ASR Blog

Patagonia Europe Goes Green with Online B2B Ordering

From Supply & Demand Chain Executive:

CenterStone Technologies, an international provider of Web-based ordering solutions for manufacturers of apparel, footwear, equipment and accessories, announced that Patagonia has selected the company's iVendix application for its European dealers.

Patagonia grew out of a small company that made tools for climbers. Today the company still makes clothes for climbing — as well as for skiing, snowboarding, surfing, fly fishing, paddling and trail running.

"Customer service has always been the number one priority for Patagonia. Internet-based services have become such an important tool that we couldn't stay away from a modern ordering system for our dealers much longer. Therefore, Patagonia Europe looked for a reliable, multilingual, multi-currency and simple to implement B2B platform," explained Hervé Chabert, general manager for Patagonia Europe.

Chabert said that CenterStone's years of experience in the apparel industry made iVendix was a natural answer. Patagonia's dealers will use iVendix to manage orders 24/7 and access inventory in real time.

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Outdoorzy: A Social Network for Adventure Sports Enthusiasts

From Newswire:

Outdoorzy.com was launched in January of 2007. The site is a social networking website which has created a close following since its launch late last year. Outdoorzy provides an alternative social network to Myspace, Facebook, and the other large social networks. Outdoorzy members are avid outdoor sports enthusiasts. The members use the site to meet other people interested in the same activities, share their outdoor adventures in the Trip Reports section, store pictures of their outdoor experiences, read Gear Reviews, and stay updated on outdoor sports news through the Outdoorzy blog. The site also offers free business profiles so outdoor oriented businesses can list themselves in the Business Directory for free.

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“We are looking for partnership opportunities with companies in the outdoor industry and any industry that our members may have an interest in. Our goal is to go beyond what traditional websites and social networks provide. We want to be more than just a place to hang out online, and give our members discounts and deals on useful products and services they can use in their daily lives. Our members spend their extra time outside, and we want to enhance their experiences by giving them the tools they need when they’re stuck inside…” says Wade Heflin, one of Outdoorzy’s founders.

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Trip to Vietnam Grand Prize of Patagonia's Outdoor Photo Contest

From Businesswire:

Patagonia retail stores are holding a photo contest called “Capture a Patagoniac” inviting customers to submit a photo of themselves or family members engaged in activities from rock climbing to fly fishing while wearing Patagonia clothing. Customers will then be asked to vote for the entry that best captures the Patagonia spirit of adventure, outdoor pursuits, and/or environmentalism.

Patagonia will award $100, $75 and $50 gift cards to three finalists per store based on the number of votes. All finalists from the retailer’s 23 stores around the country will then be eligible for a random drawing for the grand prize, consisting of a trip for two to Vietnam courtesy of Backroads Travel Company.

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Once A Tire Store, Academy Sports Finds Success in Outdoor Retail

From the Houston Chronicle:

What started as a San Antonio tire store 69 years ago is now a $2 billion business that has nothing to do with tires.
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Q: How has Academy's concept changed in the past decade?

A: We've tried to transform the company into more of a lifestyle and leisure concept and make it more of a family event to go to Academy as opposed to a place just for sports enthusiasts.

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Magicmirror: A New Way to Get Apparel Info to Retail Customers

From RFID Journal:

RFID technology company Paxar and merchandising-solutions provider Thebigspace have developed a system that would allow retail customers to use an RFID-enabled mirror to receive automated customer service while trying on clothing.

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Installed in a dressing room, the magicmirror system incorporates an RFID interrogator linked to a mirror with an embedded digital display to provide product information to consumers. When a customer brings a clothing item into the dressing room, the interrogator reads the ID number on the garment's Gen 2 UHF passive RFID tag and sends that number to the store's database via a cabled connection. The mirror then displays a description of the garment, as well as other available colors and sizes, and suggests accompanying accessories. The magicmirror can also be used on sales floors, Dekker says.

One feature of the dressing room system allows customers to call a salesperson by touching the magicmirror. This sends a signal via a Wi-Fi network to a salesperson's PDA, indicating someone in a specific changing room needs assistance. A customer who has chosen the wrong size, for example, can follow prompts on the mirror screen and select the proper size.

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Women's Wilderness Institute Teams Up With REI

From Yourhub.com:

BH: How and when did TWWIteam up with REI?

WG: The Women's Wilderness Institute (TWWI) has had a wonderful partnership with REI, and especially the Boulder store, for years. We love how community-minded REI is, they are so supportive of nonprofits and it's been so easy to develop a mutually beneficial relationship. TWWI and REI share a common goal of getting more people recreating outdoors and an essential part of this is helping people feel comfortable with the skills they bring to their outdoor activities. The Women's Wilderness Institute has been running women-specific clinics at the Boulder store for years. We are able to help REI meet their needs of educating consumers and our women-specific focus has been very popular. Women really appreciate an open, supportive learning environment where they can ask lots of questions and receive information that's tailored to their learning style.

BH: What specific deal is set up between TWWI and REI?

WG: The new Boulder REI is going to feature a Women's Wilderness Clinic each month -- starting Monday Oct 22 with Bike Maintenance for women led by TWWI field staff and pro biker Heather Szabo. We'll follow that up on November 5th with a Winter Route Finding clinic and on December 3rd with a women's clinic on Telemark Skiing. All clinics are taught by Women's Wilderness field staff. There will be lots of other great topics throughout 2008!

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Katie Scott in New Whitewater Kayaking Documentary

From Helena Independent Record:

At only 20, Scott is already considered one of the top female kayakers in the world. Now, come next week, she'll travel the planet documenting three endangered rivers while dipping her paddle into some of the most unforgiving water known to man.

Scott, from Helena, will leave for Nepal to begin her journey with a group of kayakers to make a documentary already dubbed "The Final Descent."

Likely to take a year to shoot and edit, the film will someday play at universities around the country, not to mention a little thing known as the Banff Mountain Film Festival.

"We just came up with this idea," she said. "We wrote the proposal and I called 30 different companies to meet with them. I went to the outdoor retail show in Salt Lake and since August, it's been about following up."

Scott described the documentary's purpose - to bring attention to some of the world's most beautiful and ecologically significant rivers, each threatened by large-scale hydropower dams.

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Gore Steps Up Ads With Morphing Sharks, Bears

From Delaware Online:

For years, W.L. Gore & Associates has made a worldwide name for itself by speaking with a quiet voice, content to stand in the shadows while its partners took the main stage.

These days, Gore's not acting so shy anymore.

The Elkton, Md.-based company that makes Gore-Tex performance fabrics has launched a global, multimillion-dollar effort to elevate its image, enlisting a menagerie of wild animal models to show how its outdoor apparel helps users adapt, survive and excel.

In one print ad, a prowling fox -- its fur naturally suited for harsh weather -- visually morphs into a crouching man who's being wrapped by strands of Gore waterproof fabric. In other ads, human shapes meld seamlessly and strikingly into other creatures -- a butterfly, a bear, a shark.

Steve Shuster, global brand manager at Gore, would not specify how much Gore is spending on the advertising campaign, other than to say it is the costliest in company history.

The multiyear campaign is now being introduced in Europe and America, putting the Gore identity prominently onto retailers' floors for the first time. Through the use of four new "product classes" -- each meant for a different level of enthusiast -- the rebranding effort also gives those retailers a new method of steering customers toward the right products.

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Look Cool In Black, Even In The Summer

From Textile World:

The conventional wisdom that white is preferable to black for summer apparel because of the ability of white to reflect rather than absorb the sun's warming rays is being challenged as a result of new finishing technology that provides reflective properties to black fabrics and extends their range of applications and functionality for warm weather. Switzerland-based technical fabrics weaver Schoeller Textil AG launched its ColdBlack™ technology earlier this year at Techtextil in Frankfurt, targeting motorcycle suits — including police motorcycle uniforms — as the first application. The company also presented the technology to European and American outdoor markets at the recent OutDoor trade fair in Germany — where it received kudos as a "groundbreaking innovation" and won a Silver OutDoor Industry Award — and at the Summer Outdoor Retailer Show in Salt Lake City — where it also garnered quite a bit of attention, according to Tom Weinbender, president, Schoeller Textil USA, Seattle.

"People are very interested in ColdBlack — a lot of people like to wear black in the summer," Weinbender said, noting that apparel makers in the mountaineering segment are now sampling ColdBlack fabrics, and that there is also an interest for footwear. Schoeller is promoting the technology for equestrian apparel applications as well, and Weinbender added that there is also potential application for the technology in the industrial market.

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An Afternoon In Joshua Tree's Hidden Valley

On October 3, 2007, four inexperienced, slightly hung-over "creative types" piled into an old Volvo and drove out of LA's Echo Park neighborhood heading east. Two hours later they arrived at Joshua Tree National Park. This is what they saw.

all photos by nicci claspell, except for above, which is by evan levine.