Burton Snowboards
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| Private | |
| Industry | Sporting goods |
| Founded | 1977 |
| Headquarters | Burlington, Vermont |
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Key people
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Jake Burton Carpenter, Founder and Chairman |
| Products | Snowboard equipment, apparel, accessories |
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Number of employees
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Over 600 U.S., 950 Global |
| Website | www |
Burton Snowboards is a manufacturer of snowboards. Founded by Jake Burton Carpenter in 1977, the company specializes in a product line aimed at snowboarders: snowboards, bindings, boots, outerwear, and accessories. The company's flagship store is in Burlington, Vermont. The company is privately owned by Burton and his wife, Donna Carpenter, who has been active in the business since 1983.
Burton built the world's first snowboard factory. It is the largest snowboard brand in the world. The first snowboard was a BB1 snowboard, which is a narrow board with single strap bindings and a rope and handle attached to the nose. Burton products are marketed worldwide in over 4,348 stores; 1,536 of those stores are located in the United States. In 2003 Burton allowed several online companies to sell Burton products over the internet. For years Burton had only been available through stores locally, but Burton felt that an online presence would allow buyers to have an alternative instead of turning to another brand.
As well as selling Burton products, Burton stores sell several sub-brands which focus on specific market niches. These sub-brands include Anon Optics (snowboard goggles and eyewear), RED (helmets and body armor), Analog (outerwear) and Gravis (footwear). In 2005, Four Star Distribution sold four of its snowboard brands to Burton: Forum Snowboarding, Jeenyus, Foursquare and Special Blend. Burton, a privately owned company, also owns a surfing distributor.
The Burton line is split into Four types of categories. They are: Freeride, for big mountain; freestyle, for versatile ride; park, for freestyle disciplines like half-pipe and park, and Carving; for carving down the side of mountains. Each of the categories has different levels of performance and price. In 2009, Burton's line included 61 snowboards in men, women, and youth. Board prices range from $300 to $1,500.
In February 2008, Burton acquired DNA Distribution, which includes the skateboard manufacturer Alien Workshop, and two other companies.
In 2008, the snowboard equipment industry had grown to $487 million. Burton had 40–70% of these sales, depending on the category. Average age of employees was 30 in 2008.
Burton Snowboards was founded by Jake Burton in 1977. Burton was inspired by the snurfer, invented by Sherman Poppen. He modified it. In 1977 Burton moved to Londonderry, Vermont to make the first Burton Snowboards. Burton personally first made snowboards by hand in his garage. He couldn't afford the proper equipment—so he applied polyurethane wearing a scuba mask. His co-founder Dimitrije Milovich, was an East coast surfer and founder of Winterstick.
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Wikipedia