Not every company is popular or stands out among a crowd of business analysts and industry moguls. However, sometimes the exceptional will surface with new development and promises to change the standard by which all is presently compared. A lot of people can mention a few if they think it over however in the case of Under Armour Apparel, they have been a silent success. Under Armour has place their mark on the Performance Apparel industry over the last 10 years and they have not only increased the standards for his or her direct competitors however are constantly raising the bar for its clients. Presently, SportsSCAN Info’s Schwartz has stated that Under Armour is close to the fourth largest retailer of sporting appeal in the usa just behind Nike, Adidas and Columbia.
Headquartered Baltimore, Maryland; under armour email address is actually a growing force and fierce rival inside the overall performance apparel industry. They have offices all over the world such as Denver, Greater toronto area, Hong Kong and London England.
Under Armour grows its overall performance apparel for men, females and youngsters with product lines that effect all amounts of exercise from everyday to extreme sport activity addressing all environments and conditions. This variety has allowed these to effect virtually any market. Currently they may have 5 lines.
Below Armour was founded in 1996 by Kevin Plank, a soccer participant for Maryland. The essential idea produced by Plank began being a simple t-t-shirt made utilizing hi-tech materials. The top technology material that he selected had characteristics that could wick perspiration and other dampness through the fabric to the surface area rather than taking in it. He considered that if athletes might be dried out and the moisture wicking ability might help regulate heat they would perform much better. Which had been his idea. He started the company utilizing $20,000 of their own money, $40,000 from credit and a $250,000 Small Business Financial loan.
On November 18, 1995 after Plank had come up with first prototype he set up shop in the grandmother’s basement in Washington, DC. His first sale would be to Georgia Tech University where interest continued to develop. Soon after, he was supplying performance apparel to more division one football teams as well as over two dozen National Football Teams. His method for marketing and retaining clients was simple while he thought that in the event you create product for the people that will appreciate it most, this will sell. Plank continued to promote his products with this concept and additional success came quickly.
Understanding that all of these benefits put on many different consumers he created five product lines targeting a range of activity levels from everyday towards the extreme. It turned out to be a smart decision for Plank to broaden his marketing efforts as he was so successful that he had to move to a larger facility in South Baltimore and put Under Armour on the map permanently.
In 1998 Under Armour took over as the official supplier of performance apparel towards the National Football League Europe as well as in 1999 Warner Bros. signed on being a client as well. Under Armour apparel supplied clothing for the movie “Any Sunday” and “The Replacements”. It was becoming apparent that Under Armour was no longer just associated with sports but all kinds of activity.
Between 2000 and 2005 Under Armour was supplying over 100 division 1A football programs and thirty NFL football teams. Annually these were featured within the superbowl in just one form or some other. Numerous articles and case studies were written with all the best being Time magazines feature that titled Under Armour because the among the fastest growing private companies. Plank have also been named businessperson of the year from the Baltimore Business Journal in 1993.
Presently, 2005 is proving to become another exceptionally innovative year beginning from 60 products for a new women’s line called UA Metal which was inspired by their ‘Duplicity Sportsbra”. And in case that is inadequate, they have introduced the UA Tech line, a far more technical savvy and advanced version of their original line Loosegear. To arrive at further to the marketplace they are targeting individual sports beginning with running. These are introducing UA Streaker a line developed with technical advancements for runners.
The performance apparel sector is now a multi billion dollar business. This sector is consistently entering new markets including everyday wear and even business suit apparel. It is incorporating the performance materials to make the everyday much more comfortable.
The question on many minds including that of direct competitors is just how big will they grow? Inside the same understated way Kevin Plank began he still remains realistic yet optimistic. With 546 Under Armour employees and top competitors like Nike and Adidas, he has approximately 75% in the market share; they may be definitely on the right track. The plan in the future would be to concentrate on the women’s market with a more broad approach.
It is expected that Under Armour will gross approximately $200 to $250 million this coming year, so many business analysts are speculating just what the next big move is going to be. As a privately held company, many think that Under Armour pyanxm be acquired by one of their larger competitors. On the other hand, a company only needs to gross $250 million to be qualified for go public and attract the appropriate investors and they are almost there.
Under Armour apparel has become a company that has flown underneath the radar to become the leading success story within the textile industry for performance apparel. Each milestone and artistic achievement is a testament to the real meaning of designing just what the consumer demands. It really is impossible to calculate what the future will hold for this extraordinary company but is safe to say that the things they have achieved is a spot on the red carpet of industry near the big players.