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Building the House
"We're not taking this lying down...It's a war," warns Ken Barker, director of apparel at Adidas America (Salter, 2005, p. 70). Baker's statement is in reference to the rapid success in the apparel market by a young and up-and-coming Under Armour brand. The Under Armour brand dominates the performance apparel category so much (with around 75% market share) that the name has become synonymous with the product (Salter, 2005). The consistent growth of total revenue from $115.4 million in 2003 to $607.7 million in 2007 indicates the rapid success that Under Armour has experienced (Think Equity Partners, 2007).
The Under Armour Company was created by Kevin Plank, a former collegiate football player who felt he and his teammates' needs were not being met when it came to performance wear. Plank has taken a unique T-shirt company and turned it into a market share leader, and in the process he brought a fledgling and obscure market category into the forefront of the consumers' minds.
Founder Kevin Plank's passion for success could be seen from his football days where he came in as a walkon fullback for the University of Maryland, and through hard work and determination, he left as a full scholarship athlete and captain of special teams. This same will and determination, coupled with Plank's work ethic, has served as the backbone of Under Armour during its rise to becoming one of the most successful apparel companies of all time. The mission of Under Armour is to make technically advanced products that are engineered with superior fabric construction, to provide proven innovation available to the masses-aimed at making athletes perform better (UnderArmour.com, 2008).
The modest beginnings of this young market leader were formed out of Plank's grandmother's townhouse in Washington D.C. It was here where Plank, along with his good friend and former Maryland lacrosse player Kip Fulks, who eventually become the company's Vice President of Production, started the company with $20,000 of their own money, $40,000 from credit and $250,000 from a small business loan ("Under Armour performance apparel," 2004). By the end of the company's first year, 500 Under Armour HeatGear (sweat-resistant) shirts had been sold in various styles, amounting to about $17,000 in sales.
The Uncomfortable Cotton
During Plank's...