Columbia's rapid sales growth was fueled by its jackets, which featured breathable waterproof fabric and interchangeable shells and liners.[4]
History
Columbia Sportswear began as a family-owned hat distributor. Former chairwoman Gert Boyle's parents, Paul and Marie Lamfrom, fled Nazi Germany in 1937 and immediately purchased a Portland hat distributorship. The company became the Columbia Hat Company, named for the nearby Columbia River. In 1948, Gert married Neal Boyle, who became the head of the company. Frustrations over suppliers influenced the family to start manufacturing their own products, and Columbia Hat Company became Columbia Sportswear Company in 1960.[5]
In 1970, Neal Boyle died following a heart attack. Gert and son Tim Boyle, then a University of Oregon senior, took over the operations of Columbia, rescuing it from bankruptcy.[6] Gert Boyle served as company president from 1970 until 1988 and additionally became chairman of its board of directors in 1983.[7] She remained chairman until her death in 2019.[8] Tim Boyle succeeded his mother as Columbia's president and CEO in 1988 and continues to hold the position in 2019.[9]
In 2001, the company moved its headquarters from Portland to a site in an unincorporated part of Washington County,[14] in the Cedar Mill area and just outside the Beaverton city limits. The site on NWScience Park Drive has a Portland mailing address, but is not in Portland. In 2007, City of Portland officials attempted to convince Columbia Sportswear to move back to Portland,[15] but the company ultimately rejected the idea due to the increased corporate tax burden such a move would entail and decided to expand its existing headquarters instead.[14]
In 2001, it was the largest American retailer of ski apparel based on gross revenue.[16]
On June 15, 2008, Columbia Sportswear announced a three-year sponsorship of the cycling team formerly known as Team High Road and before that T-Mobile and Team Telekom. The sponsorship began on July 5, 2008, with the start of the Tour de France. The team's name was "Team Columbia". The sponsorship included both the men's and women's teams, and ended at the end of 2010.[17]
On August 4, 2010, Columbia Sportswear Company signed an agreement to acquire OutDry Technologies S.r.l., which owns the intellectual property and other assets comprising the OutDry brand and related business, via a cash purchase from Nextec S.r.l., based near Milan, Italy. The transaction was expected to close during the third quarter of 2010, subject to customary closing conditions, and is not expected to have a material effect on the company's 2010 operating results.[18]
In March 2015, Bryan Timm was named president of the company, taking over that position from Tim Boyle, who remained CEO.[10] In May 2017 it was announced Timm would step down and the duties of president would revert to Tim Boyle.[19]
On November 3, 2019, chairwoman Gert Boyle died at the age of 95.[20] Tim Boyle was named as Acting Chairman of the company's board of directors.[2]
In October 2020, the company announced that alpaca wool would no longer be a part of their collections, including their other brands Prana, Mountain Hardwear and Sorel.[21]
In November 2023, Columbia Sportswear Company announced that Cory Long was appointed as President of its brand Sorel.[22][23]
Columbia Sportswear distributes its products in more than 72 countries and 13,000 retailers. Columbia also operates its own chain of retail stores, including its flagship store located in downtown Portland, Oregon.
As of 2018, 40% of Columbia's business came from abroad.[4]
In October 2023, Columbia Sportswear reported 3% of revenue growth as sales reached $985.7 million.[26][22]
Stock exchanges
Columbia Sportswear Company is publicly traded on NASDAQ with ticker symbol COLM.[27]
Trade and tariffs
The clothing business in the US is still largely subject to what remains of the Smoot–Hawley Tariff Act, passed in 1930. Since 2001, Columbia has paired its designers with teams of trade experts in a process the company calls "tariff engineering" in order to reach lower tariffs, taxes, or duties. For example, Columbia applies a very thin layer of fabric to the soles of its shoes since tariffs on fabric soles are lower than those on rubber soles; the fabric wears away within days.[4] For similar reasons, jackets are waterproofed and filled with at least 10% down.
Vietnam is Columbia's largest supplier, and 25% of the company's footwear originates in China.[4]
Columbia has operated in China since 2014 as Columbia Sportswear Commercial (Shanghai) Company as a joint venture with Swire Pacific Limited, reaching a total of 86 Chinese retail stores by 2017.[28] In 2018, Columbia announced it would buy out Swire's remaining 40% stake by 2019.[4][29]
Kaufman Footwear was a Kitchener, Ontario-based shoe company. It was known for its Sorel brand.
Skechers USA, Inc. is an American multinational footwear and apparel company. Headquartered in Manhattan Beach, California, it was founded in 1992 and is the third largest footwear brand in the United States.
New Balance Athletics, Inc. (NB), best known as simply New Balance, is one of the world's major sports footwear and apparel manufacturers. Based in Boston, Massachusetts, the multinational corporation was founded in 1906 as the New Balance Arch Support Company.
Gertrude Boyle was a German-born American businesswoman in the U.S. state of Oregon. After her family fled Nazi Germany, her father founded the business that became Columbia Sportswear, where in 1970, she became company president. She remained president until 1988 and additionally, was chairwoman of the company's board of directors from 1983 until her death in 2019. Starting in the 1980s, she appeared in a series of advertisements for Columbia Sportswear with her son, Timothy Boyle, often humorously testing the quality and durability of their products. She was also a philanthropist and memoirist.
The Izod Corporation is an American midrange clothing company that produces dressy-casual clothing, sportswear for men, and footwear and accessories. It is a division of Authentic Brands Group, and is currently marketed and manufactured by Centric Brands under a long-term licensing agreement. Other Izod classics include the Harrington jacket G-9 model and V-neck and cardigan sweaters. Today, the closest competitor of the Izod brand is the Chaps brand owned by Ralph Lauren Corporation, while the U.S. Polo Assn. brand is also an indirect competitor.
Jo-Ann Stores, LLC, more commonly known as Jo-Ann, is an American haberdashery and mercery based in Hudson, Ohio. It operates the retail chains JOANN Fabrics and Crafts and Jo-Ann Etc. The headquarters of the company is located in the former General Motors Terex plant.
Sportswear or activewear is athletic clothing, including footwear, worn for sports activity or physical exercise. Sport-specific clothing is worn for most sports and physical exercise, for practical, comfort or safety reasons.
Reebok International Limited is an American fitness footwear and clothing brand that is a part of Authentic Brands Group. It was established in England in 1958 as a companion company to J.W. Foster and Sons, a sporting goods company which had been founded in 1895 in Bolton, Lancashire. From 1958 until 1986, the brand featured the flag of the United Kingdom in its logo to signify the origins of the company. It was bought by German sporting goods company Adidas in 2005, then sold to the United States-based Authentic Brands Group in 2021. The company's global headquarters are located in Boston, Massachusetts, in the Seaport District.
Columbia Montrail is a sub-brand of Columbia Sportswear that manufactures and distributes shoes for trail running, hiking, and general long-distance running.
The New Venture Championship (NVC) is an international entrepreneurial investment competition for graduate students presented by the University of Oregon's Lundquist Center for Entrepreneurship.
Mountain Hardwear is a subsidiary of Columbia Sportswear based in Richmond, California that manufactures and distributes apparel, accessories and equipment primarily for the high performance needs of mountaineering enthusiasts and outdoor athletes, as well as for consumers who are inspired by the outdoor lifestyle.
Nike, Inc. is an American athletic footwear and apparel corporation headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon, United States. It is the world's largest supplier of athletic shoes and apparel and a major manufacturer of sports equipment, with revenue in excess of US$46 billion in its fiscal year 2022.
Anta Sports Products Limited is a Chinese sports equipment multinational corporation headquartered in Jinjiang, China. It is the world's largest sports equipment company by revenue and third-largest manufacturer of sporting goods overall, behind Nike and Adidas.
Timothy P. Boyle is an American billionaire, and the president and CEO of Columbia Sportswear.
Sorel is a subsidiary of Columbia Sportswear based in Portland, Oregon that manufactures and distributes shoes.
Swire Resources is a Hong Kong retail company specialising in sports apparel, swimwear, and footwear. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Swire Pacific, itself a subsidiary of Swire Group.
Hildegard Lamfrom was a German-American molecular biologist/biochemist. She helped develop one of the first in-vitro translation systems, using rabbit reticulocyte lysate to study protein synthesis in a cell-free context. This allowed her to make a number of contributions to the field including providing some of the first direct evidence for the existence of messenger RNA (mRNA) as a protein template, as well as the existence of polyribosomes.
On Holding AG is an athletic shoe and performance sportswear company originating in Switzerland that designs and markets sports clothing and running shoes.
↑ Accettola, Anna (October 16, 2012). Wadhwani, R. Daniel (ed.). "Gertrude Boyle". Immigrant Entrepreneurship: German-American Business Biographies, 1720 to the Present. 5. German Historical Institute. Archived from the original on May 3, 2016. Retrieved November 3, 2019.
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