Cotopaxi CEO Davis Smith announced today that the company鈥檚 San Francisco Hayes Valley store has reopened after closing down three weeks ago due to theft, vandalism, and fear for employee safety.

On October 18, Smith posted a blunt and alarming message on LinkedIn: the brand鈥檚 San Francisco location would shutter indefinitely due to repeated break-ins and looting. Employees received pay during the shutdown, which lasted for 24 days.

This morning, Smith on the platform, writing, 鈥淐otopaxi is pleased to announce that after productive and positive meetings with Hayes Valley Merchants Association, the Board of Supervisors, and SFPD [the San Francisco Police Department], measures have been put in place to allow us to reopen our storefront once again. We have also hired full-time private security.鈥�

Smith told 国产吃瓜黑料 that his original post鈥攚hich used some stark language about San Francisco, including that it had 鈥渄escended into a city of chaos鈥濃�攚asn’t meant to 鈥渢ear down鈥� the area. Instead, he hoped for a response from city leaders regarding crime in the Hayes Valley retail district. Less than a month later, he got it.

He also got widespread response from the community. Smith said his first post drew a lot more attention than he expected鈥攏ot all of it positive. Some accused Cotopaxi, and Smith, of unfairly villainizing an entire metropolitan area and focusing too heavily on the need for more policing in certain neighborhoods.

鈥淪ure we have our fair share of crime, but every city does. It’s unfortunate what happened to your store, it could happen anywhere, and again, the blanket generalization seems unfair and not accurate, from a local鈥檚 perspective,鈥� one LinkedIn user wrote.

Smith himself replied to this and many other commenters, engaging in an open dialogue about their concerns. He also had conversations with city officials, which he said have led to more focus on neighborhood safety. In the three weeks since Smith鈥檚 original post, the San Francisco Police Department has increased foot patrols in the neighborhood around the Cotopaxi store.

鈥淔ortunately, the City of San Francisco, the police department, and the Merchant Association of Haynes Valley all reached out,鈥� Smith told 国产吃瓜黑料. 鈥淚 told [our San Francisco Board of Supervisors representative] we didn鈥檛 have any response to our previous reports about these issues and he was super responsive. It feels like the city is listening now and really interested in fixing these issues for Haynes Valley.鈥�

What a complete fix looks like, however, is unclear at this point. Smith acknowledged that it necessarily has to involve a lot more than increased policing.

To help support the community through its own initiatives, Cotopaxi has partnered with , a nonprofit that supports housing, early childhood development, and employment opportunities for those in need in the Bay Area.

鈥淭ipping Point has a great history of working in the city for 17 years,鈥� Smith said. 鈥淭hey鈥檝e helped deploy $350 million into the Bay Area focusing on things we care about.鈥�

Smith said he never intended to give up on San Francisco; he just wanted his employees there to feel safe: 鈥淪ome of our earliest customers and earliest believers in our brand were in the Bay Area鈥鈥檝e always loved the city. It鈥檚 a place I care about. We鈥檙e hopeful that together as a community, as a city, we鈥檒l resolve this. We didn鈥檛 want to complain, we wanted to be part of the solution.鈥�

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Citing lawlessness and 鈥渃haos,鈥� CEO Davis Smith on his personal LinkedIn page yesterday that he has closed the company鈥檚 sole San Francisco retail location.

鈥淎s of today, we are closing the store due to rampant organized theft and lack of safety for our team,鈥� Smith wrote on October 18. 鈥淥ur store is hit by organized theft rings several times per week.鈥�

In a call with 国产吃瓜黑料, Smith explained that the closure is due to concerns about employee safety, and that employees are being paid while the store is shuttered. Smith said he hopes the closure is temporary, although he can鈥檛 be sure.

鈥淭hanks to that [LinkedIn] post, San Francisco city leaders reached out to me and we鈥檙e going to meet tomorrow,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 wasn鈥檛 getting a lot of response before. It鈥檚 not that people don鈥檛 care, it鈥檚 just overwhelming. This is something that got attention, though, and I鈥檓 hopeful for some conversations and some solutions.鈥�

Smith said that, starting the first week after the store opened a year ago in the city鈥檚 Hayes Valley neighborhood,聽its windows were repeatedly broken out and merchandise stolen. Plywood and, eventually, wrought iron grates were installed. Then, a few weeks ago, groups of people began rushing into the store and stealing merchandise, so the store began locking the door and opening only for customers. The thieves adapted their tactics by sending one person to the door posing as a customer and then rushing in when the door was unlocked.

鈥淢ultiple times in the last week this happened,鈥� Smith told 国产吃瓜黑料. 鈥淚 got a message from the manager two days ago that this happened again, and that our employees were afraid for their safety. We made the decision right then that we couldn鈥檛 put our employees in that situation, and decided to close and continue to pay them until we could figure out what to do.鈥�

A (SFDHSH) report released in August stated that 20,000 people are currently experiencing homelessness in the city. That figure represents 2.5 percent of the city鈥檚 total population. Despite city-housing programs, for every person housed, four will become unhoused because SFHSH has 鈥渘ot been able to keep pace with inflow of people who become newly homeless or return to homelessness throughout the year,鈥� . Substance abuse, unemployment, mental illness, and dislocation from California wildfires are some of the reasons the report listed as contributing to the problem.

As for theft in the city, larceny is up by 15 percent compared to this time last year, the San Francisco Police Department, though burglaries have dropped by 21 percent in the same period.

鈥淚t鈥檚 sad, but San Francisco appears to have descended into a city of chaos,鈥� Smith wrote in his post. 鈥淢any streets and parks are overrun with drugs, criminals, and homelessness, and local leadership and law enforcement enable it through inaction. One of the most beautiful and amazing cities in the world is now a place where many no longer feel safe visiting or living.鈥�

Smith said it鈥檚 important to not equate homelessness with criminality, but that both issues have made it difficult聽for Cotopaxi to continue operating its retail operations聽in San Francisco.

As Smith wrote in his post, 鈥淚t鈥檚 impossible for a retail store to operate in these circumstances, especially when cities refuse to take any action (despite us paying taxes well above any other state we operate in). The city recently announced a reduction of police presence in this neighborhood, despite mass-scale crime.鈥�

In his call with 国产吃瓜黑料, Smith said he understands the city鈥檚 problems require much more than increased police presence.

鈥淲e鈥檙e not after Band-Aid solutions. We know it鈥檚 not just more police on the street; we鈥檙e looking for long-term problem solving and asking how we can be part of that,鈥� Smith said. 鈥淎s a brand that鈥檚 committed to helping lift communities, this is something we鈥檙e thinking a lot about鈥攈ow can we help? These issues are complex and it鈥檚 going to require governments, business, nonprofits, and citizens to work together to create real solutions.鈥�

Smith grew up throughout Latin America and founded Cotopaxi in 2014 with the intention of helping impoverished communities there. Since then, the B Corp company has helped 1.3 million people living in poverty by distributing grants to humanitarian organizations, funding emergency housing assistance, awarding small-business loans, and other efforts. Smith said while the problems in the U.S. are different than what he鈥檚 seen in other countries, he鈥檚 hoping to apply some of what he鈥檚 learned to finding solutions here.

鈥淲hen I posted, I didn鈥檛 expect the kind of attention that this would receive,鈥� he said. 鈥淎 lot of times we love celebrating wins as business leaders, and I think it鈥檚 important to share things that aren鈥檛 going well, too. That was the hope of my post: a rally cry to ask what we can do to help positive change. How can we work with other businesses and city leadership to do something?鈥�

Cotopaxi currently has 10 retail locations across the U.S., with plans to open 10 more in 2023. Smith said he hopes San Francisco remains a home base for one.

鈥淲e hope we can open the store again,鈥� Smith said. 鈥淲e love San Francisco. But we can鈥檛 reopen until we know that our employees will be safe. We still have four years left on our lease, but nothing is worth even thinking about risking the safety and welfare of our team members. I spoke out about our difficulties to start a dialogue that hopefully leads to positive change. It鈥檚 our mission to , and we鈥檙e willing to work hard with others to see good come out of this.鈥�

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Cotopaxi and Grassroots Outdoor Alliance both announced the appointment of new presidents this week. At Cotopaxi, Damian Huang, the former CEO of Eddie Bauer (EB), will ascend to the post. At Grassroots, it’s Gabe Maier, formerly the organization’s VP, who will take on the role.

Both Huang and Maier have significant experience in the outdoor space. Before Huang’s time as chief executive of EB, he spent several years at Patagonia as VP of design and merchandising and nearly a decade at The North Face in product-focused roles.

According to a release from Cotopaxi, Huang’s accomplishments at EB included honing the company’s focus on accessibility in the outdoors, establishing a sustainability roadmap, and helping the brand win more than 50 industry awards. Perhaps most significantly, he was instrumental in “guiding [EB’s] transition from a catalog retailer to a digitally-driven business with deep omni-channel integration.”

The appointment鈥攁 newly created position at Cotopaxi鈥攚as made possible by $45 million in funding from Bain Capital Double Impact, which the company secured in September 2021. Part of that investment is being used to expand the executive team as the brand continues to grow at an impressive clip, having nearly doubled revenue every year since 2014. The company’s founder, Davis Smith, will remain CEO.

鈥淭o say I鈥檓 excited to join Cotopaxi would be an understatement,” said Huang. 鈥淓very once in a while a company comes along that is not only new and different, but has an energy, a soul, and a purpose that makes an organization remarkable. I鈥檓 deeply inspired by what Davis and the team have built, impressed by the leaders at Bain Capital Double Impact, and honored to help push the company forward.”

Said Smith, 鈥淲e are elated to name Damien to our team. He鈥檚 an incredibly talented individual with an authentic passion for our mission to fight extreme poverty. His position as President is integral to the next stage of growth for Cotopaxi.”

Huang will work out of Seattle, the company said, making frequent trips to the brand’s headquarters in Salt Lake City, Utah.

At Grassroots, Maier brings more than half a decade of direct experience to the role, having worked with the group for two years as business analyst and four more as vice president. Since 2021, he’s served as the director of business development for BrandKeep, a SAAS company focused on helping independent retailers organize digital assets.

“It鈥檚 heartening to see that retailers are having a bit of a moment right now, as both brands and investors are recognizing the enduring importance of specialty retail as commerce continues to evolve,” said Maier. “I鈥檓 very excited to be coming back at this moment, and to have the opportunity to be a steward for independent specialty and all of the amazing individuals that form this community.”

Maier will replace former president Rich Hill, who ran the group from 2016 to 2022 and in March.

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Cotopaxi is set to begin the search for its first company president, the brand announced today.聽

The role is being created during a period of considerable expansion for the Utah-based company, which has nearly doubled its revenue every year since the brand’s founding in 2014, according to CEO and co-founder Davis Smith. (Cotopaxi does not share exact financials.)

Smith said that, given the company’s rate of growth, it鈥檚 time to find additional leaders to help steer the ship.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a lot easier to accomplish our goals if we have someone who is an expert in this [type of scaling] and has done it before,鈥� Smith told 国产吃瓜黑料 Business Journal.

Smith said he formalized the search for a company president at the beginning of 2020, but the pandemic derailed those plans, forcing him to get more involved with the day-to-day operations of the business. Now that things are returning to some sense of normalcy, he said the time is right to restart the search in earnest.

Cotopaxi claims to be well on its way to becoming a billion-dollar company in the next 10 years, aided by a large cash infusion from Bain 颁补辫颈迟补濒鈥檚 Double Impact investing arm earlier this year. Smith said he expects Cotopaxi to grow from 180 employees at the end of 2021 to 300 by the end of 2022, and potentially to well over 1,000 鈥渋n the next handful of years.鈥�

Bain 颁补辫颈迟补濒鈥檚 Role in the Search

Bain Capital Double Impact managing director Cecilia Chao said her team will assist with the search, while also 鈥渂ringing value-added insights and resources,” to the process, such as “introducing the management team to potential [candidates] who have the expertise and demonstrated results to augment Cotopaxi鈥檚 growth.鈥�

She added that Bain also sees an opportunity to help Cotopaxi expand its global omni-channel retail strategy, which supports the company鈥檚 growth plans at the brick-and-mortar level. In early 2020, Cotopaxi had just two physical retail stores, and now has six locations in the U.S., with a seventh opening soon in Denver. Smith says that number will grow in the years ahead.

A New Role To Bolster Cotopaxi鈥檚 Corporate Structure

Smith was quick to point out that the search isn鈥檛 meant to replace anyone currently on the team, but rather to support the evolving structure of the company as a whole. 鈥淲e have an exceptional team of strategic leaders and thinkers, and we鈥檙e looking for a collaborative leader to work with them,鈥� he said.

Smith said the company isn’t necessarily looking for an executive from the outdoor space, just for someone who has led a quick-scaling brand and knows how to make the most of rapid growth.聽

Cotopaxi鈥檚 C-suite will be involved in the interview process, and Smith is still thinking about how the formal reporting structure beneath the president will work once the individual is hired. Smith said it’s Cotopaxi’s goal to have someone in place by mid-2022.聽

Smith added that he doesn鈥檛 plan to use a recruiter, and that the new hire is part of numerous upcoming additions to the leadership team. To fill those roles, he said, Cotopaxi is actively running its hiring process with diversity and broad perspectives in mind.

As for Smith himself, he said he plans to continue his work as CEO 鈥渇or the foreseeable future鈥� while transitioning his focus to the shepherding of Cotopaxi鈥檚 social missions through the next phase of 鈥渉yper-growth,鈥� as he put it. 鈥淚 foresee myself being involved with Cotopaxi for my entire life,鈥� he said.

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Cotopaxi, arguably one of the outdoor industry鈥檚 fastest-growing brands, is the latest to battle fraudulent ads and sites linked to Facebook.

According to Cindy Gr枚nberg Moldin, Cotopaxi鈥檚 vice president of brand, the company started receiving messages around October 25 as customers contacted the brand questioning the authenticity of ads promoting deals of up to 80 percent off and claiming the brand was closing. The ads were sending customers to fake sites bearing the Cotopaxi name.聽

鈥淚n the past, we鈥檝e faced 鈥榬ogue sellers,鈥� which take copies of our images and pretend to sell Cotopaxi gear on Amazon, eBay, or other sites, but never a duplicate website,鈥� Gr枚nberg Moldin said.

Once the Salt Lake City-based brand became aware of these fake ads, pages, and sites, the brand reported them to Facebook through its account representative following normal processes the social media platform has in place. Cotopaxi also worked with data security service Red Points, which it hired before the incidents, to find the origin of the 鈥渞ogue actors鈥� and begin shutting them down.

Gr枚nberg Moldin said the initial analysis came back with a total of 14 rogue duplicate sites, with similar creative and layout, all created around October 25. Most were using GoDaddy for site hosting and apparently originated from Singapore, although they couldn鈥檛 identify any individuals responsible for the pages. The analysis also found eight fraudulent Facebook pages, but no responsible creators.

鈥淎pparent frequent bombardment to our consumers, making sure they weren鈥檛 negatively affected, was our biggest concern,鈥� Gr枚nberg Moldin said.聽

How Cotopaxi Responded to the Facebook Scams

Cotopaxi quickly posted to its Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn pages about the fraudulent activity and worked to ensure that consumers could also find information easily if searching through Google.

Gr枚nberg Moldin said she wasn鈥檛 surprised Cotopaxi was targeted, as these types of attacks and scams have escalated during the pandemic, but did voice her frustration at the slow response from Facebook鈥檚 business team. After Cotopaxi alerted Facebook of the scams, nothing happened over the course of a week. 鈥淥ur CEO [Davis Smith] was getting very frustrated,鈥� she added.

This lack of action prompted Smith to post on LinkedIn on November 8, detailing the ongoing issues, providing a photo example of one of the fraudulent ads, and advocating for better transparency and policy from Facebook about scammers.聽

The post had more than 3,000 views and 330 comments as of November 12. While Smith didn’t respond to request for comment, Gr枚nberg Moldin said the post got Facebook鈥檚 attention right away, and Facebook quickly moved Cotopaxi into a 鈥渉igh-frequency monitoring program鈥� for businesses actively dealing with scammer and security issues.

While that program began the process of removing the fake ads and pages from Facebook, it also disabled the personal Facebook accounts of 11 Cotopaxi employees including Smith, CRO James Hampton, and COO/co-founder Stephan Jacob. (All have since had access restored.) Gr枚nberg Moldin believes their access was temporarily disabled as a result of each having personal accounts linked to the control of Cotopaxi鈥檚 main Facebook page.

As of this week, the increased visibility and security work seems to be paying off. Gr枚nberg Moldin said only three fraudulent websites and one Facebook page remain, but she鈥檚 unsure about the total cost and how much Cotopaxi lost in terms of inventory and brand awareness. She noted Redpoint will offer a more detailed analysis in the weeks ahead to help quantify the amount.聽

The Future of Cotopaxi鈥檚 Digital Marketing Strategy

While the brand isn鈥檛 stopping its Facebook spends鈥攁s others, like Patagonia, have done鈥�it is reconsidering the value of this type of outreach. Gr枚nberg Moldin is concerned that if Cotopaxi were to pull out of Facebook, it would leave the door open for scammers to continue creating and promoting fake ads and accounts.

鈥淲e鈥檙e assessing our options,鈥� Gr枚nberg Moldin said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a two-way road and we need to use Facebook as one of the biggest platforms right now.鈥�

In the meantime, Cotopaxi has created a page in its Help Center explaining the problem, listing the fake sites, and offering customers advice on what to do if they have been scammed.

鈥淲hether we like it or not, Facebook is one of those avenues where our consumers are based and we鈥檙e very dependent on it right now,鈥� Gr枚nberg Moldin said. 鈥淏ut that doesn鈥檛 mean we might not change our mind in the future.鈥�

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Cotopaxi is fresh off a new round of funding that infused the outdoor brand with $45 million in additional private equity. Now the company鈥檚 co-founder and CEO is looking to leverage that investment into much bigger things.

Bigger, as in a billion dollars.

That鈥檚 the annual revenue goal that Davis Smith, who co-founded the outdoor apparel and gear maker in 2014, has targeted for the brand, he told 国产吃瓜黑料 Business Journal in a wide-ranging interview this week.

Reaching the rarified air of $1 billion in sales would elevate Cotopaxi鈥檚 profile and place it alongside some of the industry鈥檚 most recognizable names鈥攏ames that Smith has long used to benchmark the brand.

鈥淔rom the time I started the business, my goal was to build the next iconic outdoor brand,鈥� Smith said. 鈥淲e look at the Patagonias and North Faces and Columbias of the outdoor industry and we say we can absolutely be that.鈥�

Smith shared his lofty goal for Cotopaxi when OBJ checked in with him following the company鈥檚 latest capital raise, which was led by Bain Capital Double Impact, the impact investing strategy of Bain Capital.

Just how ambitious is that sales figure? Smith declined to disclose Cotopaxi鈥檚 current annual revenue, but the company鈥檚 public 2020 Impact Report from earlier this year said the brand posted revenue of聽 鈥渁round $30 million.鈥� If Cotopaxi were to double revenue each year鈥攖he brand鈥檚 current growth rate, Smith notes鈥攊t would hit $1 billion in less than six years. He says he expects to reach the billion-dollar mark in the next decade.

Smith acknowledged that doubling sales will become harder as the brand scales up, but that鈥檚 exactly what this latest investment will allow Cotopaxi to do. From a business perspective, Smith said the funding means the company can hire more talent (his top priority), add more retail partners, bump up its own brick-and-mortar presence, increase marketing, boost e-commerce, and grow distribution in places where he believes the brand sees white space, namely international markets.

Becoming a billion-dollar brand is reminiscent of the revenue goal that Hoka One One鈥檚 parent company, Deckers Outdoors Corp., outlined for that brand. Hoka, however, is much closer to $1 billion. It鈥檚 also owned by a public company while Cotopaxi is PE-backed, though Smith didn鈥檛 rule out an IPO at some point.

Underpinning the aggressive revenue goal鈥攁nd underscored by Smith as the most important component鈥攊s a pair of objectives that go beyond the balance sheet.聽

As it grows, Cotopaxi, a longtime Benefit Corporation, plans to continue investing heavily in sustainability and committing to fight poverty around the globe. Those ideals are ingrained in Cotopaxi鈥檚 DNA, and more money padding the top line means more money to support various environmental and social causes.

Smith said Cotopaxi pledges 1 percent of revenue to charitable giving but winds up donating closer to 3 percent. In its most recent impact report, the company reported $953,982 in total giving last year, which it says was 2.8 percent of 2020 revenue. About half of that dollar amount was the value of donated masks to fight COVID. It estimates the number of people helped in 2020 (through charitable giving and mask donations) at more than 822,000.

Smith, who grew up in Latin and South America and saw the effects of extreme poverty from an early age, made it his mission from the moment he created Cotopaxi to improve lives around the globe. (His upbringing abroad also inspired the brand鈥檚 name, llama logo, and colorful style.)聽

He believes a brand that sells a billion dollars鈥� worth of apparel and gear each year has a better chance of spreading that mission to more places and impacting more people. At Cotopaxi, #gearforgood isn鈥檛 just a social hashtag. It鈥檚 the brand鈥檚 purpose.

To understand Cotopaxi鈥檚 plans following this latest capital raise, we spoke with Smith about the brand鈥檚 growth goals. Below is an edited version of our conversation.

What will this round of funding do for the brand in terms of making more product, getting into more doors, and reaching more consumers?

This investment allows us to expand our current product offerings. It also allows us to expand our reach with physical retail stores. We have five open stores with two leases signed that we鈥檙e in the process of opening, and we have several other leases that we鈥檙e working on. We look to expand our physical retail store presence aggressively over the next four to five years. International is another area of focus. We recently hired a director of international from another outdoor brand. We think there鈥檚 an opportunity to build a global brand. Over the long term, we think 50 percent or more of our revenue should be international, and right now, it鈥檚 low-single digits, so that鈥檚 an exciting opportunity for us.

How does this latest investment compare with previous funding rounds?

It鈥檚 bigger than all our other rounds combined. It was a great deal bigger than anything we鈥檝e done before. I knew I wanted to build something that could scale rapidly. I believed it was a big opportunity. When you have the capital to accelerate the growth of a business rather than taking on debt, you can go build an amazing team very quickly from the onset. What I love about this round of funding is it shows that this model does work. We鈥檙e a profitable brand and business. We鈥檝e committed to giving away a minimum of 1 percent of revenue, but in 2020 we gave away almost 3 percent. We鈥檙e not looking to give the minimum; we鈥檙e looking to give the most we can possibly give. This investment shows that doing good and doing well are not mutually exclusive. You can do both. This round validates that.

Does this investment affect the ownership structure of the brand?

It didn鈥檛 change the ownership structure significantly. Bain Capital is a minority investor. We still have a cap [capitalization] table that鈥檚 a mix of our management team and our executive team and several outside investors that believe in the brand and the business and have helped fuel our growth.

There are some detractors of private equity in the outdoor space; how do you think PE firms like Bain Capital Double Impact arm benefits not only Cotopaxi but the broader industry?

It鈥檚 a great point. Cotopaxi has always been private equity-backed. We鈥檝e always had outside investors. Instead of raising money with debt, we said, 鈥淲e want to share this pie with other people who believe in what we鈥檙e doing and can help us accelerate the business, whether through money and/or expertise.鈥� Our earliest investor has deep expertise in building consumer brands. It was less about the money and more about having her expertise around the table. That鈥檚 the real difference鈥攏ot just the capital, but having people surround you that understand how to scale and build brands and make better decisions. Having those great people around us has been a big part of our success.

How will the funding help support Cotopaxi鈥檚 sustainable products strategy?

Ninety-four percent of our product last year was made of remnant-recycled or responsibly made material. This investment will allow us to continue to invest in great design and designers and a product team. That鈥檚 a big part of our brand, our mission, and our purpose. But it also helps our efforts to fight poverty. When we started the business, I felt strongly that our mission should not be exclusively environmental. I didn鈥檛 feel like that was a defensible competitive advantage. Everyone should be doing it; it鈥檚 just table stakes. We wanted to go a step further, which was focusing on humanitarian work. This is why we chose this investor [Bain Capital Double Impact]. They have a social impact team that鈥檚 been working with our social impact team on exploring how we can further accelerate our impact and how we can do a better job of tying impact to our brand.

So how will the company use this money to address poverty and support community development?

It comes down to two things. No. 1, improving what we鈥檙e already doing. And No. 2, simply using the funds that we鈥檝e been given in this round to expand our business. That鈥檚 how we build a sustainable and scalable impact鈥攂y building a business that continues to do good, and that can scale quickly. If we can build a billion-dollar business, we can have a much bigger impact. And if we can get to a billion dollars faster because of an investment from Bain, then we can have a larger impact. A business without purpose is very shallow, and they invested in a brand like ours that鈥檚 at the forefront of having an impact with our business.

Are you saying the goal is to become a billion-dollar brand?

Yes. From the time I started the business, my goal was to build the next iconic outdoor brand. We look at the Patagonias and the North Faces and the Columbias of the outdoor industry and we say we can absolutely be that. We believe that the DNA and the values of this brand resonate deeply, especially with millennials and Gen Z. They care deeply about the things that we鈥檙e passionate about, so that鈥檚 where we hope to be.

What would the growth rate have to look like for the brand to achieve that goal? Are we talking about doubling sales every year?

We鈥檝e grown, on average, close to 100 percent a year since our inception. That percentage over time will continue to shrink a little bit, but we鈥檙e seeing very strong growth in the business鈥攅ven this year. I haven鈥檛 done the math on how many years it鈥檒l take us to get there, but if we just continue the trajectory that we鈥檙e on with growth, even at a diminishing rate, it feels like in the next decade we could be there.

Some of the iconic brands you mentioned like the North Face and Columbia are publicly traded. Could there be an IPO in Cotopaxi鈥檚 future?

Nothing is off the table. That鈥檚 something that we鈥檝e considered and looked at, but I think going public can be very challenging for a business. There are some great benefits, and if you do it right it can make sense, so that鈥檚 something we鈥檒l explore. All I know is I want to be part of this business for a long time. I can鈥檛 imagine doing anything else more important in my life. This is my life鈥檚 dream and my life鈥檚 passion.

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One day last summer, Anne Wiper, Smartwool鈥檚 vice president of product innovation, found herself in her kitchen, jamming old socks into her Cuisinart. On average, a garbage truck鈥檚 worth of textiles is thrown away every second, and Wiper knew that socks are one of the most discarded items. She wanted to see what would happen if she blended some up. What would the consistency be? Could they be repurposed into something new?

Dozens of outdoor brands have been exploring creative ways to keep their gear out of landfills, either by upcycling scrap material into new items or by collecting, repairing, and reselling used products.

鈥淭here鈥檚 business value and environmental value,鈥� said Amy Horton, senior director for sustainable business innovation at Outdoor Industry Association. 鈥淭he outdoor industry is in a unique position for reuse. We make gear that鈥檚 meant to last a long time and stand up to quite a bit of wear and tear.鈥�

The concept of upcycled outdoor gear goes back at least to 2009, when JanSport launched a collection of backpacks made from the scraps of old packs returned under warranty. Since its founding in 2014, Cotopaxi has made scrap materials part of its aesthetic. In 2019, Patagonia launched its ReCrafted program, making new products from remnants of its old clothes. This spring, NEMO introduced the Chipper, a foldable seat cushion made of foam scraps reclaimed from its sleeping pad production, and Fj盲llr盲ven announced a collection called Samlaren (Swedish for 鈥済atherer鈥�), which uses surplus fabric to make funky, multi-toned jackets, backpacks, and totes. The trend is gaining traction in tech, too. In March, a British sustainable design company called Gomi launched a portable speaker made from the repurposed battery cells of Lime e-bikes.

鈥淚t鈥檚 great to see all of these brands piloting ways to reclaim materials and remanufacture them into something else,鈥� Horton said. 鈥淏ut to really scale it throughout the industry you have to think about whole new business models that allow you to grow without being dependent on making new stuff from new materials.鈥�

And that鈥檚 precisely what many outdoor companies are trying to do. No brand has turned upcycling into a cash cow as of yet, and the collections are typically small, niche, and short-lived. But the potential is there: the Ellen MacArthur Foundation estimates that $100 billion worth of textile fibers are thrown away each year. Upcycled products can also appeal to a broader customer base鈥擣j盲llr盲ven鈥檚 Samlaren collection, for example, is sold at retailers like Nordstrom and Urban Outfitters.

This pursuit of circularity鈥攚here a product is kept in use for as long as possible and then recycled鈥攊s accelerating in the outdoor industry. In 2019, the resale market grew 25 times faster than traditional retail, according to GlobalData Retail. Younger consumers are especially drawn to secondhand stuff. Traditional retailers like REI have vast inventories of used gear, and third-party vendors like Trove and The Renewal Workshop help brands refurbish and resell their used apparel and gear.

鈥淓ach one of our products has a footprint,鈥� said Corey Simpson, communications manager for Patagonia, which launched its Worn Wear program in 2017. 鈥淲e want you to buy it for the right reasons, care for it, repair it when needed, and give it back to us at the end of its life for recycling.鈥� In May, Arc鈥檛eryx announced its ReBird platform to sell used, repaired, and upcycled gear. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a growth opportunity,鈥� said Katie Wilson, Arc鈥檛eryx鈥檚 senior manager for social and environmental sustainability. 鈥淎nd it鈥檚 legitimately good for the environment as well. I hope we can transform ourselves into a business that does more good the more we grow.鈥�

As for Wiper鈥檚 blended-up socks, turns out they make great stuffing. Smartwool collected tens of thousands of old socks and will use them to make dog beds it will sell come fall. It鈥檚 the pilot program of the brand鈥檚 sustainability road map that envisions 100 percent circularity by 2030.

鈥淭his is just the beginning,鈥� said Alicia Chin, Smartwool鈥檚 senior manager of sustainability and social impact. 鈥淲e want to spin old socks into new yarn to make beanies, gloves, and even new socks.鈥�

Sometimes moving forward looks like going around in a circle.

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Day Two dawned hot and hazy, with smoke from the Oregon fires raising air quality alert into the moderate range. But that didn’t stop attendees from taking to the water and trails to test out the latest in paddlesports and cycling gear.

Show directors expected a bigger retail turnout today, but most exhibitors didn’t seem to feel that panned out. Still, everyone we spoke with seemed please with the show overall鈥攚ith the venue, the outdoor format, the social distancing, and the authenticity all being key elements that have attendees jazzed.

Education sessions were pulling in small but engaged groups of attendees. The sessions all had an intimate feel, with lots of interaction, questions, and comments from the audience, as moderators passed the mikes around encouraged a free exchange of ideas (more on education sessions below).

Retailer Hot Takes

“I’m a total newbie to trade shows and this industry. I opened my shop four months ago during the pandemic and 90 percent of the stuff I ordered I never saw in person, so it’s been great to see these brands and products. To get out of my bubble and meet a lot of retailers who are successful has been really encouraging and inspiring. I’m learning about different strategies and seeing what’s possible.” 鈥擬andela Echefu, owner, Wheelzup 国产吃瓜黑料s in Cumberland, Maryland.

“I haven’t written any orders yet, but I will before it’s over. I decided to bring in a raft company, Aire, so that’s new. I like this show. To me it feels like Outdoor Retailer 30 years ago in Tahoe.”鈥擡d Mcalister, owner, River Sports Outfitters in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Exhibitor Hot Takes

“I love the event atmosphere and location. Retailer traffic has been a little slow, but we’ve talked to a few quality people and some new people, which has been good. And we’ve written a few orders, which is even better. That’s what we’re here for. I believe this will be a good venue for hard goods.” 鈥擠ave Cozzone, vice president, Princeton Tec

“The quality of the connection has been great. Traffic may be a little bit on the lighter side, but I think the show has a lot of potential. It’s run really well. It’s just been good to connect with the community again. It feels authentic and it feels fun and the vibe is right. Our main purpose here was to showcase the new bike products we have coming out in the fall. We have some really good leads to follow up on.” 鈥擲upriya Limaye, chief officer of fun, Peak Design

Hot New Products

There was plenty of new gear on display at Day Two of the show. Here a few of the fresh, innovative goodies that caught our eye.

PurTrek Trek Pole and Water Filtration System

Ever looked down at your trekking poles on the trail and thought, I wish these did something else? Apparently, the people behind PurTrek鈥攂ased in Ogden, Utah鈥攄id. The company’s Trek Pole & Water Filtration System, new this spring, combines traditional hiking poles with a built-in water filter for rehydrating in the backcountry. We stopped by PurTrek’s booth for a quick demonstration. More info on the product can be found on the company’s website.

Cotopaxi Cielo

Cotopaxi has officially announced its first fully sealed waterproof jacket, the Cielo ($145-155), available in men’s and women’s. The move marks a step forward for the Salt Lake City-based brand, which until now has only offered water resistant options in its outerwear line.

Ignik FireCan

Personal heating brand Ignik is coming out with its first fire can, simply dubbed the FireCan, this fall. The design is inspired by a traditional “groover”鈥攁n ammo can repurposed as a portable toilet in the backcountry. Ignik founder Graeme Esarey explained the design process like so: “We started looking at groovers and thought, here’s this ordinary object鈥攁n ammo can鈥攖hat has been reimagined to perform this really hard job. Why can’t we take the same concept and bring it into our word of personal heating?” In addition to being compact and durable, the FireCan is capable of sending up flames two feet high, and is completely forest-safe (i.e. fire ban approved) due to the foldable legs that raise it off the ground. Available this fall exclusively at REI, with wider distribution to follow in Spring ’22.

Education Sessions

Education sessions continued today with topics deeply relevant to hardgoods dealers: “The Pain Points of Paddle Shops,” “eBikes: Finance, Government Engagement, and Takeaways for New Retailers,” “Five Ways to Grow Online Sales,” and more.

Show director Kenji Haroutunian told OBJ that he’s already gotten an outpouring of appreciation from retailers due to the sessions’ intimate nature. Rather than jam-packed conference rooms, the education sessions at The Big Gear Show have so far been small and casual, with only a couple dozen attendees per event. That has given retailers time to ask lots of questions, Haroutunian said, engaging with presenters in deeper conversations than they might otherwise get.

First Time Around the Block?

Over the course of the day, we ran into several exhibitors who are brand new to the industry, making themselves known at trade shows for the first time. Here are a couple of the standout companies we interacted with.

Cedaero

Minnesota-based bikepacking brand Cedaero, founded in 2017, is a company of “adventurers, nomads, bike nerds, and gear junkies,” according to the team. The crew drove cross-country in a repurposed ambulance to make it out to Utah for the show this week. Bike-mounted bags and other travel accessories make up this quirky company’s wares.

GiantMouse

Michigan-based startup GiantMouse came to the show with some of the most beautiful Danish-designed camping knives we’ve ever seen. Featuring both fixed blades and foldables, the company hopes to make a name for itself in a product category where legacy companies like Filson control much of the game.

As of the morning of Day Two, the company hadn’t written any orders. “We just came to meet people and get our name out there,” said founder and CEO Jim Wirth. “For us, this show is all about raising awareness of the brand.”

Reducing Plastic Bottle Use

Plastic Impact Alliance members are out in full force across the show. Sporting PIA signs and Yeti water stations, these champions of sustainability are doing their part to reduce single-use plastics while keeping people hydrated at the same time.

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Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Cotopaxi CEO Davis Smith was skeptical about remote work. But after a year of huge growth despite lockdowns and shipping challenges, he began to change his tune.

鈥淲e are a very flat company structurally, so it was not at all uncommon for an entry-level employee and a member of our C-suite team to sit down informally and have lunch together,鈥� he explained. Before the pandemic, Smith thought that organic mingling of employees was too important to lose. 鈥淏ut we learned that working from home really fits us well,鈥� he said.

In March of 2021, Cotopaxi put out an all-hands survey. A whopping 88 percent said both their productivity and work satisfaction were as good, if not better, than pre-pandemic. And 95 percent said they had good to great relationships with their teammates鈥攁ll despite a year without face-to-face time.

鈥淟ike anything, there was a little bit of an adjustment period,鈥� said Cotopaxi digital marketing specialist Annika Erickson, who had to learn new ways to hold herself accountable and stay productive. But once she did, she quickly realized how invaluable it was to have the flexibility to get her work done, exercise, and get outside on her own schedule. Ultimately, she says she鈥檚 more productive now than she ever was in an office.

Shortly after sending out the survey, Smith announced that Cotopaxi would move forward with a remote-first strategy. The brand will keep its Salt Lake City headquarters, but coming into the office will be optional for employee teams that don鈥檛 have to physically touch or ship product on a day-to-day basis.

Cotopaxi isn鈥檛 the only outdoor brand learning to embrace a more flexible work model. Nike recently announced that it would require employees to come back to work at its Beaverton, Oregon, headquarters, but only three days a week. Ditto for climbing brand Edelrid in Redmond, Oregon. And last year REI announced that it was selling its Seattle headquarters, in part to enable the co-op to shift to a more distributed workplace model.

While a cultural shift of this scale may be unprecedented, it鈥檚 important to remember that telework has existed since the early 1970s, says Laurel Farrer, CEO of Distribute Consulting, an international consulting service that specializes in flexible and remote workplaces.

鈥淎 quarter-century ago, people were able to stay connected and aligned using just email. This is a poignant reminder that it鈥檚 not the tools that connect us, it鈥檚 how we use the tools,鈥� she said.

For its part, Cotopaxi has worked to stay ahead of the common downsides of remote work鈥攂urnout, isolation, and reduced employee bonding鈥攂y actively nurturing the company鈥檚 workplace culture and sense of community support.

鈥淲e did our holiday party on Zoom, we run Innovation Tournaments on Zoom,鈥� Smith said, referring to biannual contests in which employees team up to brainstorm new product ideas. 鈥淎nd with Slack we鈥檝e seen a huge increase in the use of 鈥榝un鈥� channels like our 鈥榖ar-kitchen-club channel,鈥� where we do trivia contests, tell tall tales, and just generally get folks together.鈥� Going forward, the company plans to create regular opportunities for employees to gather both virtually and in person, like a monthly BBQ, regular virtual lunches where Smith sits down with a rotating handful of team members, and monthly service and adventure activities.

Smith says he鈥檚 open to hiring out of state and will consider the cost of living in prospective employees鈥� hometowns when it comes to making salary offers. But there are other details, like handling multistate taxes and health insurance, that Cotopaxi is still researching. Bret Farrer, Distribute鈥檚 business development director, recommends using a third-party service like Oyster or Remote.com, which stays on top of the rapidly changing laws in different states and countries. Those services cost $350 to $700 per month per employee.聽

But that cost is 鈥渁bsolutely鈥� worth having a limitless talent pool to pull from, as well as the increased productivity and employee satisfaction that remote work brings, Bret Farrer said. Indeed, Erickson says her loyalty and pride in her employer have only gone up since the pandemic.

Plus, for an adventure travel brand, the policy just makes sense.

鈥淲e are in business to move people to do good and inspire adventure,鈥� Smith said. 鈥淎nd that starts with giving them the flexibility to just get out.鈥�

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Cotopaxi is known for taking excellent care of its employees. In addition to all the usual benefits offered by most forward-thinking, mission-driven companies鈥攇enerous maternity leaves, comprehensive healthcare, and the like鈥攖he company treats its workers to perks like $1,000 “bucket list” stipends to be used for personal travel. At this Salt Lake City-based brand, people come first.

So it makes sense that, when the pandemic inspired the company to shift permanently to a remote-first work model, leadership was concerned about losing some of the business’s warmth and community feel.

“After more than a year of working remotely, we discovered how amazingly well people were doing in terms of happiness and productivity, mental health, and connection with families,” said Stephan Jacob, one of the company’s founders and COO. “We made the decision to become a remote-first company, but we still believe firmly in the concept of interacting in person.”

Jacob said leadership wrestled for a while with methods for bringing employees together to foster connection. Eventually, they started thinking about hikes and campouts the company had organized when it was smaller鈥攋ust a few employees working to build the brand.

“We decided to recreate that idea with an employee summer camp,” Jacob said. “We rented a group campsite in Big Cottonwood Canyon [outside Salt Lake City]. We camped overnight and organized activities throughout the day. There was climbing, hiking, a Cotopaxi values session, and a story session at night. We put on a Llama-lympics [after the company’s mascot] where people broke into teams playful and competed in silly, fun challenges where they could bring their whole selves.”

Company co-founder Davis Smith said about 70 people participated, out of roughly 120 employed by Cotopaxi across the country. “Many of our store employees are part-time and live outside of Utah, so we had very high participation,” Smith said.

The format of the trip, which took place July 11-13, was relatively informal. Everyone brought their own gear, or borrowed equipment from the company’s communal gear closet in Salt Lake. There was a carefully balanced mix of structured activity and down time. Brand leaders wanted to make sure employees had enough time to chill and get to know each other, according to Jacob. “We had several employees who had been working together for over a year who had never met in person,” he said. The event’s main objective was to change that.

“We had to find the right balance between structured activities and giving people the opportunity to engage naturally and talk,” said Jacob. “At an event like this, there shouldn鈥檛 be activities from 8 in the morning to 5 at night. People need to be able to get to know each other organically.”

He said that feedback from the first summer camp was uniformly positive, but that next time participants want to be more involved in the planning. In the next iteration, the company plans to let employees take responsibility for certain aspects of the trip, like meal prep. Jacob said the company might also increase the frequency of the camp to include a winter retreat.

“There were so many wonderful moments of togetherness,” Jacob said. “Over and over again, employees asked us, ‘Can we do more of this?’ We plan to.”

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