Columbia Sportswear realigns brands
Outdoor apparel and footwear firm Columbia Sportswear Company has made management and operational changes to its Mountain Hardwear and Montrail subsidiary brands.
Effective May 1, all sales, marketing and service functions for trail running and hiking footwear maker Montrail Inc. will be realigned under the management team of Mountain Hardwear Inc., a subsidiary acquired by Columbia in 2003. Mountain Hardwear produces high-end mountaineering and outdoor equipment, apparel and accessories. Montrail product sourcing functions will remain under Columbia Sportswear corporate management in Portland and US product distribution and shipping will continue to be processed through the company's Kentucky facility.
President of Mountain Hardwear, Mike Wallenfels, will oversee operations for the Montrail brand at its California offices. "The Montrail brand is a natural extension of Mountain Hardwear's growing performance apparel categories and both brands will work together to share retailers, athletes, events and promotions," Mr Wallenfels said.
"We see this as an ideal marriage of two specialty brands," said Tim Boyle, president and CEO of Columbia Sportswear. "The Mountain Hardwear customer and the Montrail customer are often the same and the management team at Mountain Hardwear knows that demographic very well."
Mountain Hardwear and Columbia Sportswear will work together on product direction and development using the existing Montrail footwear team in the Columbia Sportswear headquarters in Portland. Mountain Hardwear and Montrail already share resources for international sales management in Europe, South Korea and Canada and this move should help consolidate and streamline efforts. Service and sales operations will formally transition after May 1.
