, adventure racing, skiing, and snowboarding in over 40 countries on five continents. They used to manufacture inline skates, transferring technologies from their ski boot range, but have not released any in recent years (possibly due to an infringement judgement). Many in-line skaters consider these to be some of the highest quality skates for street and vert skating.
Design
After a five-year research project, the SX series of ski boots was introduced in the beginning of the 1980s. The boot was the result of collaboration with the French designer Roger Tallon.
The SX91 ski boot was launched in 1984, the result of collaboration with the young French designer Roger Pitiot. The boot contained a number of innovations such as the sliding forward-flex control.
Salomon's dedicated design center is in Annecy, France.