Roller Derby Skate Corp is an American manufacturer and distributor of sporting goods, specializing in quad skates

Quad skates

The four-wheeled turning roller skate, or quad skate, with four wheels set in two side-by-side pairs, was first designed in 1863 in New York City by James Leonard Plimpton in an attempt to improve upon previous designs. The skate contained a pivoting action using a rubber cushion, and this allowed...

, inline skates

Inline skates

In-line skates are a type of roller skate used for inline skating. Unlike quad skates, which have two front and two rear wheels, inline skates have two, three, four, or five wheels arranged in a single line...

, ice hockey skates

Ice skate

Ice skates are boots with blades attached to the bottom, used to propel the bearer across a sheet of ice. They are worn as footwear in many sports, including ice hockey, bandy and figure skating. The first ice skates were made from leg bones of horse, ox or deer, and were attached to feet with...

, skateboards, skating accessories, and recently, through its acquisition of 360 Inc., sporting goods for water sports

Surface water sports

The following is a list of surface water sports; these are sports which are performed atop a body of water.-Discing:Discing consists of standing on a circular wooden disc and being towed behind the boat. The disc supports the rider by means of spreading the weight out evenly across the water...

 including body boards

Bodyboarding

Bodyboarding is a surface water sport . The average board consists of a small, rectangular piece of hydrodynamic foam, sometimes containing a ridged spine called a 'stringer'...

, surfboard

Surfboard

A surfboard is an elongated platform used in the sport of surfing. Surfboards are relatively light, but are strong enough to support an individual standing on them while riding a breaking wave...

s and swim products. Roller Derby sells products under the brands Roller Derby, California Advanced Sports, and 360 Inc. It is the second-largest supplier of inline skates to the U.S. market. Ironically their quad skates are not suitable for the Roller Derby sport, and this is stated in the instructions.

History

Roller Derby was founded in 1936 by Oscar Seltzer, the brother of Roller Derby

Roller derby

Roller derby is a contact sport played by two teams of five members roller skating in the same direction around a track. Game play consists of a series of short matchups in which both teams designate a scoring player who scores points by lapping members of the opposing team...

 pioneer Leo Seltzer

Leo Seltzer

Leo A. Seltzer is generally credited as the creator of the sport of roller derby, and was the founder and head of the original Roller Derby league from 1935 until his son Jerry Seltzer took over the business in 1958....

, as a manufacturer of boots for roller and ice skates.

Initially, the company had a single plant in Litchfield, Illinois

Litchfield, Illinois

Litchfield is a city in Montgomery County, Illinois, United States. The population was 6,815 at the 2000 census, and 6,588 in 2009. It is located in south central Illinois, south of Springfield and on the northern edge of the Greater St. Louis Metro-East area.-Attractions:The Ariston Cafe is one of...

. The company opened an additional assembly plant in California in 1953, followed by offices, warehouses, and a distribution center in Atglen, Pennsylvania

Atglen, Pennsylvania

Atglen is a borough in Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 1,406 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Atglen is located at ....

 in 1971. The company eventually moved manufacturing operations oversees, first to Taiwan

Taiwan

Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...

, then to mainland China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

. Its U.S. manufacturing facilities were converted to offices, warehouses and distribution centers. The company is still based in Litchfield, Illinois.

See also

• Roller Derby Skateboard
  Roller Derby Skateboard
  First introduced in 1959, the Roller Derby skateboard was the first mass-produced skateboard. It was basically a one-tip wooden plank with modified roller skates attached to it...
  
  
• Competitors
  • K2 Skates
  • Riedell Skates
    Riedell Skates
    Riedell Shoe Inc. was founded in Red Wing, MN in 1947 by a former Red Wing Shoes employee.The founder, Paul Riedell, wanted to design widely available and affordable ice skates.This task secured him a spot in both the ice and roller skating hall of fame....
    
    
  • Rollerblade
    Rollerblade
    Rollerblade is a brand of inline skates owned by Nordica, part of the Tecnica Group of Trevignano, Treviso, Italy.The company was started by Scott Olsen and Brennan Olson in Minneapolis as Ole's Innovative Sports; when they sold the company, it became Rollerblade, Inc...
    
    
  • Salomon Group
    Salomon Group
    The Salomon Group is a sports equipment manufacturing company that originated in Annecy, France. The company was started in 1947 by François Salomon and his wife and son. In 1997 it became part of the Adidas group. On 2 May 2005, Adidas-Salomon announced that it had agreed to sell the Salomon...
    
      (no longer in skate business)
  • Ultra Wheels (no longer in business)

External links

• Roller Derby homepage.
• Roller Derby, Historical Society of Montgomery County Illinois