Outdoor Insight

GCI Outdoor has been acquired by MacNeill Pride Group, a portfolio company of middle- market private equity firm Centre Partners. GCI makes outdoor recreation equipment, including portable camping chairs, camp kitchens, waterside chairs and recliners. GCI joins MacNeill Pride Group's portfolio of brands that includes ORCA, PrideSports, Freestyle Rocker, RoadTrip Rocker, CHAMP, Pride Golf Tee and Professional Tee System, amongst others. Vista Outdoor has added to its outdoor portfolio by acquiring two more companies — e-bike brand QuietKat and hunt/athleisure brand Venor. These two brands join others in Vista's portfolio including Bell, CamelBak, Giro, Camp Chef. Eyewear brand Wiley X announced plans to move its operations from Livermore, CA, to Frisco, TX. The new global HQ, manufacturing and distribution site is set to be located in the Star Business Park and completed by Q2 2022. The brand says the new HQ's central location within the United States will increase its efficiencies of shipping and distribution, in both time and cost. The Frisco HQ will include a flagship retail store for Wiley X, as well. Eddie Bauer is being acquired by Authentic Brands Group and SPARC Group, a joint venture between ABG and mall operator Simon Property Group, for an undisclosed price from private equity firm Golden Gate Capital. The transaction includes the brand's 300 retail stores and ecommerce business. ABG intends to leverage the Eddie Bauer brand into new outdoor categories and make international distribution a key part of a growth strategy. Eddie Bauer will remain headquartered in Seattle under current President Damien Huang. Royal Robbins opened a 2,200-square- foot retail store in downtown Seattle in early May. The store has a curated selection of the brand's apparel and accessories and the store environment is centered around community. Customers can order online and pick up merchandise in-store, and they can try apparel on in-store and have items shipped directly to their home. The new Seattle storefront comes on the heels of the June 2020 opening of Royal Robbins' first retail location outside of California, on Platte Street in Denver and its first East Coast location on Newbury Street in Boston. # T H E B U Z Z P erformance outdoor brand Arc'teryx Equipment has launched ReBird – a new pro- gram that connects consumers to the brand's initiatives in circularity, includ- ing upcycling, resale, and care and repair. As part of the ReBird initiative, the brand is not only selling upcycled items, but it is also selling used gear online and offering care and repair tips to help keep garments out of landfills. The brand says that ReBird marks an organization-wide commitment to shift away from a take-make-waste economy by "continuously seeking to adopt and evolve a circular way of operating." It also contributes to the brand's Science-Based Targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions intensity by 65% by 2030. A digital ReBird platform on the brand's website will serve as an interactive space for education and storytelling, where guests can learn more about the brand's evolution in designing products are being crafted to be re-crafted, and made from safe and renew- able materials. "To us, circularity means continuously seeking to design out waste and pollution from our systems and to respect the resources of our finite planet," says Katie Wilson, senior manager social & environmental sustainability at Arc'teryx. "ReBird is one way that Arc'teryx is bringing this to life." In launching the program, Arc'teryx is offering new products such as upcycled totes and pouches made from well-worn Arc'Teryx jackets, and a performance hoody crafted from end-of-the-roll but top quality new breathable fabric. "We have always built products that last, and durability is crucial to how we see ourselves contributing to a more circular economy and achieving our global climate goals." says Wilson. "It enables us to do fun work like make new product from old, resell used gear, and repair. While some of this work has been happening as long as we've been in existence, some of it is brand new." The Used Gear component of ReBird, available to consumers in the U.S. and Canada, is a resale initiative that aims to help keep quality gear in play for longer to reduce its environmental impact. Consumers can trade in used Arc'teryx gear in exchange for a gift card (worth 20% of the item's original value), and the products will be repaired, cleaned and listed on the Arc'teryx resale site online. l 4 • Outdoor Insight • July 2021 outdoorinsightmag.com Arc'teryx Focuses on Circularity with ReBird N E W S / A N A L Y S I S OUTDOOR EYE "To us, circularity means continuously seeking to design out waste and pollution from our systems and to respect the resources of our finite planet." KATIE WILSON Senior manager social & environmental sustainability at Arc'teryx

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