Companies

In an effort to grow further into the brick-and-mortar retail market, Backcountry, the outdoor gear brand and digital marketplace, announced plans this week to open two new storefronts in Park City, Utah, and Boulder, Colorado. Both will open in May, company leaders say. The idea ...read more

When The Outbound Collective needed to fill a new customer success position last September, CEO and co-founder Brian Heifferon decided to skip advertising the job in the usual places in favor of a new approach: posting the position on just one, the In Solidarity Project’s job ...read more

Last month, Dick’s Sporting Goods (DSG) announced plans to launch two new outdoor-centric stores under a new brand name, Public Lands, and placed outdoor industry veteran Todd Spaletto at the helm.  This week, DSG made another big launch announcement: The sporting goods giant ...read more

Market projections indicate that now is a very good time to get into CBD, and Kelty seems to have taken notice. The Colorado-based camping brand, owned by Exxel Outdoors, launched a new line of CBD products yesterday—a collection of sprays, lotions, and salves billed as recovery ...read more

The pandemic has not been kind to independent sales reps. With in-person meetings cancelled for months on end, reps have had to navigate business in 2020 without (arguably) the most powerful tool in their professional arsenal: the ability to show products directly to potential ...read more

For the first time since their introduction in 2018, REI's groundbreaking Product Impact Standards—a series of requirements companies must meet if they wish to stay on the retailer's shelves—have received an update. Initially conceived to support ethical production practices and ...read more

At this point, it's something of a tradition in the outdoor industry: Every year on Black Friday, just as predictably as shoppers outlay vast sums of cash for new gear, we can all count on Patagonia to release an attention-grabbing sustainability campaign encouraging them to do ...read more

In an internal memo circulated to employees this week, Dick's Sporting Goods has announced that Todd Spaletto, the former group president of Wolverine Worldwide and global president of The North Face, has been hired as president of Public Lands, the new specialty outdoor chain ...read more

Additional reporting and writing by SNEWS contributing editor Kiran Herbert On October 31, 2019, The Colorado Sun broke a huge story that became one of the year’s biggest scandals in the outdoor industry. According to the Sun, the large online retailer Backcountry.com had engaged ...read more

VF Corporation, the parent company of Smartwool, Timberland, and The North Face, announced today that it has signed a definitive merger agreement to acquire the direct-to-consumer streetwear company Supreme. The deal is set to be completed before the end of the year. Supreme, ...read more

This is the third part in a series of three stories highlighting the creative ways outdoor businesses have pivoted during the pandemic-era. Their solutions may seem small, but the ideas have huge impacts. Be sure to read part 1 about prAna and part 2 about Selk’bag, too. United ...read more

In the last few years, full-time diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) managers have become more and more common in the outdoor industry. From big conglomerate players like VF Corporation to forward-thinking individual brands, businesses in our space are starting to recognize ...read more

This is the second part in a series of three stories highlighting the creative ways outdoor businesses have pivoted during the pandemic-era. Their solutions may seem small, but the ideas have huge impacts. Read part 1 about prAna here. Seeing and feeling a new product in person ...read more

This is the first part in a series of three stories highlighting the creative ways outdoor businesses have pivoted during the pandemic-era. Their solutions may seem small, but the ideas have huge impacts. Read part 2 about Selk'bag here. Read part 3 about United By Blue here. ...read more

It's been 10 years since The North Face launched its widely praised charitable giving initiative Explore Fund, which has provided millions of dollars to outdoor nonprofits over the years. With a stated mission of enabling exploration and fostering a love of wild places, Explore ...read more

In addition to decreased sales, supply-chain challenges, and coronavirus restrictions, outdoor brands and retailers are facing another obstacle brought on by the pandemic: potential eviction. In a lawsuit filed last week in Boulder County (Colorado), landlord Ten Eleven Pearl LLC ...read more

From the outside, you might not guess that Brown's Outdoor—a cozy little shop in Port Angeles, Washington, at the northern tip of the state—is one of the oldest family-owned gear retailers in the country. The vibe of the place is decidedly unpretentious, the digs modest and ...read more

Just a few short years ago, 34-year-old Isaiah Price had no idea he would end up making his living in the outdoor industry, much less owning his own business. As recently as 2015, Price was working as a full-time pilot with no experience selling outdoor gear. He was also, he ...read more

Before the pandemic hit, summer 2020 was supposed to mark the grand opening of REI's new eight-acre headquarters in Bellevue, Washington. The move was long awaited and eagerly hyped. Plans for the new location, which included a 380,000-square-foot office building and trendy ...read more

As shop owner Andrew Drummond will tell you, Ski the Whites happened purely by accident. “I never envisioned becoming a retailer,” Drummond said of founding his year-round ski, bike, and run shop with two locations in Jackson, New Hampshire. What he did want to do was ski. ...read more

If you've paid attention to the news in outdoor retail this week, you might be wondering what exactly is going on. REI made waves with a recent announcement that 400 of the company's retail employees would lose their jobs, effective July 15. Mountain Equipment Co-op made a ...read more

Retailers across the nation are reopening, people are out shopping again, and everyone is wondering just how safe they are, say, sitting down to try on a pair of shoes or getting fitted for a pack. Throughout the outdoor industry, most (if not all) major brands have poured ...read more

In matters of social activism at a corporate level, outdoor companies are often some of the first to throw their hats into the ring. Our industry has a long history of putting people before profits, and that often translates into downright enviable employee perks. Patagonia ...read more

Patagonia announced the departure of its CEO, Rose Marcario, who has served as the company's chief executive officer since 2008. "Circumstances around the pandemic created a natural inflection point for reimagining our business and Rose and the Board felt it made sense for those ...read more