Bally Shoe
Encyclopedia
The Bally Shoe company was founded as "Bally & Co" high fashion in 1851 by Carl Franz Bally
(1821–1899) and his brother Fritz in the basement of their family home in Schönenwerd
in the Canton of Solothurn
, Switzerland
.
factory was set up in the village but Fritz Bally left the fledgling business soon after start-up. Carl Franz Bally carried on under the corporate name "C.F. Bally". By the 1860s Bally employed more than 500 people. Within another decade it had built an international reputation for quality and design in both men's and women's shoes and expanded operations outside of Switzerland to Buenos Aires
, Argentina
, Montevideo
, Uruguay
, and Paris, France.
, Bally has boutiques in Atlanta, Beverly Hills, Boston
, Costa Mesa, Honolulu, Houston, Las Vegas
, Ledyard
, McLean
, New York City
, Panama City
and Wilkesboro, North Carolina
.
. The added capital allowed massive expansion for their much-in-demand shoes and by 1916 they employed more than 7,000 people.
The company survived the Great Depression
of the 1930s and the difficulties of World War II
to expand globally with great success in the post-War era including a successful entry into the North American market. In 1976 they added clothing, handbags and other leather accessories.
investment fund Texas Pacific Group
. On 22 April 2008 it was announced that Bally International AG is to be sold to Labelux Group Inc.. Today the company is headquartered in Caslano
, Ticino, Switzerland.
Carl Franz Bally
Carl Franz Bally was a Swiss businessman who founded the Bally Shoe company in 1851.Carl Franz Bally was the 11th of 14 children of Peter Bally and Anna Maria Herzog...
(1821–1899) and his brother Fritz in the basement of their family home in Schönenwerd
Schönenwerd
Schönenwerd is a municipality in the district of Olten in the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland.-Geography:Schönenwerd has an area, , of . Of this area, or 10.5% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 43.2% is forested...
in the Canton of Solothurn
Canton of Solothurn
Solothurn is a canton of Switzerland. It is located in the northwest of Switzerland. The capital is Solothurn.-History:The territory of the canton comprises land acquired by the capital...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
.
Business
In 1854, a shoeShoe
A shoe is an item of footwear intended to protect and comfort the human foot while doing various activities. Shoes are also used as an item of decoration. The design of shoes has varied enormously through time and from culture to culture, with appearance originally being tied to function...
factory was set up in the village but Fritz Bally left the fledgling business soon after start-up. Carl Franz Bally carried on under the corporate name "C.F. Bally". By the 1860s Bally employed more than 500 people. Within another decade it had built an international reputation for quality and design in both men's and women's shoes and expanded operations outside of Switzerland to Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
, Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
, Montevideo
Montevideo
Montevideo is the largest city, the capital, and the chief port of Uruguay. The settlement was established in 1726 by Bruno Mauricio de Zabala, as a strategic move amidst a Spanish-Portuguese dispute over the platine region, and as a counter to the Portuguese colony at Colonia del Sacramento...
, Uruguay
Uruguay
Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...
, and Paris, France.
Boutiques
In North AmericaNorth America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
, Bally has boutiques in Atlanta, Beverly Hills, Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, Costa Mesa, Honolulu, Houston, Las Vegas
Las Vegas metropolitan area
The Las Vegas Valley is the heart of the Las Vegas-Paradise, NV MSA also known as the Las Vegas–Paradise–Henderson MSA which includes all of Clark County, Nevada, and is a metropolitan area in the southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada. The Valley is defined by the Las Vegas Valley landform, a ...
, Ledyard
Ledyard, Connecticut
As of the census of 2000, there were 14,687 people, 5,286 households, and 4,101 families residing in the town. The population density was 385.1 people per square mile . There were 5,486 housing units at an average density of 143.8 per square mile...
, McLean
McLean, Virginia
McLean is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Fairfax County in Northern Virginia. The community had a total population of 48,115 as of the 2010 census....
, New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, Panama City
Panama City
Panama is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Panama. It has a population of 880,691, with a total metro population of 1,272,672, and it is located at the Pacific entrance of the Panama Canal, in the province of the same name. The city is the political and administrative center of the...
and Wilkesboro, North Carolina
Wilkesboro, North Carolina
Wilkesboro is a town in and the county seat of Wilkes County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 3,159 at the 2000 census, and it is the second largest municipality in the county. The 2010 Census listed the town's population at 3,044. The town is located along the south bank of the...
.
Public
Carl Franz Bally died in 1899 and his sons carried on with the business. Although the Bally family maintained voting control, in 1907 "C.F. Bally & Co. Ltd." went public, their shares listed on the Swiss Stock ExchangeSWX Swiss Exchange
SIX Swiss Exchange , based in Zurich, is Switzerland's principal stock exchange . SIX Swiss Exchange also trades other securities such as Swiss government bonds and derivatives such as stock options.The main stock market index for the SIX Swiss Exchange is the SMI, the Swiss Market Index...
. The added capital allowed massive expansion for their much-in-demand shoes and by 1916 they employed more than 7,000 people.
The company survived the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
of the 1930s and the difficulties of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
to expand globally with great success in the post-War era including a successful entry into the North American market. In 1976 they added clothing, handbags and other leather accessories.
Family sells business
The following year the Bally family sold their interest in the company. Numerous difficulties followed and the company struggled under poor management against a tide of low-cost products from developing countries flooding the global market. In 1999 Bally was sold to the AmericanUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
investment fund Texas Pacific Group
Texas Pacific Group
TPG Capital is one of the largest private equity investment firms globally, focused on leveraged buyout, growth capital and leveraged recapitalization investments in distressed companies and turnaround situations. TPG also manages investment funds specializing in growth capital, venture capital,...
. On 22 April 2008 it was announced that Bally International AG is to be sold to Labelux Group Inc.. Today the company is headquartered in Caslano
Caslano
Caslano is a municipality in the district of Lugano in the Swiss canton of Ticino, near to the Italian border.-History:The center of the village is built within a Roman era fortification...
, Ticino, Switzerland.
External links
- Official website The bally.com domain name was originally registered to the Bally Gaming Company systems division, and one of the first registered .com's. Bally Gaming sold the bally.com domain to Bally Shoes in the 1990s