Huffy
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Huffy Corporation is an American importer and manufacturer of inexpensive mass-market bicycles and golf equipment. It was founded in 1887 when George P. Huffman purchased the Davis Sewing Machine Company and moved its factory to Dayton, Ohio. Seven years later, in 1894, Huffman adapted the factory to manufacture their well-known line of bicycles. The Huffy Corporation also owns the golfing brands Tommy Armour and Ram Golf. In 2004, it sold its Huffy Sports division to Russell Corporation. Huffy Sports manufactures various sporting goods, including the Hydra-Rib basketball systems used by the NBA.
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[edit] Huffy Bicycles
From the company's inception until 1949, Huffy manufactured and sold bicycles under the "Dayton" brand. Popular models included the Special Roadster, the Racer, the LaFrance, and the Streamliner.
In 1949, Huffy developed the Huffy Convertible, a children's bicycle with rear training wheels and attached foot steps. The Convertible revolutionised the children's bicycle market and was the first Huffy bicycle to be marketed under the Huffy brand name. In 1953, a Huffy logo was created and Huffy decided to switch all of its bicycles to the new Huffy brand name.
Popular models of the "Huffy" era include the Radio Bicycle, which sported a radio built in to the frame of the bicycle, the Dragster, the Scout, and the Sigma.
In 1970, the Huffy Corporation was founded as an umbrella company to house Huffy Bicycles as well as Huffy's emerging sporting goods product lines.
In the 1984 and 1988 Summer Olympics, United States athletes riding Huffy labeled bicycles combined to win 2 gold, 2 silver, and 1 bronze medals.
Huffy had a bicycle factory located in Celina, Ohio, at one time it was Celina's largest employer. Due to global competition Huffy was forced to source bicycles from offshore therefore moving the Celina, Ohio operations elsewhere. Crown Equipment Corporation now uses the former Huffy facility to produce forklifts.
[edit] Huffy Sports
Huffy Sports is now a division of Russell Corporation and has moved its bicycle manufacturing to China. Huffy bicycles were last manufactured in the U.S in 1999.
[edit] Financial problems
On 13 August 2004, Huffy announced that a review of its financial statements had revealed accounting irregularities. As a result, the price of Huffy stock (Stock symbol: HUF) declined by 40 percent on the next NYSE trading day. On 16 August 2004, the NYSE suspended trading of Huffy stock and announced that it was taking steps to remove Huffy as a listed stock. Finally, on 20 October 2004, Huffy announced that the Huffy Corporation and all of its United States and Canadian subsidiaries would file for bankruptcy protection under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code.
