Who owns Bates?
Bates is owned by Wolverine Worldwide (the United States, NYSE: WWW).[1]
Evidence: Wolverine World Wide, Inc. Annual Report on Form 10-K filed 2026-02-27, SEC EDGAR, 27 February 2026. Verified from filings; last checked .
Key facts
- Current owner
- Wolverine World Wide, Inc. verified
- Owner HQ
- 🇺🇸 United States, Rockford, Michigan
- Origin
- 🇺🇸 United States
- Founded
- 1885
- Category
- Apparel, footwear & accessories › Fashion apparel › Workwear
- Parent ticker
- NYSE: WWW
- Trademark registrant
- WOLVERINE OUTDOORS, INC. (USPTO)
- Last verified
- · 2 sources
About Bates
Bates makes uniform footwear for military, police and other services, and forms part of the Wolverine Worldwide Work group. Its business runs substantially on institutional contracts rather than retail, which makes it unusual in a portfolio otherwise sold through shops, and it competes on specification and durability standards rather than on branding.
What Wolverine Worldwide's annual report says about Bates
Sentences about Bates from Wolverine Worldwide's latest annual filing[1], copied word for word.
Bates : Bates Footwear is a leading supplier of tactical and uniform footwear for first responders.
Bates products are distributed through sporting goods chains, department stores, uniform specialty retailers, catalog retailers and online retailers.
The Work Group's revenue decrease was driven primarily by a decrease of $17.4 million from Wolverine , $5.2 million from Cat , $4.3 million from HYTEST , $3.5 million from Harley-Davidson , and $2.7 million from Bates .
How often Wolverine Worldwide names Bates in its annual report
A plain count of the times the name appears in the text of each annual report, not counting the start of a sentence. A brand that an owner writes about more is usually one it treats as central.
Trademark record for Bates
The USPTO record for the Bates mark lists WOLVERINE OUTDOORS, INC. as the owner of record (serial number 73320458). That name matches the owner named above.[2]
Ownership timeline of Bates
- Current owner Wolverine Worldwide [1] verified
Where Bates sits in Wolverine Worldwide
Controlling ownership as of . Brands grouped under the entity that owns them; large groups are collapsed.
Open the full Wolverine Worldwide ownership tree →
See the full Wolverine Worldwide brand portfolio (7) →
Other brands owned by Wolverine Worldwide
Wolverine Worldwide controls 7 brands on Brandtree, 7 of them in apparel, footwear & accessories.
Also in apparel, footwear & accessories
- Chaco (1989)
- Hush Puppies (1958)
- Merrell (1981)
- Saucony (1898)
- Sweaty Betty (1998)
- Wolverine (1883)
Other brands in workwear, and who owns them
The 26 brands in workwear on Brandtree belong to 11 owners. The largest is Lakeland, with 5; Wolverine Worldwide has 2.
| Brand | Owner | Owner based in |
|---|---|---|
| EripioWear | Hultafors Group | 🇸🇪 Sweden |
| ChemMax | Lakeland | 🇺🇸 United States |
| BAMKO | Superior Group | 🇺🇸 United States |
| Duluth Trading | Duluth Holdings | 🇺🇸 United States |
| Bofilon | Groupe Eram | 🇫🇷 France |
| Hard Yakka | Wesfarmers | 🇦🇺 Australia |
| Carhartt | Carhartt | 🇺🇸 United States |
| Pega Forte | Grendene | 🇧🇷 Brazil |
About the owner: Wolverine Worldwide
Wolverine Worldwide is a publicly listed company headquartered in Rockford, Michigan, United States, founded in 1883. Brandtree records 7 brands under its control, and it is listed as NYSE: WWW.
Wolverine World Wide is a Michigan footwear company founded in 1883 that now owns a portfolio of outdoor, running and work brands. It reports through an Active group built around Merrell and Saucony and a Work group built around its own Wolverine boots, and it also makes footwear under licence for Caterpillar and Harley-Davidson. It sold the global Sperry business in January 2024 as part of a decision to concentrate on the brands it considered to have the most growth ahead of them.
Wolverine Worldwide: full profile, brands and acquisition history →
🇺🇸 Bates and other American brands
Brandtree records a controlling owner for 2,570 brands that began in the United States. 501 of them (19%) are now controlled by a company headquartered in another country; Bates is not one of them.
- 7 For All Mankind — Delta Galil 🇮🇱
- AKHG — Duluth Holdings 🇺🇸
- Adore Me — Victoria's Secret 🇺🇸
- Aerie — American Eagle Outfitters 🇺🇸
- All in Motion — Target 🇺🇸
- Allen Edmonds — Caleres 🇺🇸
Frequently asked questions
Who is the parent company of Bates?
The parent company of Bates is Wolverine Worldwide, a publicly listed company headquartered in the United States.
Is Bates American?
Yes. Bates originated in the United States in 1885 and its owner, Wolverine Worldwide, is also headquartered in the United States.
Is Bates still owned by Wolverine Worldwide?
Yes. As of 29 October 2026, Bates is still owned by Wolverine Worldwide. The ownership record was last checked against primary sources on that date.
Sources (2) & corrections
Last verified . Every ownership fact above is backed by one of these primary documents. Numbers in brackets in the text refer to this list.
- [1] Wolverine World Wide, Inc. Annual Report on Form 10-K filed 2026-02-27 — SEC EDGAR, SEC Form 10-K, published 27 February 2026; retrieved 16 September 2026.
- [2] USPTO: BATES, serial 73320458 — United States Patent and Trademark Office, Trademark registry; retrieved 4 October 2026.
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