Lion Apparel is the world’s largest manufacturer of protective apparel for firefighters. It is a significant player in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific. The company was founded in 1898 to sell apparel to farmers. In the 1930s it started selling uniforms for employees in petrol service stations. However, it was not until the 1960s that it began to diversify into firefighter uniforms. This proved prescient, as the 1970s oil shock badly affected sales of Lion’s service station uniforms, and the company moved more aggressively into the firefighter apparel business. Lion’s firefighter apparel sales have grown organically and through two acquisitions: Janesville and Body-Guard.
Lion was the first company to introduce a number of fabric innovations to the fire apparel market, including PBI (polybenzimidazole), Gore-Tex and a moisture management system using Teflon. Lion also introduced the concept of a wholly managed service for fire brigades. This contractual service operates under the brand of Lion TotalCare and supplies, cleans, repairs and replaces firefighters’ clothing and equipment. Lion’s firefighting apparel is made inherently fire-retardant through the use of a combination of materials. The key elements of its flame retardant apparel are PBI, Kevlar and Nomex.
The future looks good for Lion. The company has expanded successfully from an initial base in the USA to Europe and Asia Pacific. It is involved in various joint ventures around the world which bring in
large business contracts. And, even though the future market for firefighting apparel is unlikely to diminish, it is looking at other markets and launching new product lines—such as the MT94 multi-threat garment—which will take its business to other sectors.
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