JanSport is the Original Outdoor Gear Brand that embodies a culture of fun and discovery. We equip people globally with quality, enduring and reliable products that enable the freedom to experience life’s adventures.
Company History
The year was 1967. The summer of love. The summer JanSport was born in the back of a Seattle transmission shop.
Seattle native and backpacker Murray Pletz and his cousin Skip Yowell graduated from college with no interest in real jobs. Murray had won an award from the Alcoa Company for creating the first adjustable aluminum frame for backpacks. Murray’s girlfriend Jan Lewis knew how to sew. Murray told her, if she whipped up a prototype and Skip got it into a store, he would marry her and name the company after her.
She did. It did. And he made good on his promise. And that was the beginning of a journey that’s been unfolding for more than 43 years.