The History of Levi Strauss & Co.

The History of Levi Strauss & Co.

Idly standing on a busy street corner, one cannot help but observe a plethora of denim whiz by. Entrepreneur Levi Strauss is the man responsible for creating the booming market and generating a trend in clothing that has swept the nation for nearly 150 years. Through a steady commitment of quality and reliable service, Levi Strauss & Company became one of the most successful business ventures to come out of the 19th century. However, history for this company has not been all peaches and cream. Nearly every business must face crisis from time to time, but it is the unique ability of Levi Strauss & Co. to move on after each adversity, that has made them what they are today.

In 1829, Hirsch and Rebecca Strauss welcomed the birth of their sixth child Loeb (Goldish 6). Little did either of them know that this Buttenheim, Bavarian native would grow to be one of the most successful American entrepreneurs the world would ever see. His father, a dry goods peddler, died when Loeb was just 16 years of age. While his brothers traveled to America in search of work, he remained, and took over his father’s trade. Selling products such as cloth, canvas and blankets enabled him to provide for his mother and sisters who waited in anticipation of leaving the country as well. Two years later, the family set out for their voyage to America and in the process, Loeb was given a new name. Once they arrived in New York, the government officials, unable to understand Loeb’s language, provided him with the new name of Levi Strauss (Goldish 10). In a new land, Levi resorted to his familiar trade, that of peddling. He continued to do this for a number of years and finally in 1853, he moved to San Francisco to live with his sister and her husband. There, he started a dry-goods business with the family and named it Levi Strauss & Co. With the perseverance and reliability Levi established, the company flourished. Oftentimes, Strauss would travel to the gold mines to sell his goods. Upon high demand, Levi started to provide miners with durable overalls constructed from his canvas fabric. One day, he received a shipment of denim because they ran out of canvas.(Goldish) Upon seeing the positive response, Levi took advantage of this discrepancy and expanded the business to include numerous forms of the material. His blue jeans, denim jackets,...

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... should certainly be proud of that.

Bibliography:

Works Cited

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Johnson 8

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