Rollerblade is a brand of

inline skate Inline skates are a type of roller skate used for inline skating. Unlike quad skates, which have two front and two rear wheels, inline skates typically have two to five wheels arranged in a single line. Some, especially those for recreation, ha ...

s owned by Nordica, part of the

Tecnica Group Tecnica Group is a sport equipment manufacturer in the market of footwear and winter sports equipment founded in Giavera del Montello, Treviso, Italy. Tecnica Group brands include Blizzard, Lowa, Moon Boot, Nordica, Rollerblade, and Tecnica. ...

Giavera del Montello Giavera del Montello is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Treviso in the Italy, Italian region Veneto, located about northwest of Venice and about northwest of Treviso. Giavera del Montello borders the following municipalities: Arca ...

Treviso, Italy Treviso ( , ; vec, Trevixo) is a city and ''comune'' in the Veneto region of northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Treviso and the municipality has 84,669 inhabitants (as of September 2017). Some 3,000 live within the Veneti ...

. The company was started by Scott Olson (b. 1960), Brennan Olson (b. 1964) and Christopher Middlebrook in

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

as Ole's Innovative Sports; when they sold the company, it became Rollerblade, Inc. and has changed hands over time between Nordica,

Benetton Group Benetton Group S.r.l. () is a global fashion brand based in Ponzano Veneto, Italy, founded in 1965. Benetton Group has a network of about 5,000 stores worldwide. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Benetton family's holding company Edizio ...

and Tecnica. and Inline-skates had been used for many years by ice speed skaters before they became mainstream. For the first few years after Rollerblade was developed, Rollerblade, Inc. were the only manufacturer of in-line skates that had worldwide distribution. This allowed the company to capitalize and grab a huge percentage of the world market share and almost total dominance of the North American market with aggressive advertising campaigns and sponsored in-line-only sporting events. Rollerblade, Inc. manufactures different types of skates, such as those for

aggressive skating Skating involves any sports or recreational activity which consists of traveling on surfaces or on ice using skates, and may refer to: Ice Skating *Ice skating, moving on ice by using ice skates **Figure skating, a sport in which individuals, ...

, fitness, or recreational use with removable "walkable" liners, as well as adjustable skates for younger users.

References

External links

Rollerblade official web site
{{Inline skating Brands that became generic Roller skates Tecnica Group American inventions Products introduced in 1982