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jrox
Feb 15, 2007, 3:44 PM
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The outfitter I work for just dropped Columbia & Mountain Hardwear from our line-up.. bummer. They said they recieved word that Mtn. Hardwear would be sold in retail stores in 3 years and that the quality was going way down then. Our rep told us, before placing $14,000 order, that we might want to look elsewhere and then proceeded to tell us why (above).
Just wondering if any of you know much about this situation? Some people in the industry seem to think the company is about to be sold.. or up for sale.
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bizarrodrinker
Feb 15, 2007, 3:47 PM
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Probably to Liz Claireborn or whoever the hell bought the Prana label.
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jrox
Feb 15, 2007, 3:48 PM
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sheesh.. you think? TNF quality went down when Vanity Fair bought them, but people are still addicted to those denali jackets.
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lena_chita
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Feb 15, 2007, 3:53 PM
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I'm not surprized. Just recently I have started seeing the most unlikely people wearing Mountain Hardwear stuff. And Arc'teryx, too! I'm talking a pot-bellied guy in dress shoes and"suit" pants with mountain hardwear jacket... WTF? It doesn't even fit well! And anyway, if you have dress shoes and suit, sholudn't you be wearing a dress coat?
I guess the real money is in mass retail and
"lifestyle" clothing, not in
"niche" marketing and gear. TNF and Columbia are everywhere, so why not Mtn Hardwear...
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natec
Feb 15, 2007, 4:21 PM
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lena_chita wrote: I'm not surprized. Just recently I have started seeing the most unlikely people wearing Mountain Hardwear stuff. And Arc'teryx, too! I'm talking a pot-bellied guy in dress shoes and"suit" pants with mountain hardwear jacket... WTF? It doesn't even fit well! And anyway, if you have dress shoes and suit, sholudn't you be wearing a dress coat? I guess the real money is in mass retail and "lifestyle" clothing, not in "niche" marketing and gear. TNF and Columbia are everywhere, so why not Mtn Hardwear...
Perhaps he was a climber or skier who had a real job. They do exist you know.
Choosing to wear a brand name of any kind is not some earned right that only those specific to an activity have. It's kinda sad that people have enough time to notice and care about such things.
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fitzontherocks
Feb 15, 2007, 4:21 PM
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That's sad. I'm a big MH fan. I was a North Face fan until Chevy began offering a North Face version of their Avalanche truck, that behemoth, gas eatin' idiotmobile. Of course, I had to buy my 14 year old daughter a TNF fleece because all her friends have 'em. I tried, but no other fleece would do for Princess. Face it, folks. We're cool and everybody wants to be just like us.
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mqsack
Feb 15, 2007, 4:23 PM
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you are complaining, for what you were carrying columbia. Mtn hardwear has been a main stream yuppie line for the past 2 years.
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jrox
Feb 15, 2007, 4:27 PM
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Yea, this society is very stratified.. not egalitarian. I think it's only natural to notice certain trends/habits that stand out or clash two opposing. We're picking up Spyder and [Lafuma?] from Europe. Supposedly they're a great brand but it's going to hard to turn people on to it I bet. I wish people would buy for the purpose of the design/technology behind the product. Anyway, I'm off to work, hope y'all have a rad afternoon...
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shakylegs
Feb 15, 2007, 4:28 PM
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natec wrote: lena_chita wrote: I'm not surprized. Just recently I have started seeing the most unlikely people wearing Mountain Hardwear stuff. And Arc'teryx, too! I'm talking a pot-bellied guy in dress shoes and"suit" pants with mountain hardwear jacket... WTF? It doesn't even fit well! And anyway, if you have dress shoes and suit, sholudn't you be wearing a dress coat? I guess the real money is in mass retail and "lifestyle" clothing, not in "niche" marketing and gear. TNF and Columbia are everywhere, so why not Mtn Hardwear... Perhaps he was a climber or skier who had a real job. They do exist you know. Choosing to wear a brand name of any kind is not some earned right that only those specific to an activity have. It's kinda sad that people have enough time to notice and care about such things.
Bang on, Jake.
I didn't know you had to belong to the "cool kids" club to wear certain brands.
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unrooted
Feb 15, 2007, 4:31 PM
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I just hope mountain hardwear follows north face and patagonias lead and starts making medium more like XL.
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andypro
Feb 15, 2007, 4:36 PM
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This ones amazing: I was comming back from a work related road trip and stopped in rochester, NY for lunch. I was in one of the mall things there (which is where the restaurant was...I hate malls)...anyways I saw a couple of phat-homey-G's wearin Wild Things Belay Jacket's with the tags still on em! I shit you not.
It's all out there! Sure, there was a time when you could tell a climber from a somethinelse based on "gear", but the lines are blurring. Think of biner keychains. Appearantly the lastest hot thing around here is to have an OP 5.0 holding both of your keys and 92 little dangly bits. They're way more expensive than "keychain biners" so apparently it's cool. I dont get it.
--Andy P
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hornboy101
Feb 15, 2007, 4:48 PM
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its a shame... I work at coast and we deal with them.. I havent yet noticed a trend towards it... but in a town like calgary with all the oil money... lots or Arc'teryx theta rain jacekts and such... Hopefully mountain harware doesnt jump into columbia board... Such good gear...
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bcm3u
Feb 15, 2007, 4:57 PM
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Having graduated from a fairly "southern" and "fratty" school, I can attest that both mountain hardware and Arc'Teryx are slowing becoming mainstream... at least in that demographic. Kids that don't do anything other than drink beers outdoors are wearing expensive performance jackets, simply because they are expensive. That being said... I'm basically a walking Mountain Hardware advertisement because I'm obsessed with their gear...
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crimpstrength
Feb 15, 2007, 4:58 PM
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doesn't columbia own hardwear now? I am phasing out my hardwear gear with other stuff.
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swaghole
Feb 15, 2007, 5:00 PM
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Sierra Design bit it big time about 5 years ago when they went main-stream. I had the old Avalanche 3 ply Gortex parka and it was a great jacket.
Now, the new stuff all sucks - I always find it in the discount bin at the local outfitter - and event at 50% or 70% off the ticket price, it's still not worth buying. At least not if you are looking for real outdoor gear.
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anykineclimb
Feb 15, 2007, 5:28 PM
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jrox wrote: The outfitter I work for just dropped Columbia & Mountain Hardwear from our line-up.. bummer. They said they recieved word that Mtn. Hardwear would be sold in retail stores in 3 years and that the quality was going way down then. Our rep told us, before placing $14,000 order, that we might want to look elsewhere and then proceeded to tell us why (above). Just wondering if any of you know much about this situation? Some people in the industry seem to think the company is about to be sold.. or up for sale.
Retail store? you mean like you shop?
I highly doubt MH will end up in Macy's if thats what you mean.
MH was aquired by Columbia a few years ago. It pretty apparent in Columbia's Titanium line that they're taking advantage of the R&D and experience of MH.
If anything, it may end up like TNF with a more casual line but still putting out quality outdoor gear. I like them and will continue to buy
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Points
Feb 15, 2007, 5:30 PM
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Yeah, I'll just say that I go to TCU in Ft. Worth and I can tell you that despite the fact that there are maybe three climbers on campus, there's more TNF, Hardware, and Patagonia than an REI warehouse. It's really depressing to see all of the brands you love selling out.
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c4c
Feb 15, 2007, 5:32 PM
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A dealer rep told you not to spend $14000 on product from a company that he reps for????? Did I understand that right??
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goodman
Feb 15, 2007, 5:43 PM
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MHW is owned by Columbia and has been for some time. Who cares if people other than climbers where their jackets..how about non-climbers using MHW tents, or heaven forbid someone other than the most elitist of alpinists wear the top-of-the-line gore-tex jacket. I’ll bet many of you have that cutting edge alpine climbing jacket and would never dare step foot into the mountains, does that make you a mainstream poseur - not according to you. The fact of the matter is most mountaineering/climbing companies need to get bought out in order to stay afloat and continue to provide us with the best equipment available! Or, we could go back to stove-leg pitons, hemp ropes, plastic poncho’s and bolt hangers made from bed frames.
Cheers,
PG
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Davey
Feb 15, 2007, 5:45 PM
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In the seattle are wear i live It is for sure the 'main stream' everybody thinks it's cool to wear MH and TNF. The suit wearing the MH is the norm. welcome to the future
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bcm3u
Feb 15, 2007, 5:47 PM
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goodman wrote: MHW is owned by Columbia and has been for some time. Who cares if people other than climbers where their jackets..how about non-climbers using MHW tents, or heaven forbid someone other than the most elitist of alpinists wear the top-of-the-line gore-tex jacket. I’ll bet many of you have that cutting edge alpine climbing jacket and would never dare step foot into the mountains, does that make you a mainstream poseur - not according to you. The fact of the matter is most mountaineering/climbing companies need to get bought out in order to stay afloat and continue to provide us with the best equipment available! Or, we could go back to stove-leg pitons, hemp ropes, plastic poncho’s and bolt hangers made from bed frames. Cheers, PG
I think the point we were making is that the items are being worn for fashion and status rather than for purpose. It doesnt matter if climbers wear the brand... people who enjoy skiing, camping, et al. would benefit. The problem lies when you have the clothes becoming trendy and worn by randoms, simply because it is expensive.
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moose_droppings
Feb 15, 2007, 5:47 PM
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Freaking fashion police..........get a life!
Dress to be comfortable and warm and to hell what anyone thinks.
Brand names....pffft
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Points
Feb 15, 2007, 5:50 PM
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In reply to: The problem lies when you have the clothes becoming trendy and worn by randoms, simply because it is expensive.
Then you hit the point where it's more profitable to cater slightly to these people and you company ends up like TNF whose quality has really dropped off, fit has gone out the window (at least for the tall skinny climbers) and caters more to fashion than function.
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milominderbinder
Feb 15, 2007, 6:01 PM
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Ok, is the quality actually going down, or do you just feel like it is because other people where it? Theoretically, with people buying the stuff just for looks, the company is making a whole lot more money that they can throw into developing newer, quality products.
I have not heard anyone here say how the gear sucks now, once mainstream. I have just heard people complain that 'people that don't do what I do now wear it...MH obviously sold out and does not make quality gear.'
This is at the same time as the RC.com front page has a news post about Mountain Hardwear looking for massive input from users of their gear to help them develop new things.
EDIT:
In reply to: Then you hit the point where it's more profitable to cater slightly to these people and you company ends up like TNF whose quality has really dropped off, fit has gone out the window (at least for the tall skinny climbers) and caters more to fashion than function.
That at least is some reasonable criticism, especially as I, a taller skinnier climber, see the issue.
(This post was edited by milominderbinder on Feb 15, 2007, 6:05 PM)
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Davey
Feb 15, 2007, 6:03 PM
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moose_droppings wrote: Freaking fashion police..........get a life! Dress to be comfortable and warm and to hell what anyone thinks. Brand names....pffft points wrote: Then you hit the point where it's more profitable to cater slightly to these people and you company ends up like TNF whose quality has really dropped off, fit has gone out the window (at least for the tall skinny climbers) and caters more to fashion than function.
I think the point is that even if you whear it just to be cool. Fine with me. But the more popular it is with people that don't care about the quality the more likely it is to have the quality go down. Would you buy an Abercrombie and Fitch jacket for climbing? Hell no. they started out making high end outdoor work wear now look at them, same with Eddie Bauer now there stuff sucks.
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