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Endpoint: Spring Court



12:02
Videos (5)
created on: 18/01/2023
by: Nathalie (5022)
 
 

Brand properties

General info :
Spring Court is a brand name used by Th. Grimmeisen SA, a French company of sports equipment famous for having invented and marketed the so called tennis shoe.
The brand name was launched in 1936.

Théodore Grimmeisen, a cooper by profession, decided in 1870 to leave his native Alsace to remain French at the end of the Franco-Prussian war. He moved to Paris and built a factory there. The Th. Grimmeisen company was founded in 1917. His son is working to perfect the tightness of his barrels and for this purpose develops prototypes of rubber stoppers. He is particularly interested in this material.
Theodore's grandson, Georges Grimmeisen, invented the Colibri boot in 1930 (this name was chosen in response to the Eagle, symbol of the Prussian Empire), a molded rubber boot in one piece, therefore perfectly waterproof, made possible by a manufacturing process using compressed air to unmold its boots.

In 1936, wishing to practice his favorite sport, tennis , in good conditions, Georges invented the Spring Court brand. “Spring” for “coiled spring”, and “Court” for clay tennis courts. A revolutionary and ventilated shoe (four small holes) in cotton canvas and vulcanized rubber sole intended to replace the espadrilles used until then. The shoe, designed for playing on clay, was quickly adopted by many players.
Georges Grimmeisen died in 1956 at the age of 46. Théodore Louis, his brother, continued the development of the brand alone until 1980.
After many years of partnership under license, Théodore Grimmeisen, son of Georges, current president of the company, took over the direct management of his brand.

The 1960s were a period of booming business. For the first time, sports shoes are worn outside sports venues. John Lennon appears in Spring Court on the cover of the legendary album Abbey Road and during his marriage to Yoko Ono. Iconic shoe of the singer Serge Gainsbourg, Spring Court becomes a true French myth.

The company's decline came in the mid -1970s when Spring Court refused to go overseas and play the global game; it passes under license. The brand claimed its French identity and wanted to keep its authentic and traditional heritage.

The development of hard tennis courts and the worldwide success of Adidas' Stan Smith , the first technical tennis shoe effective on all surfaces, also brought to the city, sounded the death sentence for the fragile Spring Court for clay courts.
In 1982 Théodore Grimmeisen was forced to close the Spring Court factory in order to move to Thailand, where he can manufacture his shoes cheaply and thus save the company from bankruptcy.
The firm gradually fell into oblivion in the 1990s, supplanted by Chuck Taylor 's Converse and only sold to a few reputable boutiques to anticipate fashions.

In the 1990s, Rautureau Apple Shoes SASU, the company behind the Free Lance shoe brand repositioned the brand towards fashion. They kept the license until 2011/2012, when the brand came under the control of Groupe Royer SA, another shoe company. Spring Court was then licensed, before being taken over by Théodora Grimmeisen and thus the brand ultimately returned to the founding Grimmeisen family in early 2015.


If the original G2 model has not changed since its conception in 1936, it now has known hundreds of different models.
The former Spring Court factory (located at 5, passage Piver in Paris) is still the registered office of Th. Grimmeisen SA.
Relations :
Founded by : Georges Grimmeisen
This endpoint is new to the database, please check he (it) is not in with a similar endpoint name association (and use the ENA function if necessary).
Brand name used by [ca. 2011/2012 - 2015] : Groupe Royer SA
This endpoint is new to the database, please check he (it) is not in with a similar endpoint name association (and use the ENA function if necessary).
Brand name used by [1990s - ca. 2011/2012] : Rautureau Apple Shoes SASU
This endpoint is new to the database, please check he (it) is not in with a similar endpoint name association (and use the ENA function if necessary).
Brand name used by [1936 - 1990s, 2015 -] : Th. Grimmeisen SA
This endpoint is new to the database, please check he (it) is not in with a similar endpoint name association (and use the ENA function if necessary).
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Item number : 54487

Submitted by : Nathalie (5022)
on : 18/01/2023
Refined by : Nathalie (5022)
Last updated on: 18/01/2023