Dr. Scholl's is a

footwear Footwear refers to garments worn on the feet, which typically serves the purpose of protection against adversities of the environment such as wear from ground textures and temperature. Footwear in the manner of shoes therefore primarily serves ...

and orthopedic foot care brand originating in the United States, marketed in some countries as simply Scholl. Since 2021, global rights to the brand have been owned by investment firm Yellow Wood Partners through subsidiary Scholl's Wellness Company, having purchased the North American rights from

Bayer Bayer AG (, commonly pronounced ; ) is a German multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company and one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world. Headquartered in Leverkusen, Bayer's areas of business include pharmaceutic ...

in North America in 2019, and the international rights from

Reckitt Reckitt Benckiser Group plc, trading as Reckitt, is a British multinational consumer goods company headquartered in Slough, England. It is a producer of health, hygiene and nutrition products. The company was formed in March 1999 by the mer ...

in 2021.

History

Podiatrist A podiatrist ( ) is a medical professional devoted to the treatment of disorders of the foot, ankle, and related structures of the leg. The term originated in North America but has now become the accepted term in the English-speaking world for ...

William Mathias Scholl started the brand in 1906. He is credited with designing over 1,000 foot care products. Scholl's company was named to the

Fortune 500 The ''Fortune'' 500 is an annual list compiled and published by ''Fortune (magazine), Fortune'' magazine that ranks 500 of the largest United States Joint-stock company#Closely held corporations and publicly traded corporations, corporations by ...

in 1971, the same year it went public.

Dr. Scholl's brand

Schering-Plough Schering-Plough Corporation was an American pharmaceutical company. It was originally the U.S. subsidiary of the German company Schering AG, which was founded in 1851 by Ernst Christian Friedrich Schering. As a result of nationalization, it becam ...

bought the Dr. Scholl's brand in 1979. In 2009, Merck & Co. purchased the Dr. Scholl's brand as part of its acquisition of Schering-Plough. Under Merck & Co., Schering-Plough imported the product line from China and had a North American distribution agreement for footwear with the Brown Shoe Company (now

Caleres Caleres Inc. is an American footwear company that owns and operates a variety of footwear brands. Its headquarters is located in Clayton, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis.Bayer Bayer AG (, commonly pronounced ; ) is a German multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company and one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world. Headquartered in Leverkusen, Bayer's areas of business include pharmaceutic ...

bought Dr. Scholl's in 2014 as part of its acquisition of Merck & Co's consumer health unit. This acquisition gave them the rights to the business in North and South America. In July 2019, Bayer sold Dr. Scholl's to Yellow Wood Partners for $585 million. Yellow Wood established a new company, Scholl's Wellness Company to run the brand.

Scholl brand

In 1984, Schering-Plough sold the global brand and non-North American operations to European Home Products (later SSL International), who manufactured and distributed footwear and foot care products under the Scholl brand. In 2010, Reckitt Benckiser Group purchased the Scholl brand from SSL International. In 2014, Aurelius, a German private equity firm, purchased the international rights to Scholl Footwear from Reckitt Benckiser, excluding the Americas. In June 2021,

sold Scholl to Yellow Wood Partners, bringing both the Scholl and Dr. Scholl's businesses together for the first time in over 40 years.

References

External links

* {{official website, https://www.drscholls.com/ Shoe companies of the United Kingdom Shoe companies of the United States American companies established in 1906 Clothing companies established in 1906 Health care companies established in 1906 Companies based in Chicago Personal care brands American brands Schering-Plough brands Merck & Co. brands Former Reckitt brands Former Bayer brands 1906 establishments in Illinois