02 / Company & ownership
Behind the brand.
Albert Weinbrenner opened a Milwaukee cobbler shop in 1892. Thorogood became the company’s work-footwear brand and its American Heritage collection continues in Wisconsin factories.
Sources · previous brand research
- 1892
Weinbrenner Shoe Company begins in Milwaukee.
- 1918
The Thorogood name enters the work-boot market.
- Today
American Heritage boots are made by union workers in Wisconsin.



