Outdoor Retailer - Summer 2017 - 19

CASE STUDY

"It can, if done right, have the impact of raising
awareness and raising sales for everyone."
The suddenly red-hot flagship trend is
not inherently bad for independent speciality. In many ways, a brand's efforts to build
its identity through its own store is taking
a page from those retailers, who foster the
growth of countless brands from obscurity
to international prominence.
But from a retailer's perspective, there are
certainly good ways and bad ways for an outdoor brand to develop and operate its own retail flagship store. If it's designed as a way to reinforce a brand's distinctiveness and support
its omnichannel sales and outreach strategy,
it can work by building customer interest and
loyalty. But if it's a discount warehouse and the
store cultivates a customer's expectation for
deals, it can do damage to specialty retailers,
especially those nearby.
There's a cautionary tale here. If a brand's
specialty retailers are grappling with oversupply, as many today are, that flagship could
spur a less-than-healthy multichannel pursuit that ends in their own oversupply, which
would trigger discounts that prod retailers to
drop the brand.

IMMERSED IN THE EXPERIENCE
Kahn, whose shop is the city's premier independent whitewater and backcountry skiing
retailer, has carried Mountain Khakis for a decade. He was one of the first retailers to champion the nascent Jackson Hole brand. So he
understands the Mountain Khakis' flagship
push, but that doesn't mean he likes it.
The Mountain Khakis store opened April 1,
2017, and, a few weeks later, Kahn hadn't noticed a decline in sales. "But we are definitely
buying a little less than we might otherwise
because we don't know what the impact is going to be," Kahn says. "We assume we are likely
to lose some sales with them being so close.
But we do plan on continuing to carry the
brand." More brands are following suit, adds
Kahn, who hears that Kühl, whom he also carries, might also open a flagship in Denver.
According to Saldarini, his company's firstever flagship will not be undercutting retailers with discounts and sales. It will only sell
Mountain Khakis' product at full retail.

IF A BRAND'S SPECIALTY RETAILERS ARE GRAPPLING
WITH OVERSUPPLY, AS MANY TODAY ARE, THAT
FLAGSHIP COULD SPUR A LESS-THAN-HEALTHY
MULTICHANNEL PURSUIT THAT ENDS IN THEIR OWN
OVERSUPPLY, WHICH WOULD TRIGGER DISCOUNTS
THAT PROD RETAILERS TO DROP THE BRAND.
"We are here to enhance awareness of the
brand and hopefully create more sales for everyone," he says.
Mountain Khakis is not the only hot,
young brand to head down the flagship route. Corey Maynard, the head of
marketing for Yeti Coolers, just opened
his company's first flagship store in the
brand's hometown of Austin. He calls the
8,000-square-foot marquee location adjacent to Austin's most trafficked hike-andbike trail "a brand museum."
There's a music stage. A meeting space.
Photos and artifacts from adventures by
the brand's heavy-hitting ambassadors
like Conrad Anker and Shane Dorian.
According to Maynard, the store was designed to reflect the feel-it-all experience of
a children's museum.
"Our intention was to build a fully immersive brand-experience center much
more than becoming a retailer. We've never
had the intention of selling a lot of product
from this," Maynard says.
The cooler maker even invited retailers
from the region to the store for a soft opening in the spring. Maynard wanted to show
them it wasn't really a store.
"I'm sure no retailer loves there being any
kind of distribution point for our product besides them. It's definitely a sensitive
subject, but our focus has been for this to be
a giant marketing vehicle," says Maynard,
who expects the store could help with employee recruiting as well. "We believe it
elevates the brand profile. It makes Austin
a Yeti town, and we believe it's going to elevate all our retail partners in the area."
And just to be clear, Maynard says, there
are no plans to open more stores like the

flagship in Austin. "We are going to stick to
coolers from here on out," he says.

WE CAN WORK IT OUT
The direct-to-consumer trend is one specialty retailers have been watching warily for the
last several years, and the its progression has
evolved toward flagships. That's disconcerting to retailers, especially when a flagship
opens near their stores. But not always. The
45-store, 59-year-old, family-owned Christy
Sports has many locations within a stroll of
Burton, Marmot, The North Face, Arc'teryx,
and Helly Hansen branded stores.
It's working out well, says Dan Fox, head
of operations for Christy Sports, which ranks
as one of the nation's largest winter sports
specialty retail chains. "We didn't stop buying any of those products," he says. "As a specialty retailer we feel it's our goal to to deliver
a broader spectrum. We are never going to
give one manufacturer full presentation."
But there's definitely a way to do it
wrong, according to Fox. Come in and be
very competitive with retailers or evolve
into a discount outlet, and you will alienate
them and lose their trust, he says. But hold
prices and, if you do have sales, offer them
later than retailers, and it can be a very
symbiotic relationship.
"Most manufacturers don't want to be
retailers," he says. "They would rather have
a retail partner. Right now these flagships
are trendy and hip, but we will see what their
lifespan will be. If they fade, they'll want to
have that retailer support."
In Steamboat Springs, Smartwool is taking a sort-of half step into branded retail. In
addition to bolstering wholesale relationships and partnerships with speciality retailSummer 2017/ OUTDOOR RETAILER 19

Outdoor Retailer - Summer 2017

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