Timberland (company)

In 1918, Nathan Swartz, a Jewish-born shoemaker from the Russian Empire (modern-day Ukraine), started his shoe making career.{{cite web |last1=Rhodes |first1=Lucien |title=Sole Success |url=https://www.inc.com/magazine/19820201/2337.html |website=Inc.com |publisher=Mansueto Ventures, Inc. |date=February 8, 1982}}{{Cite web |title=Russian Heritage Museum: Nathan Swartz |url=http://russianheritagemuseum.com/en/RHM_Nathan_Swartz/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160828233134/http://russianheritagemuseum.com/en/RHM_Nathan_Swartz/ |archive-date=2016-08-28 |access-date=2022-06-12 |website=Russian Heritage Museum}} Nearby, the Abington Shoe Company was founded in 1933 in South Boston. Swartz bought half-interest in the company in 1952, and he and his sons eventually acquired the remaining shares.{{Cite book |last=Pederson |first=Jay P. |url=http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/the-timberland-company-history/ |title=International Directory of Company Histories |date=June 25, 2003 |publisher=St. James Press |isbn=978-1-55862-484-9 |volume=54 |location=Detroit, Michigan |ol=8607109M |via=Funding Universe}} Through the 1960s the company specialized in making private-label boots and shoes for other brands. In 1969, Abington moved to Newmarket, New Hampshire{{cite web |last1=Parker |first1=Garrett |title=20 Things you Didn't Know About the Timberland Company |url=https://moneyinc.com/the-timberland-company/ |website=MoneyInc. |publisher=CafeMedia |date=December 17, 2018}} and focused on producing waterproof boots made with injection molding, capable of withstanding the winters of the region.

The Timberland boot was introduced in 1973.{{cite web |last1=Warnett |first1=Gary |title=How The Timberland Boot Became A Cultural Icon |url=https://www.mrporter.com/en-us/journal/fashion/how-the-timberland-boot-became-a-cultural-icon-693644 |website=Mr. Porter |date=November 16, 2016}} Its popularity grew, prompting the Swartzes to discontinue manufacturing for others and concentrate on expanding their own brand.{{cite web |last1=Rhodes |first1=Lucien |title=Sole Success |url=https://www.inc.com/magazine/19820201/2337.html |website=Inc.com |publisher=Mansueto Ventures |page=9 |quote=Out of a total production that year of 600,000 pairs of footwear, 500,000 bore the Timberland trademark}} The Abington Shoe Company was renamed The Timberland Company and incorporated in 1978.{{cite web |last1=Webb |first1=Alysha |date=December 20, 2020 |title=How hip hop's love of the iconic yellow workboot helped make Timberland a billion-dollar company |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2020/12/20/how-timberland-became-billion-dollar-company.html |website=CNBC.com |publisher=CNBC LLC.}}

Jeffrey Swartz, grandson of founder Nathan Swartz, joined the company in 1986.{{cite web |title=Swartz Speaks About Timberland Sale |url=https://footwearnews.com/2011/business/news/swartz-speaks-about-timberland-sale-61936/ |website=Footwear News |publisher=Penske Media Corporation |date=June 20, 2011}} The following year the family took the company public.{{cite news |title=Timberland Gives Details of Offering |publisher=Manchester Union Leader |date=June 4, 1987 |page=46}}{{cite web|last=Prince |first=Eetta |url=http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/week-s-end/meet-the-jewish-billionaire-who-studies-torah-every-morning-1.419038 |title=Meet the Jewish billionaire who studies Torah every morning - Week's End |website=Haaretz.com |date=2012-03-16 |access-date=2017-02-28}} Herman Swartz led the company until he retired in 1986. He was succeeded as CEO by his brother Sidney, who retired in 1998. Jeffrey Swartz succeeded him to become Chief Executive Officer of the company. In June 2011, Timberland signed a definitive takeover agreement with VF Corporation at $43 per share or approximately $2 billion.{{cite news|last=de la Merced|first=Michael J|title=VF Corporation to Buy Timberland|url=https://dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/06/13/vf-corporation-to-buy-timberland/|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=March 2, 2012|date=June 13, 2011}}

The company is primarily known for its footwear. Notable examples:

• The "Yellow Boot" is the company's best-known model, now considered iconic.
• Timberland PRO industrial boots
• Footwear made with recycled, organic, and renewable materials.

Timberland has worked with numerous footwear and fashion brands to create one-off models; brands include Supreme, Tommy Hilfiger, Jimmy Choo, Off-White,{{cite web |last1=Gall |first1=Julia |title=Jimmy Choo and Timberland's Sparkly Collab Is Finally Here |url=https://www.marieclaire.com/fashion/a33866730/jimmy-choo-timberland-boots/ |website=MarieClaire.com |publisher=Hachette |access-date=1 August 2022 |date=September 9, 2020 |quote=you may recall the Off-White, Opening Ceremony, and Supreme iterations}} Bee Line, and OVO.{{cite web |last1=DeStefano |first1=Mike |last2=Takanashi |first2=Lei |title=The 10 Best Timberland Collaborations of All Time |url=https://www.complex.com/style/best-timberland-collaborations/ |website=Complex.com |publisher=Complex Media, Inc |access-date=1 August 2022}} In late 2021, Supreme and Timberland collaborated with the MLB team New York Yankees to produce a Yankees-logoed boot.{{cite web |last1=Deng |first1=Victor |title=Supreme and Timberland Tap New York Yankees For New Boot Collab |url=https://footwearnews.com/2021/focus/collaborations/timberland-supreme-new-york-yankees-field-boot-release-info-1203224370/ |website=Footwear News |publisher=Penske Media Corporation |access-date=1 August 2022 |date=December 27, 2021}}

In early 2024, Louis Vuitton released a line of shoes in collaboration with Timberland.{{cite web |url=https://www.highsnobiety.com/p/louis-vuitton-timberland-pharrell/|title=Louis Vuitton's Timberland Boot Is Pure Pharrell|publisher=HIGHSNOBIETY }}

{{Main|Hip hop fashion|streetwear}}

Despite Timberland building its image around a rugged "New Englander" lifestyle and rural blue collar work, Timberland boots came to have significant value in urban inner cities and Black neighborhoods in the 1980s and 1990s. The boots were taken up by rappers associated with hip hop, starting in the New York hip hop scene,{{Cite web |date=2023-10-18 |title=From Building Site to Block Party: Timberland Celebrates Fifty Years of its Iconic Boot |url=https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/bc/timberland-celebrates-fifty-years |access-date=2024-11-19 |website=British GQ |language=en-GB}} and they soon became an enduring staple of Black, streetwear, and hip hop fashions.{{Cite web |date=2023-12-08 |title=How the Timberland Boot Became an Icon of Hip-Hop Style And Beyond |url=https://www.highsnobiety.com/p/timberland-boots-hip-hop/ |access-date=2024-11-19 |website=Highsnobiety |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Ferere |first=Cassell |title=How Timberland's NYC Hip-Hop Cultural Icon Is Celebrated In Its Future73 Program |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/cassellferere/2023/02/12/timberlands-global-streetwear-icon-of-culture-is-celebrated-in-its-future73-program/ |access-date=2024-11-19 |website=Forbes |language=en}} The New York Times reported on the fashion phenomenon in 1993, stating, "Seemingly overnight, Timberland and companies like Carhartt Inc. and North Face, which have made their reputations on manufacturing authentic outdoor and work apparel, have, in the parlance of the street, become ‘dope’ and ‘phat’."{{Cite web |date=2023-10-18 |title=The Surprising History of the Timberland Boot |url=https://www.esquire.com/uk/style/fashion/a45555745/timberland-boot-history/ |access-date=2024-11-19 |website=Esquire |language=en-GB}}

Timberland boots, referred to by consumers as "Timbs" or "Butters",{{Cite web |date=2023-10-18 |title=From Building Site to Block Party: Timberland Celebrates Fifty Years of its Iconic Boot |url=https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/bc/timberland-celebrates-fifty-years |access-date=2024-11-19 |website=British GQ |language=en-GB}} thus gained the nickname "the Air Jordans of boots"{{cite book |last1=Nelson |first1=George |title=Hip-Hop America |date=April 26, 2005 |publisher=Penguin |page=161 |isbn=9780143035152 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8nw6VlsqOUsC&dq=%22air+Jordans+of+boots%22&pg=PA161 |quote=Tims, as they were nicknamed were for several years the Air Jordans of boots}} and became "the required footwear of the inner-urban set".{{cite news |last1=Marriott |first1=Michel |title=Out of the Woods |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/11/07/style/out-of-the-woods.html |access-date=10 June 2022 |work=The New York Times |date=November 7, 1993 |location=Section 9 |page=1}} Prominent artists who featured them in songs or music videos included Wu-Tang Clan, Mobb Deep, Nas, Tupac Shakur, The Notorious B.I.G., Busta Rhymes, Dipset, Rihanna, Drake, Kanye West, and Jay-Z.{{Cite web |date=2014-11-06 |title=10 Great Timberland Boot Moments in Hip-Hop History |url=https://www.gq.com/story/timberland-boots-in-hip-hop-history |url-status=unfit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211016192749/https://www.gq.com/gallery/10-great-timberland-boot-moments-in-hip-hop-history |archive-date=October 16, 2021 |access-date=2024-11-19 |website=GQ |language=en-US}} The company name became the namesake of the producer Timbaland.{{cite web | title=Timothy "Timbaland" Mosley | website=Songwriters Hall of Fame | date=2016-03-07 | url=https://www.songhall.org/profile/timbaland | access-date=2025-02-28}}

In a 1993 The New York Times article about "outdoor" clothing brands' cross-over appeal to Black and Hispanic inner-city youth, Jeffrey Swartz downplayed the importance of the urban youth market in Timberland's success, saying that the company concentrated its advertising on its core customers, "honest working people", adding that the urban market was not "sustainable". Though Swartz denied any plan to distance his company's name from young Black and Hispanic consumers to maintain its image, his comments led to a backlash among some Black artists who publicly dropped the brand.{{sfn |Nelson |2005 |p=161}} In an editorial in The Amsterdam News, Swartz denied the charges of racism{{cite news |last1=Swartz |first1=Jeffery |title=The New York Times again: racism sells--don't buy it |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/390469708 |access-date=1 August 2022 |publisher=Amnews Corp. |date=15 Jan 1994|id={{ProQuest|390469708}} }} and met with Black cultural leaders to explain Timberland's position. The company began more publicly to embrace the urban youth market.{{cite web |last=Burns |first=Chris |title=The Stark Contrast of Timberland's Quiet Support and Public Perception |url=https://arch-usa.com/the-stark-contrast-of-timberlands-quiet-support-and-public-perception/ |website=Arch-usa.com |publisher=Arch-Usa |date=July 22, 2020}} In the end, the controversy had little effect on sales.{{cite book |last=Walker |first=Rob |title=Buying In: What We Buy and Who We Are |date=2009 |publisher=Random House |location=New York |isbn=978-0-81297409-6 |pages=84 |edition=Random House trade pbk. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VAF5dXNlDW4C&q=Timberland}}

The company's Path of Service program, first established in 1992, allows employees to take up to a week per year of paid leave to engage in local volunteer projects.{{cite news |last1=Pereira |first1=Joseph |title=Career Journal: Doing Good and Doing Well at Timberland |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB106306120285247900 |access-date=12 July 2022 |publisher=Wall Street Journal Dow Jones |date=September 9, 2003}}

In 2001, Timberland began partnering with international NGOs to plant trees to reverse desertification of farmland and promote the cultivation of vegetables. Its partnership with Japanese NGO Green Network has focused on planting trees in the Horqin Desert of western China. As of 2019, the ongoing partnership had planted 2 million trees.{{cite web |last1=Bell |first1=Jennie |title=Timberland Plants 2 Millionth Tree In China |url=https://footwearnews.com/2015/focus/athletic-outdoor/timberland-tree-planting-china-horqin-desert-145781/ |website=FN.com |publisher=Penske Media Corp. |access-date=2 August 2022 |date=September 2, 2015}}

Beginning in 2010, Timberland entered into an agroforestry partnership with Haiti's Smallholder Farmers Alliance to increase farm acreage and crop yields through reforestation and improved farm methods. By 2015 the program had assisted some 3,200 farmers.{{cite web |last1=Bell |first1=Jennie |title=Timberland Debuts 'Kombit' Documentary About Haiti |url=https://footwearnews.com/2015/focus/athletic-outdoor/timberland-shoes-haiti-kombit-documentary-160364/ |website=FN.com |publisher=Penske Media Corp. |date=October 6, 2015}} In 2016, Timberland extended the partnership in Haiti with a goal of creating a new supply chain for sustainable cotton. The first products with Haiti-sourced cotton came on the market in May 2021.{{cite web |last1=Lee |first1=Giacomo |title=Timberland launches first products made with Haitian cotton |url=https://www.just-style.com/news/timberland-launches-first-products-made-with-haitian-cotton/ |website=JustStyle.com |publisher=GlobalData plc |access-date=2 August 2022 |date=May 10, 2021}}

In 2022, Timberland introduced the Timberloop product take back program, which gives customers the opportunity to return used footwear or clothing to be recycled or refurbished for resale. On Earth Day 2022, Timberland launched the Timberloop Trekker, a boot designed to be fully disassembled and recycled at the end of its life.{{cite web |last1=Wightman-Stone |first1=Danielle |title=Timberland unveils first full circular shoe and expands take-back programme |url=https://fashionunited.uk/news/fashion/timberland-unveils-first-full-circular-shoe-and-expands-take-back-programme/2022042262739 |website=FashionUnited.uk |publisher=Fashion United Group |access-date=2 August 2022 |date=April 22, 2022}} In 2023, Timberland will continue to increase the use of regenerative natural materials.{{Cite web |last=Zwieglinska |first=Zofia |date=2022-12-20 |title=Inside VF Corp's plans for The North Face, Supreme and a circular economy |url=https://www.glossy.co/fashion/how-vf-corp-is-solidifying-its-circularity-efforts-for-2023/ |access-date=2022-12-21 |website=Glossy |language=en}}

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Category:VF Corporation

Category:Clothing brands of the United States

Category:Outdoor clothing brands

Category:Shoe companies of the United States

Category:Companies based in Rockingham County, New Hampshire

Category:2011 mergers and acquisitions

Category:Companies based in New Hampshire

Category:Stratham, New Hampshire

Category:Clothing companies established in 1952

Category:1952 establishments in Massachusetts

Category:Boots