Nocona Athletic Goods Company

Nocona American Ball Gloves (commonly stylized as Nokona) is an American manufacturing company of sports equipment and clothing products, specialised in baseball gloves. The company, headquartered in Nocona, Texas, is one of a handful of companies that still manufacture baseball gloves in the U.S.

Not to be confused with Nokona.
Nokona American Ball Gloves
Nokona
FormerlyNokona Leather Goods Company
(1926-1956)
Nokona Athletic Goods Company
TypePrivate
IndustrySports equipment
Leather
Founded1926 (1926)
FounderStorey family
Headquarters
Nocona, Texas
,
U.S.
ProductsBaseball gloves, belts, clothing, footwear
Brands
Number of employees
75 [1] (2019)
SubsidiariesNokona Leather Goods
Websitenokona.com

Apart from baseball gloves, Nocona manufactures (through its division "Nokona Leather Goods") leather products such as belts, wallets, bags, backpacks, and footwear (boots, flip-flops). Other products by the company include t-shirts and caps.

In past years, Nocona also produced other types of athletic equipment, including American football pads and helmets.

History

The company was founded in 1926 by the Storey family in Nocona, Texas.[2] In 1934, The Nokona baseball glove was trademarked (spelled with a "k" when the United States Patent and Trademark Office would not allow the name of an incorporated town to be registered).

Keeping with tradition, the factory has always been family oriented and America-centered. The company first began selling wallets, purses, and belts, but during the Great Depression, sales were slumping. Then company president Robert E. (Bob) Storey decided to manufacture baseball gloves. Storey had played baseball for Rice University before becoming President of the Nocona Leather Goods Company in the 1930s.[3]

A Nokona baseball glove

The business turned around, and within six years, Nocona was only making sports equipment. The name was changed to Nocona Athletic Goods Company in 1956.

During the 1960s, many sports manufacturers moved from the United States to Asia, where materials and labor are cheaper. However, Storey would not move. He has reportedly said that he would rather quit and go fishing than closeup his factory and move. Today, the company still hasn't moved, and all of their gloves are American made. Bobby Storey, Robert's son managed the company from 1973 to 1991 and is still Chairman of the Board.

On July 18, 2006, the 80-year-old factory burned to the ground creating a loss of over $5,000,000. The fire was started by an overheated box fan. The 60,000-square-foot (5,600 m2) building burned for eight hours before the fire was extinguished. Factory owners promised to rebuild the plant. Employees sifted through the ashes and salvaged what they could, especially the custom leather cutting dies for the Nokona gloves. The operation moved into an old boot factory in Nocona that had shut down. Ten days after the fire, Nocona Athletic Goods was back in production, and none of their employees lost any wages.[4] The company moved to an old boot factory after the fire, before moving to a permanent location in 2008. In 2017, the old boot factory became the new permanent location.[5]

Endorsements
Addison Reed, pitcher for the Minnesota Twins, with his Nokona glove

Past MLB players who have endorsed Nokona include infielder Todd Walker, pitchers Jorge Sosa, Jeff Fulchino and MLB Hall of Fame legend Nolan Ryan. David Ortiz, Miguel Cabrera, Vladimir Guerrero, and Miguel Tejada formerly used Nokona wooden bats.

Current MLB players

Eleven current Major League Baseball players use Nokona gloves.[6]

References
  1. Zeeble, Bill. "A Small Town In Texas Is Home To One Of The Last Baseball Glove Factories In The U.S." NPR. Retrieved 13 April 2019.
  2. Our story on Nokona
  3. Mayeda, Andrew (August 14, 2017). "The Last American Baseball-Glove Maker Refuses to Die". Bloomberg. Retrieved 13 April 2019.
  4. Mendez, Carlos (July 30, 2006). "Nocona unites after fire at baseball glove factory". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 14 April 2019.
  5. Terry, Samaria (June 29, 2017). "Nokona Ballglove Company is Moving to the Old Boot Factory". Texoma's Homepage. Retrieved 14 April 2019.
  6. "Pro Athletes". nokona.com. Retrieved 14 April 2019.
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