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contents // Company history
Since 1957, Kent Sporting Goods Company has been developing trusted, proven, quality products for the marine industry. Now we are the world’s largest life jacket manufacturer in the marketplace.
Today, we have leveraged the Kent Sporting Goods Company heritage and tradition by introducing the Kent brand of water safety products designed specifically for the commercial marketplace worldwide.
Kent products have evolved over time, but one thing is consistent – We will continue to develop products that are designed to the highest quality standards in the industry and bring innovative, functional products to our customers.
CONTENTS FLOTATION kent [ PG 3-8 ] APPAREL onyx [ PG 8-9 ] INFLATABLES onyx [ PG 10-11 ] RAINWEAR onyx [ PG 12-14 ] ADDITIONAL INFO [ PG 15 ]
THe history of Kent 1957 – Kent Sporting Goods Company, Inc. founded. 1959 – Acquires Ben-Sun Products Company, a marine flotation manufacturer producing USCG approved PFDs; moves their business to Ohio. 1961 – Outgrows current space and relocates its marine business to new offices in New London, Ohio. 1962 – Moves into a newly purchased building in New London, Ohio. The company still resides here today. 1971 – Kent Sporting Goods Company, Inc. is sold to Brown Group. 1981 – Brown Group sells Kent Sporting Goods Company, Inc. to a private investment group. Under the leadership of Robert Archer, Kent Sporting Goods Company, Inc. becomes a major factor in the Type I and Type II kapok commercial vest market. This begins the initial entry in to the commercial market. 1982 – Continues to lead the way by entering into a relationship with Casad Manufacturing (a water sports company based in Celina, Ohio) to begin manufacturing Type III ski vests for them. 1982 – Kent Sporting Goods Company’s reputation for making high quality, competitively priced products quickly spreads. Their OEM business continues to grow. 1988 – Acquires Black Sheep, a brand specializing in marine safety equipment, hunting apparel, and gun cases. This acquisition brings new product introductions to the marketplace and increased market share. 1993 – Additional customers in the OEM business include EP Skis, Connelly, O’Brien and HO Sports. 2002 – Becomes active in growing their business through the acquisition of leading specialty water sports companies (namely HO Sports, O’Brien, Liquid Force, and Connelly). 2008 – Expands the reach of their existing multi-brand portfolio and enters into the sporting goods market through a strategic alliance with Absolute Outdoor, Inc. – a water sports and outdoor recreation company featuring the Onyx and Full Throttle brands. 2012 – Kent Sporting Goods Company, Inc. leverages its heritage and tradition by expanding further into the commercial market with the launch of KENT branded safety products into the commercial marketplace. This will expand on Kent Sporting Goods Company’s proven track record of success in the marine and sporting goods markets, and at the same time, help increase market share and enter new, underserved markets. 2012 – Kent Safety Products are launched at major trade shows to showcase the new line of water safety products to the commercial industry.