History
The company was established in Helsinki, Finland, in 1916, as "Oy Urheilutarpeita". In 1920, the company was renamed "Karhu", adopting a bear as its logo. In addition to the discuses and javelins that were Karhu's main products, the company also produced running shoes and track spikes.[6]
The Karhu brand featured prominently at the 1920 Antwerp Olympic Games, where Finnish athletes took all three medals in javelin using Karhu javelins,[7] and the "Flying Finns" took five gold medals on the track wearing Karhu spikes. Four years later, at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris, Paavo Nurmi won five gold medals in track events "wearing a conspicuous pair of white Karhu running spikes".[7]
In the 1930s, Karhu's production expanded to include cross-country and ski jumping skis. During the Winter War and Continuation War, from 1939–1945, Karhu produced snow-camouflage suits, tents and skis for the Finnish military.[6]
In 1952, Karhu sold the "three stripes" trademark it had been using to a then little-known German brand Adidas for the equivalent of 1,600 euros and two bottles of whiskey.[7][8] In the 1960s Karhu began to use the M-logo in its place.[6] The 'M' (that comes from "Mestari" which means "champion" in Finnish) is still in use on Karhu shoes.[3]
During successive years, Karhu's innovations included the first use of nylon and air cushioning in running shoes.[3] The 1960s also saw the development of Karhu's line of pesäpallo (Finnish baseball) equipment. In 1966, the Karhu company changed its name to "Oy Urheilu Karhu Sport Ab". By 1968, Karhu launched the Trampas, a shoe that came in two versions, one for trainers and the other for casual wear. The shoe was a great success, being used by the Finnish Olympic team, being praised by Arthur Lydiard, who called them "the best training shoe in the world".[3] A new name change came in 1972 to "Karhu-Titan", reflecting its strong ice hockey equipment brands Titan (sticks), Koho (protective and goaltender equipment) and Jofa (helmets).[6]
Operations were launched by Doug Barbor in Canada in Cowansville, Quebec, in 1976 to market and sell cross-country and backcountry ski products under the Karhu label in North America.[9][10]
In 1982, Karhu launched the "Albatross" shoe model, one of the best-selling sneakers of that time. Two years later, the company launched the "Harlem Air" basketball shoe.[3] In 1986, a collaboration of research and design with the University of Jyväskylä led to the development of "Fulcrum technology".[3] A year later, Karhu acquired American hiking boot brand Merrell and sold it to Wolverine World Wide in 1997. In the same year, Karhu-Titan's name changed to Karhu Sporting Goods.[6] Karhu also sold its hockey division.
In 2006, the Karhu North American Nordic and Telemark brand and Line Ski Businesses were acquired from Burlington, Vermont-based Trak Sports USA by K2 Sports. Was said that the majority of Karhu and Line’s operations would relocate to the K2 Sports headquarters on Vashon Island, Wash.[9]
In 2008, Karhu Sporting Goods sold the Karhu brand to Karhu Holding B.V., a Dutch holding company led by Huub Valkenburg and Jay Duke, leading to a dispute between KSG and Karhu Holding.[11][12]
In 2009, Cowansville's Trak Sports manufacturer closed down after K2 Sports moved the Karhu and Line Ski Businesses production to Washington State.[13]
Karhu signed an agreement with Italian Paralympic Committee to dress athletes competing at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro.[14]
Karhu was the sponsor of the 1971 European Athletics Championships and more than 50 years later Karhu will be the official supplier of 2024 European Athletics Championships. In 2024-25 the brand sponsored "Atletica Virtus Lucca" an important athletic society in Italy.
