New Balance

Founded in 1906 as an orthopedic insole operation, New Balance did not sell its first actual shoes at retail until 1960. Who could believe that today? In 1972, New Balance only employed five full-time workers who only produced up to 30 pairs of their popular Trackster running shoes per day.

Throughout its history, the Boston based company has relied on word-of-mouth from their client base as opposed to athlete or celebrity endorsements. And that is why, when they released the 320 model in 1976 which sported their distinguishable “N” emblem, the iconic print ads featured an old “ma and pa” wearing their sneakers.