Sullivan also said, again to the Summit Daily, that he was hoping to retain the Lapinsohn’s current staff, of up to 16 people, across the three locations. “Steve and Susan Lapinsohn are highly respected members of the Breckenridge community and have been providing guests and locals with top-line outdoor clothing and equipment and exceptional service for more than 25 years,” said Greg Sullivan, chief operating officer for Vail Resorts Retail, in a prepared statement. “We are looking forward to continuing their legacy of providing both the service and retail experience that our Breckenridge guests value and appreciate,” he added. Photo Courtesy of Īccording to the Summit Daily, this proposed purchase from Steve and Susan Lapinsohn, who have been Long-time Breckenridge ski Enterprise owners, is anticipated to be done, and signed off within the next few weeks. Vail Resorts already owns Patagonia, and Marmot stores on the same street. Now, in an extension to their holdings already in Main street, Breckenridge, they are planning to buy the North Face, Main Street Outlet, and Columbia stores. North Face stores in many other resorts, including Whistler, and resorts in Colorado, California and Utah, are already under their banner. They are not just buying resorts though, also adding retail stores to their portfolio. VF has yet to announce how it plans to structure the newly consolidated company.The Vail Resorts name is synonymous with company expansion, at least up here in British Columbia, after buying Whistler. Grouping very different brands together under one roof could also lead to innovation, as designers have the opportunity to work together. “But having many brands together makes sense from an operational point of view.” ![]() “In the short term it will be disruptive, as not every employee will make the move,” says Matt Powell, an outdoor-industry analyst for NPD Group. Outside contacted several other VF brands moving to Denver, but none would comment about the news or how it was received. For the first time in more than a decade, Smartwool’s product developers and designers, currently based in Boulder, will work under the same roof with the rest of the company. “We’ll also be able to collaborate with our sister brands more than we ever have,” Cuffe says. According to Cuffe, “Our brand and our people are very closely connected to our small mountain community.”Īt the same time, says Cuffe, moving to a Denver campus will bring many benefits. The maker of merino-wool apparel has been headquartered in Steamboat Springs since 1994. Select employees at TNF, Altra, Eagle Creek, JanSport, and Smartwool were notified of the planned move late last week, with others receiving the news Monday morning, according to Hodges. “Our company is undergoing a massive transformation, and while we are excited for the future, the process is going to be long, hard, and emotional,” says Molly Cuffe, Smartwool’s director of global communications. VF is still seeking out office locations in its new home city. The relocation is set to begin in April 2019 and continue through 2020. ![]() According to the Denver Post, the Colorado Economic Development Commission offered VF $27 million in tax credits as incentive for the Fortune 250 company to bring its estimated 800 jobs to the Denver metro area. The North Face, meanwhile, has been a Bay Area institution for decades.Ĭonsolidating key brands in a Denver office is part of VF’s decision to focus on the outdoor segment of its business. “Locating these brands, along with select VF leaders, at the base of the Rocky Mountains will enable us to accelerate innovation, unlock collaboration across brands and functions, attract and retain talent, and connect with consumers,” Steve Rendle, VF’s chairman, president, and CEO, said in a press release Monday. ![]() Altra, of Logan, Utah, names its shoes after local peaks, while Smartwool’s hometown of Steamboat Springs, Colorado, is at the core of its marketing. However, for many of the brands moving to Denver, hometown roots and cultural connections mean a lot. Vans, for example, will remain at its Costa Mesa, California, headquarters, to “remain firmly planted in its Southern California roots and within the culture on which it was founded,” says Craig Hodges, VF senior director of corporate communications. Its outdoor and sports brands (Icebreaker, Reef, Timberland, Vans, and Eastpak, among others) will remain under the VF umbrella, but not all will move to Denver. The move to the Mile High City comes as VF, one of the largest conglomerates in the outdoor industry, prepares to split in two, spinning off the denim brands Wrangler, Lee, and Rock and Republic into an independent, yet to be named company. On Monday, VF Corporation announced that it will move its headquarters to Denver, taking subsidiaries the North Face, Altra, Eagle Creek, JanSport, and Smartwool with it.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |