Established in 1906 by William J. Riley, originally named New Balance Arch Support Company. The English immigrant settled in Boston, Massachusetts, shortly after observing chickens in his backyard and how well they support their own weight on their three-pronged feet. Riley became obsessed with the ideas of support and balance and was inspired to create the same comfort for humans. Creating his state of the art three support point cushioning system he named it, "New Balance". By 1927, Riley's invention was gaining tons of recognition which led him to hire a salesman named Arthur Hall. Several years later in 1934, Hall became a partner in the company which eventually led to the two partners selling the company in 1956, to Hall's daughter and husband.

By the '60's the support cushion they created gained traction in the athletic community, and demand was at an all-time high. This led the company to create its first performance sneaker tailored for athletes, the Trackster. Unbeknownst to many this was in fact the world's first running shoe ever created. Featuring a ripple sole design, this provided added grip and traction between the sole and cushioning system. Hall's daughter, Eleanor, and her husband were producing nearly 30 pairs of the Trackster daily for their mail-ordered customers.

Fast forward to the '70s, with the growing buzz around running in Boston, New Balance was acquired by Jim Davis at the wake of the Bostom Marathon. Davis can be credited with turning New Balance into the powerhouse that it is today. During the late '80's to early '90s Americans across the country became familiar with New Balance and their high-performance running/athletic footwear. In 1976, New Balance introduced their first sneaker to be adorned with their infamous N logo, the model number was 360. The 360's predecessor was released in 1988, dubbed the 574 model.

At the turn of the 21st century, New Balance continued pumping out various different models, and it was until 2001 that New Balance released their 99X series, some of the most sought after models to date.