Hipster-favorite听gear brand Poler听is no more. The maker of camping equipment and apparel for Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
Founded in 2011, the Portland, Oregon, company built its brand on a laid-back approach to听camping. Promoting what it called听camp vibes,听the company preached a fun, fashion-focused, highly Instagrammable version of the outdoors听lifestyle, where hanging out鈥攏ot summiting a peak or rafting Class IV rapids鈥攚as the main goal.
Its line of 鈥渟tuff鈥濃攁s Poler informally referred to its gear鈥攔eflected this mantra: roomy听mesh-walled tents, utilitarian puffy coats, and the Napsack, a wearable sleeping bag with arm holes and a hood. All of it came in vibrant prints and with affordable price tags, and it grew popular听among young, less hardcore outdoorspeople.
Benji Wagner, cofounder and creative director, would not comment on the details of what led to the bankruptcy filing. But, ,听the docket shows that revenue fell from $7.2 million in 2017 to $3.4 million for January through November 2018, and that owners attempted to sell the company at some point in 2018.
The bankruptcy paperwork was filed on November 30, but听, Poler鈥檚 Portland headquarters shuttered earlier, on September 30.
According to Brian Audette, a bankruptcy lawyer at the firm Perkins Coie, Poler鈥檚 downfall is part of a negative听trend in retail over the past year鈥攐ne he thinks will extend into 2019. 鈥淚 suspect that the outdoor retail industry is suffering the same fate as many other industries that are brick-and-mortar based,鈥 he says. The Chapter 7 filing means all of the company鈥檚 assets鈥攑atents, trademarks, and remaining inventory鈥攚ill be liquidated to pay off its $2.3 million in liabilities听(as opposed to Chapter 11 filing, which allows companies to restructure, pay off debts, and then return to business as usual).
The is now a plain page with a logo and brief message: 鈥淲e鈥檝e sold out of Poler stuff for 2018. See you down the road for more camp vibes and high fives in 2019.鈥
Audette says we probably听won鈥檛 be seeing Poler gear reemerge any time soon. 鈥淪omebody could buy the trademark and name,鈥 he says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 possible, but unlikely.鈥