Merrell is an American manufacturing company of footwear products. It was founded by Clark Matis, Randy Merrell, and John Schweitzer in 1981 as a maker of high-performance hiking boots. Since 1997, the company has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Wolverine World Wide. Products currently commercialized by Merrell include hiking boots, athletic shoes, sandals, jackets, knit caps, gloves, t-shirts, hoodies, shorts, and socks. Other accessories include backpacks, stuff sacks, and bags.
Merrell was established in 1981 when two executives for the Rossignol ski company, Clark Matis and John Schweizer, decided to launch a new maker of hiking boots. The pair decided to join forces with Randal Ivan Merrell (R.I. Merrell), a maker of highly praised custom boots which retailed for $500 a pair. Matis set to work designing a more affordable high-performance boot, which was developed in 1982. Plans were made for production of the new line in factories located in Italy, a leading exporter of footwear to the world market at the time.
In 1983, the new Merrell company delivered its first product to the market, making shipments to a pair of east coast retailers specializing in hiking gear.
In 1986, Randy Merrell sought to return to his previous life as a maker of custom boots and sold his share of the company bearing his name. That same year the company sold its 25,000th pair of boots.
