Bally

Bally is a Swiss luxury fashion house, founded as "Bally & Co." in 1851 by Carl Franz Bally (1821–1899) and his brother Fritz. In February 2018, owner JAB Holding Company agreed to sell a majority controlling stake to Chinese materials conglomerate Shandong Ruyi.
== History ==
Bally was founded by Carl Franz Bally and his brother Fritz in the basement of their family home in Schönenwerd in the Canton of Solothurn, Switzerland. The original family business was the manufacture of elastic ribbon.
During a business trip to Paris
 in 1849, Carl Franz wanted to buy his wife some lace-up booties - the 
popular shoe of the day. Unable to recall her exact size, he decided to 
buy twelve pairs in a range of sizes, knowing that one would certainly 
fit. Upon visiting the Parisian factory where the booties were made, he 
noticed that each shoe featured buttons with elastic closures similar to
 the kind his family produced in Switzerland. Inspired by the 
possibility of creating more jobs and improving the lives of local 
residents, he decided to expand his business into shoe production. 
Together with his brother Fritz, Carl Franz employed designers to assist
 and they began producing shoes made entirely by hand in the cellar of 
his Schönenwerd home.
The Bally Company was established in Schönenwerd in 1851 and 
three years later the first factory located in the village centre was 
built. In 1854, Fritz Bally retired. By the 1870s, Bally was recognised 
as a footwear industry leader.
 The company’s name changed to C. F. Bally, and then to C. F. Bally 
& Sons when the brand’s founding pioneer handed the company reins to
 his sons in 1892. Carl Franz died in 1899 but undeniably passed on his 
pioneering spirit to his sons. Bally grew internationally and opened 
stores in Geneva, in Buenos Aires (1873), followed by Paris (1879) and London (1882). In the 1980s, Bally was also one of the very first European luxury goods brands to open in post-reform and opening China. By now the brand had also extended its offering to include clothing, handbags and leather
 goods for both men and women (1976), and in 1990 would become truly 
global, opening in Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, Malaysia, 
Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Lebanon and Turkey.
Bally is currently under the leadership of CEO Frédéric de Narp 
(November 2013), with Pablo Coppola as Design Director (February, 2014) 
and parent company JAB Holdings at the helm.
In 2008 TPG Capital sold Bally International AG to Vienna, 
Austria-based Labelux Group, a luxury goods holding firm which also owns
 Jimmy Choo Ltd. and was founded by the German billionaire Reimann family as part of the family’s investment arm Joh A. Benckiser.
Headquartered in Caslano, Ticino, Switzerland, the company announced that Frédéric de Narp, a former executive at Harry Winston, would become its chief executive officer in November 2013. In February 2018 owner JAB Holding Company agreed to sell a majority controlling stake to Chinese materials conglomerate Shandong Ruyi.
Category:Shoe stores
Category:Retailers
Category:Luxury brands
Category:Mall stores
Category:Companies
Category:Franchises
Category:Brands