Who Will Be The 2026 Outdoor Industry Comeback Brand Of The Year?
- colin7931
- 1 day ago
- 43 min read
Today Colin and the Monday Boys (outdoor industry insider Eoin Comerford and brand & creative expert Producer Dave) talk through some stories making waves in the outdoor industry before predicting who will be the "Mountain Hardwear of 2026".
Here's the rundown!
Listener Mailbag! We hear from a new outdoor retailer and long time industry vet about last Monday's episode. (03:55)
Backcountry acquires Portland cycling retailer a month after acquiring a different retailer in SLC. What's the strategy? (10:48)
The Rock Fight Lightning Round! This weeks topics: On's new weight training shoe, Nike ACG is back... again, happy birthday Kula Cloth! (16:07)
Friends of The Rock Fight! Please support this weeks partners: Fjallraven, Lems Shoes, Royal Robbins, and ENDVR. (20:45)
Presenting the candidates for the "2026 Mountain Hardwear Comeback Player Of The Year Award". Hardwear was the toast of the industry in 2025, who will fill that role in 2026? We make the case for and against 10 big brands in the outdoor industry and then predict who we think will take home the top prize. (24:00)
For The Parting Shot we bid farewell to NW Alpine who announced last week that they would be shutting down. (50:00)
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Episode Transcript:
Colin True
00:00:00.160 - 00:01:20.970
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00:01:21.130 - 00:01:41.110
Be a shop floor hero. Endeavor's here to stay. Shop floor hero. Sell through is the way. Hey. Rock fight. Rock fight. Rock fight. Rock fight. Rock fight. Rock fight.
Colin True
00:01:42.470 - 00:02:00.470
Welcome to the Rock Fight where we speak our truth, slay sacred cows, and sometimes agree to disagree. This is an outdoor podcast that aims for the head.
I'm Colin Tru, and joining me today, you can find them on the road this fall doing their two man outdoor industry dance review. It's the Monday Boys, Owen Cupperford and producer Dave.
Eoin Comerford
00:02:01.030 - 00:02:02.220
Okay, I know.
Producer Dave
00:02:02.530 - 00:02:04.890
No, I thought there was a sound effect that went with that.
Eoin Comerford
00:02:04.890 - 00:02:12.130
Well, this is kept back in post. I did. Okay, so is there. Is this like a river dance kind of scenario or what do we do?
Colin True
00:02:12.130 - 00:02:13.170
See, I knew we'd get there.
Eoin Comerford
00:02:13.170 - 00:02:13.890
I knew we'd get there.
Producer Dave
00:02:13.890 - 00:02:17.450
I thought all roads lead back to Riverdance with Owen.
Eoin Comerford
00:02:17.450 - 00:02:18.050
Come on.
Colin True
00:02:19.810 - 00:02:20.930
That was a thing, though.
Eoin Comerford
00:02:22.610 - 00:02:23.970
It was an absolute thing.
Producer Dave
00:02:23.970 - 00:02:24.330
Yes.
Eoin Comerford
00:02:24.330 - 00:02:27.090
I don't understand how it ever became a thing, but it was a thing.
Colin True
00:02:28.710 - 00:02:59.740
All right. Hey, some programming reminders before we get into today's episode.
Tomorrow, Tuesday, Doug Schnitzbahn opens the container like he always does on Tuesdays. And his guest this week is Kristen Miller from the Alaska Wilderness League. Don't miss that conversation.
On Thursday, you'll get an all new episode of Gear Abbey with host Shante Salibair. So make sure you're following both open container and Gear Abbey.
So along with the Rock Fight, you can get all of the outdoor audio content you've ever wanted. And hey Dave, how can our listeners, if they want to get more from the Rock Fight, what should they do?
Producer Dave
00:02:59.970 - 00:03:11.330
Right. If that's not enough, you can always go to Rockfight Co and sign up for the newsletter. It's sometimes timely, sometimes present, sometimes both.
But it's there.
Colin True
00:03:11.330 - 00:03:15.810
Rockfight Co. Oh, and if our listeners want to reach out to us, what do you recommend they do?
Eoin Comerford
00:03:16.690 - 00:03:31.250
First of all, I would certainly think they should email us@myrockfightmail.com youm can also reach out on LinkedIn just search up Rock Fight or on Instagram where we are rockfightco all one word and you can follow along there. Or send us a dm.
Colin True
00:03:31.930 - 00:03:41.530
And if you have a question for Gear Abby, you can send it to dear gearabbymail.com that's the other new address. You can also send it to myrockvite. But we do have an address for Gear Abbey now, so do that.
Eoin Comerford
00:03:42.250 - 00:03:51.210
And hey guys, extra points for coming up with clever names for yourself to be introduced on the show. Yes, that's true.
Producer Dave
00:03:51.210 - 00:03:53.050
Trail names get extra weight.
Colin True
00:03:53.290 - 00:03:54.170
That's true, actually.
Producer Dave
00:03:54.490 - 00:03:54.970
Yeah.
Colin True
00:03:55.450 - 00:04:57.990
All right, so we're start off the show with a quick mailbag. We got a lot of feedback on last week's episode about Summit Hut closing and the state of outdoor retail.
First email I want to address today is from Todd Buckley, who is the owner of Town to Trail Outfitters in Brighton, Michigan. And Todd writes, we are a new shop coming up on one year in business.
When I met with reps 10 months before opening and told them that I wanted our new shop to be 50% hard goods and 50% apparel, all of them told me it wouldn't work. So we shifted to our plans to be a 15 to 85 split. We opened to a great response and have continued to listen to what our customers are asking.
We we are still shifting every day, but wanted to share the bullet points of what our shop looks like. They have I'm going to kind of breeze through this. They have hard goods for hiking, camping, backpacking. They wanted to have some of that.
A blend of technical and lifestyle clothing from brands like Patagonia Cool or flylo and a bunch of others. They carry darn tough and fit socks. So flying in the face of my smart wool thing, you gotta have smartwool. Apparently no smart wool at this shop.
This week they're adding Lem's Danner and Merrell after only carrying Olakai initially, apparently. Owen, you had a hand in that.
Eoin Comerford
00:04:58.590 - 00:05:10.270
Well, yeah. I mean, that was one of the things. One of my big pieces. You have to have footwear. Footwear is like the milk of an outdoor store. Right.
You have it on the back wall. It's there, it's present, it drives repeat customers. You gotta have footwear.
Colin True
00:05:10.670 - 00:05:53.340
It's the show. Right? You gotta have show. It's the centerpiece of the store. And they also have a 20 seat bar. Dave at the back of the shop. I know this is getting.
Dave just perked up. He's like, what? Let's go. This sounds like the best gear shop of all time. They have eight beers on tap. Wine, bourbon, tequila and other drinks.
And they do a lot of events as well. He says while it's a. He closes with saying by saying a while. A part of me is bummed that I can't geek out on more fun hard goods in our store.
I realize we need to stock what will sell. I think this email goes a long way in kind of supporting a lot of what we both said.
Even maybe when you and I are kind of on opposing sides of the coin there, Owen. Right. I mean, it's a smaller assortment, but they're keeping the vibe. But also recognizing the things that makes a gear shop special.
Eoin Comerford
00:05:54.290 - 00:06:34.090
And it's not a huge store. I'd estimate it's about 3,000 square feet. So that also plays into it a little bit. You need to definitely get sku productivity in a store that size.
And you can't possibly cover all the things that people need from a gear perspective there.
And it's also, it's in a really sort of cute downtown y walkable setting where there's people out and about getting a cappuccino and doing that sort of thing. So it is more of that walk by person who would come in and maybe buy, you know, more of a lifestyle type piece on an infl.
On an impulse versus a destination store where they're coming to get, you know, a water filter or a backpacking stove.
Producer Dave
00:06:34.330 - 00:07:02.980
Look, I think it's, you know, of course, I think it's great. I think just like you said, creating the vibe, a place where people can hang out and talk shop. Whether their gear is present there.
They're going to be talking about gear, where to go, what to do with it. You know, this is a gear shop with a bar. Why not a bar with a gear shop?
Like, I mean, why can't we go the other direction and Just diversify our alcoholic holdings and then have a few items for sale. But I think it's great.
Colin True
00:07:03.540 - 00:07:41.950
Next email we got was from Barry Scrimsher who has been an outdoor industry staple for many brands over the years. And Barry writes into us.
It was good to quantify versus feeling it with Owen's ranking system, but I would like to see the unreleased tier 3 of brands from the outdoor brand scorecard that was not revealed. There will be an interesting Typero group here. Almost there, but kind of almost off the high wire.
Interest in T3 was piqued by the reprieve uplifting from T4 of Mountain Hardware into T3 after Troy calling in a clarification to escape the bottom. Somewhat of a head scratcher there. Barry writes. I mean are we gonna. Is this like release the Snyder cut? Are we gonna say before we do.
Producer Dave
00:07:41.950 - 00:07:51.090
This we just wanna know. T3 was the focus of a lot of conspiracy conversations over the last week. So I think Owen, if you could clear this up for us, that would be great.
Eoin Comerford
00:07:51.330 - 00:07:51.650
Yeah.
Colin True
00:07:51.650 - 00:08:05.090
And if you missed last week's episode, Owen created a ranking system for the engagement that brands have with their retailers and kind of gave them a score based on a certain set of criteria. If you missed it, I'll link last week's episode in the show notes. You can go back and check it out so you can hear all about what he's about to say.
Eoin Comerford
00:08:05.330 - 00:09:06.640
All right. Okay, I will. So again from this is T3 from the best scoring to the lowest scoring. So we've got Hoka which was a surprise in T3.
I thought for sure Hoku would be actually top of the list because typically those better higher demand type brands are up there. But no, I mean they've got a 10% email discount. They really don't have any kind of promo on there for their, for their dealers on their. On their pdp.
So yeah, they were in there as a tier three, the North Face, also tier three. No email sign up which is really, I think really good for North Face.
But they were very kind of salesy otherwise and didn't really support the dealer much. I think we talked about this. Viori was tier 3, 20% email signup discount. That one was surprising to me.
And no real retailer support on the PDP Merrell. Not entirely shocking. Mountain Hardware was in here then with having moved into.
Colin True
00:09:06.640 - 00:09:08.400
So the revised rankings for hardware, right?
Eoin Comerford
00:09:08.400 - 00:09:45.060
Exactly. Yep. MSR and Therm a rest same score, same. They basically share a web architecture. Originally I had Black diamond in here which was like.
That surprised me. I went back and checked. And actually at least when I checked today, they did have a dealer locator on the pdp.
So I don't know if I just missed it or if they had it turned off during their Labor Day sale or something like that. But because they're sort of a friend of the pod, we'll give them the benefit of the doubt. So that moves them up to tier 2. So FYI.
And then finally and probably not surprisingly, Hydro Flask is here kind of at the bottom of tier three.
Producer Dave
00:09:45.220 - 00:09:48.660
These main sale messages, these were pre Labor Day.
Eoin Comerford
00:09:49.220 - 00:10:11.780
They were. So there's a chance that some of these, if we redid it today, we'll get a cleaner score.
So I think one of the plans would be to maybe revisit this more at the peak of season, let's say, I don't know, late September where it's not in any way considered a sale element. And then we'll come back and maybe give people a little bit of a.
Colin True
00:10:11.780 - 00:10:14.100
Bump there and then do it on Thanksgiving Day.
Eoin Comerford
00:10:15.650 - 00:10:17.330
No, Black Friday.
Producer Dave
00:10:17.490 - 00:10:18.210
The next day.
Eoin Comerford
00:10:19.250 - 00:10:20.010
The next day.
Producer Dave
00:10:20.010 - 00:10:22.050
That's a, that's an awful score, Colin.
Colin True
00:10:22.290 - 00:10:24.410
I mean, everyone's got a zero. What happened?
Producer Dave
00:10:24.410 - 00:10:25.810
Right? Oh my gosh.
Eoin Comerford
00:10:25.970 - 00:10:37.010
Well, it would be interesting to see if like, you know, on Black Friday do brands turn off their, their, you know, their local dealer listings on pdps and that kind of thing to really drive, you know, to, to drive that, that volume.
Producer Dave
00:10:38.930 - 00:10:47.380
You know what brands on Black Friday are like a shark when its eyes roll back in its head, they can't see anything as they just go to gobble up that consumer.
Colin True
00:10:48.180 - 00:11:32.270
All right, let's get into our first story of the week.
So per sgbbackcountry.com who last year, as was first reported here on the Rock Fight, was acquired by CSC Generation, well, they've made some acquisitions of their own. In July, Backcountry bought Utah retailer Level 9 Sports.
And then last week Backcountry purchased Velotech Inc. Envelotech is a Portland based cycling retailer that is the parent of three other bike focused retail outlets, Bike Tires, Direct Trisports and Western Bike Works.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but in a statement, Backcountry said that the move strengthens Backcountry's position in the growing US Cycling market and broadens its ability to serve riders nationwide. It's kind of an interesting move here. Owen, what were your initial thoughts on, I guess both acquisitions by Backcountry?
Eoin Comerford
00:11:32.890 - 00:12:58.290
When I first heard about the Level 9 sports one, I figured it was Just them being opportunistic. Reportedly Level nine had been going through some problems, so it was. I think it was probably a bit of a sweetheart deal for them.
It's in their hometown of Salt Lake City. So I'm like, eh, okay, sure. Just opportunistic. But now that they're going after a second acquisition, that's a bit of a different place.
So is this the start of maybe more of a wider retail roll up strateg, which. Which I think would be really fun if it is. You know, it's. It's been tried before, I would say, and it's been challenging.
So like, I don't know if you guys remember the Finish line. And. And those was called Jackrabbit in New York. Exactly. They bought up a whole bunch of stores. I was like seven, 60, 50, 60 stores.
I think at one point that didn't go particularly well, at least for the finish line. It ultimately got sold to Fleet Foot. Fleet feet, sorry World tried to do something in the outdoor space.
They bought up Rock Creek, Air One, Uncle Dan's, the House. That did not go well. And they ultimately, you know, so. So it closed a few stores and then sort of sold what was left to Gearhead Outfitters.
So, you know, it's an interesting play. I think there are opportunities here, but the question is, is this the. The route they're going?
Colin True
00:12:58.930 - 00:13:19.230
I feel like if we had been around when Finish Line bought all those specialty run shops, we would have been like. That would have been like three months of episodes. We just never would have stopped talking about it.
That was such a big deal that there was no podcast. You know, when we talked about the sale of Back country, I think you posited that perhaps they were building towards a marketplace model.
I mean, does this move even fit that goal?
Eoin Comerford
00:13:19.710 - 00:14:12.950
Yeah, I mean it might get them some more brands, but I don't. I don't think so.
If I had to guess, I would say that they potentially underestimated the issues with being a pure play e commerce platform for other brands. It's a tough play with all of the D2C and all the rest of it.
And maybe they're realizing, hey, we need some brick and mortar here to kind of offset the whole thing. And I'm not entirely sure how much brick and mortar is in the latest acquisition.
Obviously Level nine had quite a bit of brick and mortar, but maybe that's it. They're looking for more of a balanced approach where they can. Because online is very price sensitive.
Margins are tight where you've got all Those customer acquisition costs, retail, brick and mortar retail is a little bit better and more stable from the sales and retail and margin perspective.
Producer Dave
00:14:13.030 - 00:14:27.510
So you're saying as an, as a brand, outdoor branded retailer, the idea of betting everything into just a D2C play, not having an IRL presence, if you will, is a weakness?
Eoin Comerford
00:14:27.830 - 00:15:01.380
No, what I'm saying is being an, an online, I mean, I love being not online e commerce player where you're not selling your own brand, where you're selling a bunch of other brands and you're going up against the Amazons of the world and the D2C entities of those same brands. It's just changed a lot over the last 10 to 15 years in terms of pricing, in terms of competition, customer acquisition costs. The numbers are.
It's tough to make it work from a profitability perspective.
Colin True
00:15:01.820 - 00:15:22.540
Well, and it's an interesting move. I mean, road cycling, I think cycling in general is kind of a, I don't know, it's a fraught category, maybe, I don't know if that's the right word.
But you know, there are successes one can point to, but when you look at it in comparison to run and outdoor, it's much less consistent.
I mean, do you believe that making cycling, specifically road cycling, part of its rebuild strategy is a wise path for a retailer or a brand like backcountry?
Eoin Comerford
00:15:22.780 - 00:16:02.470
Obviously the category has been at a tough time the last, what, two, three years? And it doesn't look like things are getting better very quickly.
But that also leads to opportunity in terms of being able to probably snap up some assets out there at a pretty, pretty low cost. Also, backcountry does have competitive cyclists, so they are already, they're already a leader in the space.
So this could potentially build upon that leadership area.
And I wonder to what degree some of these entities are going to actually be rebranded to competitive cyclists to get more of a, more of a footprint out there.
Colin True
00:16:02.710 - 00:16:33.600
Well, we'll keep an eye on backcountry. It's always an interesting when we get to talk about them, but in the meantime, let's get into the lightning round.
First up in The Lightning Round, ON has released its first ever weight training shoe. The CloudPulse Pro is specifically designed to be used in the gym.
Oh, and given that weight training shoes are a pretty much bullshit category, is this a sign that ON has gotten as big as we're going to see them get in the running space and they're looking for other ways to grow?
Eoin Comerford
00:16:35.200 - 00:16:40.640
First of all, I have a problem with you saying the weight Training shoes are a bullshit category.
Colin True
00:16:40.960 - 00:16:42.960
As Matt Powell wrote about that once.
Eoin Comerford
00:16:42.960 - 00:17:06.070
I think as a proud owner of some Nike. I'm wearing them right now because I worked at before the show. As a proud owner of some Nike metconsult. That's a different animals.
You need a different sort of platform when you're, when you're, when you're doing weightlifting in terms of, you know, compression, stability, et cetera. So first of all, I don't, I don't buy that it's a bullshit category.
Producer Dave
00:17:06.070 - 00:17:08.950
Do you wear Under Armour? Do you wear Under Armour tops with that?
Eoin Comerford
00:17:09.350 - 00:17:10.950
I do not. This is a.
Colin True
00:17:11.030 - 00:17:12.150
Do you protect this house?
Eoin Comerford
00:17:12.390 - 00:17:48.410
Yeah. No, I don't need to look like a sausage. That's just not a good look for me. Nobody wants to see that.
But and on this, on your second point, no, this is, this does not mean that they are totally out of juice. I mean they have, they have a lot long way to go.
Their trailing twelve month revenue is about $3 billion which is, you know, that's a chunk of change. But you Compare that to 46 billion for Nike and they were, you know, recently at 60 billion or 25 billion for Adidas.
I would say on has plenty of room to grow.
Colin True
00:17:48.800 - 00:18:14.030
Next up for the lightning round, hey, get ready to gag outdoor brand purists because Nike is making legitimate waves in the ultra running world. Caleb Wilson won western states in Nike's ACG new Radical Airflow shirt and their new Ultrafly Trail Super Shoe Dave. ACG was introduced in 1989.
Has had many ups and downs but Nike always returns to it whenever they get the bug to do something outdoorsy. What can other brands learn from that sort of commitment?
Producer Dave
00:18:16.500 - 00:18:21.940
Reach 40 to 50 million billion dollars and then you can do whatever you want whenever you want to.
Colin True
00:18:22.020 - 00:18:24.060
That's it. That's all you gotta do, right?
Producer Dave
00:18:24.060 - 00:19:43.460
Right. No, look, I don't think there was anything thought out about it.
I think it was, you know, they launched with great fanfare in the 80s and 90s and made interesting products. Kind of disrupted from a fashion perspective. And then in the 2000s lost focus on it. Just didn't care frankly.
And then when they did bring it back, they brought it back as this weird, I think is weird kind of tech, urban kind of outdoor thing that they had going on.
And then I don't know, seven, eight years ago somebody else comes back in to run it and decides to pivot back to more traditional outdoor still with a fashion forward sense to it and take that now to even where they are today. I think now there's new leadership and they're even cranking that up.
And I think that's part of Nike's kind of broader strategy of more athlete focus, more kind of core sport focus. So run's going to get a lot of attention and basketball probably gets some more attention.
And I think ACG is one of those platforms they've kind of designated as. We're going to get back to it. And so what can you learn from that?
Like Nike getting back to it, rebranding their trail team to what is all conditions racing department starting. Like you said, Filter these stories about innovation if anybody's going to do it. We've said this before.
Nike gets serious about a category, they are going to move the needle in the category, no question.
Colin True
00:19:43.860 - 00:20:09.830
Lastly, for the Lightning round, a hearty happy birthday today to Kula Cloth. In a belated post on LinkedIn, founder Anastasia Allison celebrated the seventh birthday of her brand, Kula Cloth.
Her post closes with her remarking, when I first decided to start a p cloth company, I thought I'd be the laughing stock of the outdoor industry. But I did it anyway. Now, seven years later, I simply could not be more proud. Proud.
Owen, what can other founders or potential founders take away from Anastasia's mindset?
Eoin Comerford
00:20:10.710 - 00:20:42.960
If they have a problem in their outdoor life that isn't being solved by current products after they do their homework, if it isn't being solved, then maybe there is an opportunity to innovate.
And I think that's especially true if you're not a skinny white guy because the industry has been focused on supplying all of the needs for the skinny white guys guy.
But if you're, if you're a woman, if you're plus size, what have you, there's a, there's a pretty decent chance that the industry hasn't done a good job and there could be an opportunity there to, to, to provide a new product.
Colin True
00:20:43.600 - 00:21:33.410
All right, let's take a quick break here for some sponsors and then we'll be back with the main event just in time for fall. We're happy to introduce a new sponsor to the rock fight, Fjall Raven. Because you can't fial without Fjall Raven.
And there's crickets on the other zooms. Fall. Okay, fall doesn't get nearly enough credit for hiking guys. Everyone thinks summer's the season, but for hikers, autumn is the real deal.
Cooler days, quieter trails, more space. And fall is exactly what Fjallraven's keb collection is built for.
Born from trekking in northern Sweden, Their jackets, fleeces, trousers let you focus on nature. All specifically designed to make cold optional.
So check out the whole Kebb collection by clicking on the link in the show notes or search for it when you head to fjallraven.com where your fall begins.
Eoin Comerford
00:21:34.130 - 00:21:38.050
I'm excited about having this as a new sponsor here. Yeah, right.
Colin True
00:21:39.010 - 00:21:39.890
You are on the record.
Eoin Comerford
00:21:40.210 - 00:21:40.690
Exactly.
Colin True
00:21:40.690 - 00:21:42.530
You should be very excited actually about this.
Eoin Comerford
00:21:42.930 - 00:21:45.570
I think there should be some samples coming my way is what I think.
Producer Dave
00:21:46.690 - 00:21:47.250
That's right.
Colin True
00:21:47.490 - 00:21:52.380
Let's do that again. Just in time for fall, we're happy to introduce Owen's new closet. That's right.
Producer Dave
00:21:52.940 - 00:21:53.540
That's right.
Eoin Comerford
00:21:53.540 - 00:21:53.980
Yes.
Colin True
00:21:54.540 - 00:22:36.430
All right. The main event on today's episode of the Rock Fight is presented by Lem's shoes.
As the summer season wraps up, now's a great time to get ready for fall with Lem's. From easygoing slip ons and refined leather lace ups to tough trail ready boots, Lem's offers footwear for every occasion and their fit is unmatched.
If you've never experienced the fit of a pair of Lem's, hey man, I just feel sorry for you. Built with comfort, durability and versatility at the core, their collection is ready to take you wherever the season leads.
And with fresh, exciting styles just around the corner, be sure to stay tuned. But in the meantime, head to lemzhoes.com right now to get your feet into the best fitting shoe you've ever worn.
And apparently you can go to town to trail outfitters in Brighton, Michigan to get your Lem's pretty soon, if not already. So.
Eoin Comerford
00:22:36.430 - 00:22:37.030
That's right.
Colin True
00:22:38.150 - 00:22:42.630
All right guys, pop quiz. What animals kill the most humans every year?
Producer Dave
00:22:42.870 - 00:22:43.910
Rhinoceros.
Colin True
00:22:45.210 - 00:22:45.850
No, no.
Producer Dave
00:22:46.730 - 00:22:47.450
Buffalo.
Colin True
00:22:47.930 - 00:22:50.970
It is. It is. Yellowstone tourists petting bison.
Producer Dave
00:22:51.610 - 00:22:55.290
That's right. They're a killer in the national park system.
Colin True
00:22:55.530 - 00:22:57.610
Oh, and you got a guess, it's cats.
Eoin Comerford
00:22:57.610 - 00:23:01.930
Because just out of pure boredom, Dave's lived this long.
Colin True
00:23:01.930 - 00:23:42.130
Guys know it's mosquitoes. That's an actual true thing. They kill more humans every year. Right?
And like the Dalai Lama once said, if you think you're too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito. But I doubt the Dalai Lama was sleeping in an Amp Light long sleeved shirt from Royal Robbins.
Because the Amp Lite long sleeve, like everything in Royal's MPT collection, has mosquito protection technology relying on protection through construction. MPT is the chemical free solution to mosquito free days in the outdoors.
So to shop the entire MPT collection from royal Robins and stay bite free in these waning days of summer. Head to royalrobbins.com I gotta say, Colin.
Producer Dave
00:23:42.130 - 00:23:49.970
I think mosquito protection technology makes me feel like witness protection. Are you sure this isn't protecting the mosquitoes from the humans?
Colin True
00:23:49.970 - 00:23:52.730
Dude, you're blowing it. They're gonna. Everyone's gonna know where the mosquitoes are.
Eoin Comerford
00:23:54.010 - 00:23:55.130
That's right.
Producer Dave
00:23:55.610 - 00:23:56.730
We blew their cover.
Colin True
00:23:56.890 - 00:23:58.210
They're out there with Henry Hill.
Producer Dave
00:23:58.210 - 00:24:01.210
Hey, whatever. You know what? If it keeps them off ya, good on you.
Colin True
00:24:02.090 - 00:25:16.870
Okay, for the main topic today, we're at the beginning of the fall winter 2026 selling season. Brands and reps are gathering for sales meetings to see new products and fret.
Retailers are getting ready to meet with those reps and brands and continue to fret about tariffs in the fall Season is the biggest part of the outdoor industry. Stuff making calendar. So as we look ahead, we wanted to try and figure out who the comeback player of the year for next year will be. For 2025.
It was obviously Mountain Hardware. Hardware was not doing all that great not that long ago.
But after a shift in strategy by their parent company Columbia, and solid execution by again, Troy's getting a lot of play around here these days, guys. Troy Saikat and his team. Many will tell you that the assortment and branding of Mountain Hardware has been a true return to form.
So today we're going to try and figure out who we'll be gushing over this time next year. So we decided to focus on big brands, mostly because they publish their financials and we can track how they're doing.
So maybe next week we do like a rookie of the year prediction so we can do something similar for emerging brands. Maybe we could do that. But before I go through who the candidates are, I want to say that I think I may take Black diamond off the list. Okay.
We were talking about them. They were the odds on favorite. Todd Frank on the show was like just, oh, yeah, it's Black Diamond.
I don't even think it's a competition with them on there. Do we need to replace them?
Eoin Comerford
00:25:17.990 - 00:25:26.150
That gives us a chance to be right, you know, like we can, you know, have these really great insights and then next year we go, oh, we were so insightful about that.
Colin True
00:25:26.470 - 00:25:26.950
Exactly.
Eoin Comerford
00:25:26.950 - 00:25:34.630
Now you're, now you're going to make me, like, choose somebody that really doesn't have a chance to have a gum. Oh, God. Okay.
Colin True
00:25:34.710 - 00:25:36.670
They all have a chance, Owen. They all have a chance.
Eoin Comerford
00:25:36.670 - 00:25:40.610
Okay, I'm sorry. You're right, you're right. They all have a chance. No, no, you're right.
Producer Dave
00:25:40.610 - 00:25:46.050
I Like this, you know, it's like next year jackets are going to have sleeves. That's my trend prediction.
Colin True
00:25:46.130 - 00:25:53.010
We, you're right. We should keep in mind it's. It is this little like, well, I think the Chiefs are going to make it to the Super Bowl.
It's like, oh, wow, way to go out on a limb.
Eoin Comerford
00:25:53.490 - 00:25:57.050
So, okay, fine, fine, we'll take them off the list.
Colin True
00:25:57.050 - 00:26:59.210
But okay, we, we'll talk about it, we'll put them at the bottom. Then we maybe have some other choices as like backups.
But the, the brands we're going to be reviewing today are Marmot, Columbia, Nike, Chaco, Under Armour, the North Face Vans, Hydro Flask, Prana, Solo Stove and Black Diamond. So here's how we're going to do this.
I'm going to introduce each one, kind of make a light case for why they'll be the toast of the industry in 26 and what the case against them is. And then you guys can weigh in and we're going to start with Marmot.
I think the case for Marmot that we know that they have some good pragmatic leadership for the first time in a while in John Graden, who's been on the show, updated product assortment and a strong legacy that they can lean into the case against them. I can speak from some emails I got after that John Graden interview that we did.
There's a lack of trust with buyers, so if anyone's listening, they know who they are. Ownership could pivot at any moment. They're owned by Newell, which we know is probably the biggest risk here for them.
And obviously there's a poor ranking on Owen's, you know, the commer meter. The commer meter.
Eoin Comerford
00:27:00.410 - 00:27:03.680
We are not calling it the comer meter.
Producer Dave
00:27:04.080 - 00:27:05.200
Owen index, scale.
Colin True
00:27:05.200 - 00:27:07.120
The Owen Scale, The Owen Index, whatever.
Producer Dave
00:27:07.120 - 00:27:08.000
The Owen index.
Colin True
00:27:08.720 - 00:27:10.080
But they do rank poorly.
Eoin Comerford
00:27:10.320 - 00:27:20.720
Maybe I'll go with the Owen index, but it needs to be something less about me and more about the retailers. But we'll figure something out. But it's not the comma meter. The love of all that's holy.
Colin True
00:27:21.680 - 00:27:25.840
Do we think Marmon has a chance to be the comeback player of the year in 2026?
Producer Dave
00:27:27.120 - 00:27:29.920
Let me just clarify, Colin. Everyone has a chance.
Eoin Comerford
00:27:32.080 - 00:27:34.860
A good chance, a chance.
Producer Dave
00:27:35.500 - 00:27:37.740
Right? I'll leave Owen to answer that.
Colin True
00:27:38.220 - 00:27:38.620
Right.
Eoin Comerford
00:27:39.420 - 00:28:33.830
Maybe. I think what they. They absolutely have their, their heritage to, to lean. Lean back on. I think there is a lot of love for the brand.
Maybe in 27, to do it by 26. I think it's, it's really tough to turn around a brand, especially given the like 18 month product development cycles that we have.
And yeah, I think the whole newel of it all is, is makes it tougher still.
I mean, if the leadership there can really get the parent behind them and let them run free, the way Mountain Hardware, quite frankly has been allowed to run free the last couple, three years, then yes, but even Mountain Harbor, I remember talking to those guys, gosh, five years ago, the comeback that everyone's talking about right now, it was not a one year deal. This was five or six years of hard work.
Colin True
00:28:33.830 - 00:28:39.150
Yeah, it took a liter ago. Right? I mean it was Vernaccio who got it started before Troy took the reign.
Eoin Comerford
00:28:39.390 - 00:28:40.350
Exactly. Yeah.
Colin True
00:28:41.070 - 00:29:09.850
Yeah.
And listen, I'm not going to read the whole thing, but I did get a buyer email and like the short of it is, wasn't very impressed with the collection and he closed the email by saying third season of zero bookings by me. So I think to that point. To that point, exactly. If it's going to happen, it's going to need multiple seasons of improving the product line.
This is really the first effort by John, the season that we're heading into and. Or maybe the second. So it's going to take some time. So I don't think it's going to be marmot.
Producer Dave
00:29:09.930 - 00:29:34.490
I just have to say that product alone is not going to solve the problem you do have. There's a perception issue that's even further ahead of that. There's the public facing of it.
You know, there's just a lot that needs to be done that can be done because of their brand equity and who they are and where they profess to want to be going. But if you don't back that up with some, some bold imaging and perception changing, then it's going to stay where it is. So that barely my right.
Colin True
00:29:34.490 - 00:29:37.290
Give people a reason to buy in other than like, hey, that's because you.
Producer Dave
00:29:37.290 - 00:29:39.530
Know, again, that's hardware also went down that path.
Colin True
00:29:39.610 - 00:30:12.410
Yeah, their creative was really good. All right, next up on the list is Columbia. Right. The case for Columbia. They fueled the hardware comeback so they know the playbook publicly.
They're publicly saying the vibe of their new brand campaign is what they're leaning into for the long haul. That Sutton told Dave and I that last week. I think the case against them is it's a sort of long established entry level brand.
We know they have typically a pretty low adoption rate with specialty retailers when compared to competitors. Not that they don't carry them, but not at the same level as A Patagonia or North Face and a poor ranking on the. What do we say? The Owen, what is it?
The Owen Index.
Producer Dave
00:30:12.570 - 00:30:16.890
Owen Index, right. Look, they own DadCorp. I don't know what you're talking about.
Colin True
00:30:16.970 - 00:30:26.260
That's what it is. So, I mean, I think they're again, probably same thing. We'll see where they are next year.
If they've changed up their mix or if it's just a lot of good talk on the marketing front, I would.
Eoin Comerford
00:30:26.260 - 00:30:59.520
Say there are probably people that come and say, why are we even on this list?
I mean, yes, they've had some up and down quarters, but nowhere near what some of these other folks have seen where it's been negative, negative, negative. Colombia has an absolute war chest in terms of their balance sheet. No debt, a ton of cash. They can go after this.
And if they start to see traction in terms of this ad campaign and the direction they can turn on the taps, I would put them in almost in that sort of black diamond category of almost too easy.
Colin True
00:31:00.240 - 00:31:02.440
Because if they wanted, they could get it.
Eoin Comerford
00:31:02.440 - 00:31:13.680
Yeah, yeah. It's, you know, don't call it a comeback because, you know, they really. Yeah, they're doing okay.
It hasn't been amazing, but it hasn't been amazing for anybody over the last few years.
Colin True
00:31:14.080 - 00:31:44.060
All right, next brand, Nike. Yeah. For the case war. I put their fucking Nike. You just don't bet against Nike.
I mean, like to your point, you said earlier, Dave, like, well, we're going to go for this and just hang on because now we're going for it. I think the case against is probably outdoor specialty.
I mean, if they really lean into Nike, ACG, maybe they can become a contender starting in 2027. But again, maybe that's a year away by saying it'd be for 2026.
Just given the timelines of all this and getting it in the market and all that to make it happen. But I don't know, what do you guys think about Nike?
Eoin Comerford
00:31:44.380 - 00:32:40.620
So that's. It's sort of the opposite of the Columbia one to a degree. Just because they're down, down, down and down. Right.
I mean, it's been negatives for a lot of quarters here and not getting better. I think they were down what, 12% in the most recent quarter.
So part of the problem is that they gave up so much shelf space with the misguided D2C strategy. They gave up so much shelf space that now has been taken up by the onslaught and the Hokas and the new balances of the world. Right.
Those brands aren't just going to give that back. And also the retailers don't want to get back to the days in run specialty where it's 50% of your business.
They'd much rather have it not have a brand like that have that much power over them. So I think it's a toughie.
Colin True
00:32:41.020 - 00:32:44.940
I'm kind of excited in a dark macabre way.
Eoin Comerford
00:32:45.340 - 00:32:49.100
This next one we have Choco directed by Tim Burton.
Producer Dave
00:32:49.630 - 00:32:51.390
Choco, right.
Colin True
00:32:52.190 - 00:32:53.710
I mean it's coming this October.
Producer Dave
00:32:53.710 - 00:32:54.910
Coming this October.
Eoin Comerford
00:32:54.990 - 00:32:56.670
Edward Choco hens.
Producer Dave
00:32:56.830 - 00:32:59.070
That's right. Choco. Choco. Choco.
Colin True
00:32:59.630 - 00:33:07.470
So the case for Choco I think they still have a lot of juice with the core outdoor in terms of like that's the kind of a go to style but I do think that is that juice is fading fast.
Eoin Comerford
00:33:07.470 - 00:33:13.630
I think oh no, the customer base is dying fast is the problem. They're all and getting older.
Colin True
00:33:13.630 - 00:33:14.030
Right.
Producer Dave
00:33:14.350 - 00:33:17.790
I think we found our new Marmot. To be fair, they're real.
Colin True
00:33:18.430 - 00:33:20.750
I think we did include them in our zombie conversation last time.
Producer Dave
00:33:21.210 - 00:33:24.570
To say I hear, I hear brains. Brains.
Colin True
00:33:24.810 - 00:34:26.010
I don't think anyone though is again it's still staying and trying to make the case for no one has really dethroned them as the quintessential sandal for outdoor activities. There are plenty of other options though that have taken them down to peg, especially on the casual side. Okay.
The case against Chaco, I mean declining quality and declining reputation.
Just anecdotally speaking I've heard from actually two pretty core user friends in the past couple weeks asking me my opinion on sandals because they either their, their Chocos broke or they not performing well in certain circumstances. Again, that's anecdotal.
I've heard from some folks in the industry, some reps that I know that there are some decent retailers who are dropping the brand or looking to drop the brand.
And then if you just look at based on the other Wolverine brands on the Owen index, they would probably rank pretty low and not be an attractive ranking low on there is not going to be. There's not going to be something that's going to win you over in the face of those metrics.
So I kind of look at Chaco as yeah, this is the, you know, they're getting the number one draft pick next year. They're the worst record in the league kind of brand almost.
Eoin Comerford
00:34:26.090 - 00:34:49.300
I mean they definitely have sort of that zombie aspect that Dave mentioned and also just a lack of innovation. Right. I think I said this on a prior podcast.
The most exciting thing to come out of Chaco in the last 10 years was when they brought out new straps that you could change out the different colors of your. You know, so you could change them to match your mood.
Colin True
00:34:49.380 - 00:34:50.660
You could custom your eyes.
Eoin Comerford
00:34:50.660 - 00:34:55.260
Yeah, yeah, right. And maybe that's not fair. And I'm sure they've done other things I just haven't heard about.
Producer Dave
00:34:55.260 - 00:34:59.140
No, dude, they did a Grateful Dead collab. Oh. And I can't believe you didn't cite that.
Eoin Comerford
00:34:59.140 - 00:35:01.140
Sorry. Sorry I missed that.
Colin True
00:35:01.140 - 00:35:03.620
But, yeah, man, it's called the Panda Collection.
Eoin Comerford
00:35:04.580 - 00:35:23.000
They suffer a little bit from the kind of. The Teva situation, by which I mean kind of they're the redheaded stepchild.
All that Wolverine wants to talk about, obviously, is Merrill and Saucony. Chaco doesn't even make the earnings call typically. So, Yeah, I think that's. That's part of the problem.
Colin True
00:35:23.640 - 00:36:08.900
We got another one of those on that list coming up shortly as well. So safe to say it's not going to be Chaco. Is our pick for the comeback player of the year next up on the list, Under Armour. So, I mean, I don't know.
Not a lot to say. Like Nike, Under Armour is regrouping, but they've stated they're refocusing on team sports and athletics. You know, long are the.
Long gone are the days of making outdoor priority. I think the case. So that's the case for. I made for them. The case against.
I mean, if you search for trail running on UA's website, which I did this morning, there's like three shoes. They're kind of buried. If you just search for run. And you think trail run would be a bigger deal. Trail run would be a bigger deal for them. If that's.
If they had any plans of playing it outdoors. I, you know, I think it's a long ways off before we see Under Armour coming back into outdoor in a meaningful way.
Eoin Comerford
00:36:10.100 - 00:36:15.140
I. I would agree. They. They really need to protect their house and really.
Producer Dave
00:36:17.120 - 00:36:17.760
Plate, sir.
Colin True
00:36:17.760 - 00:36:18.720
Yes. I respect.
Eoin Comerford
00:36:19.840 - 00:36:56.460
By which we mean just core athletics and sporting goods, so. And just really clean up all the promotional aspect.
They're probably one of the poster children for letting their D2C team run amok in terms of focusing on, you know, CRO conversion rate optimization, where it's like you've got a promo at every corner and it's just. Yeah, yeah. So they just have some work to do to clean it up in terms of that, in terms of inventory, in terms of distribution.
Not to say they can't do all those things. I just don't think they're going to. It's all going to turn around the next six to 12 months.
Colin True
00:36:58.220 - 00:37:13.420
Next up, the North Face. I think for the case 4. I don't really know if they need to come back. I kind of feel like they're just a pretty consistent presence.
The case against, I mean, it's kind of the same thing. They may not surge at the top of the charts, but they certainly at the. At the bottom either. I mean, maybe just a firm staple at this point.
Eoin Comerford
00:37:13.820 - 00:37:40.480
I don't like similar to Columbia. I don't think that they really do belong on this list.
I mean, yes, they've had some bumpy quarters of late, but I mean, I think they were up 6% last quarter. They're not. I mean, if you look at the VF House, North Face is not the problem. It's who we're going to talk about next. And maybe Dickies as well.
But no, I think it would be to say they're going to make a comeback next year. No, it's already kind of happened. I don't think we can have them on the list.
Colin True
00:37:40.720 - 00:37:52.540
Yeah, the most we talked about the North Face this year on this show was the skims collab, which sold out, by the way, and basically became a core versus casual conversation or whatever. And I don't think anybody dropped them because of it. So I think they're probably doing just fine over there.
Eoin Comerford
00:37:52.700 - 00:37:53.180
Yeah.
Colin True
00:37:53.260 - 00:38:17.450
To your point, the next brand, vans. The case four is these could be vans, could be the sleeper. Sort of. Nobody believes in US Team. Right.
The Footwear News recently reported that vulcanized rubber sneakers are coming back potentially. Like just said, they're maybe starting to see that happening.
I think the case against is if that larger trend doesn't return, like why the hell would vans be picked up by any outdoor retailers in a big way in 2026? Probably not likely.
Eoin Comerford
00:38:18.080 - 00:38:21.040
So the Warped Tour is back. So they've got that going for them.
Colin True
00:38:21.120 - 00:38:22.400
Yeah, they have four stops.
Eoin Comerford
00:38:24.560 - 00:38:28.440
I was never a big Warped Tour person. There was a lot of stops before then.
Colin True
00:38:28.440 - 00:38:37.920
Oh yeah. It was like a. Every major city kind of tour. And this year they. They did like they did Long beach here in California, D.C. and like two other stops.
I think so.
Producer Dave
00:38:38.080 - 00:39:27.800
No, I think with vans though, you've got the outdoor piece, which is always that little subsection, but that's going to rely on the rest of the brand and the trend moving back into their kind of vulcanized camp. Right. And so will this next generation continue to, you know, adopt? And kind of to me, it's the vans Is, is like denim. It's like a T shirt.
It's just part of the American kind of youth culture or at least the look of that, whether it be a vans or not, the slip on the skate style, the, the vulcanized style. So there's the place for it.
And as they rise then they're able to look into the different categories and, and you know, now by now you could look back on their heritage and say, yeah, they've kind of got a history of dabbling in outdoor consistently, so maybe that does provide them a little bit of place to play in the category.
Colin True
00:39:28.040 - 00:39:51.350
But going back to like when we talked about them a couple of weeks ago, like Owen, you mentioned when you were at Moose Jaw, you guys carried vans. Like if that was today and it wasn't really a trend or the demand wasn't there.
And like I mentioned a couple weeks ago that my kids were down on vans.
Like if you could say, hey, we could continue to carry vans or we could bring in another trail runner or something else that was probably more towards our audience and is trending, you're probably going to go that route. I would, I would think, yeah.
Eoin Comerford
00:39:51.350 - 00:40:07.950
I mean in the end of style of an E commerce player, you'd keep them around because you, you, you know, there's some demand out there. But in terms of a. The footwear shelf in your store. Yeah, I mean we, we didn't carry vans in the store. We didn't. We.
It was really only an online player.
Colin True
00:40:08.830 - 00:40:09.190
Right.
Eoin Comerford
00:40:09.190 - 00:40:48.030
Yeah. And I mean, I think that the issue with vans is that it is, let's face it, it's a lifestyle product. It's not really an outdoor product.
Yes, they make snow, you know, snowboard. So the problem with a trendy product is you live by the trend, you die by the trend. Will the trend come back?
Can they reignite that trend all by themselves or are they a victim of just where is the overall sort of surf skate culture going right now? It's not great.
That said, they've been down, down and down in terms of sales, so maybe they find the bottom and get a bounce, but it's a tough spot right now.
Colin True
00:40:48.660 - 00:41:34.000
All right, next up, I'm excited to talk about this one, Hydro Flask. Okay.
And the reason I think the case for Hydro Flask is that post the Stanley boom, I don't think we've really gotten a true championship belt holder in the bottle category.
I think there's been a few brands that have ascended, but not to the heights that now Gene reached or Camelback Sig Hydro Flask, Stanley, these sort of the bottle of the moment heights that we tend. That tended to be the trend over the past decade or so. So maybe Hydro Flask stops selling at Costco and tries to take back the title.
I think the case against I wonder if Stanley was the end of the singular bottle championship and now it remains more of a mixed bag. You know, also, by the way, Hydro Flask ranking low on the Owen index.
But I think, I wonder if that, if that the days of, like the big bottle brand, maybe that just doesn't exist anymore.
Eoin Comerford
00:41:34.400 - 00:42:32.240
I don't know. I mean, we've had quite a few years of it.
Yeah, yeah, Maybe even, you know, people talk about, oh, you know, there's a wall or whatever is coming out and they're the next big thing. They're not really. I mean, they've grown and they're a thing, but they're nowhere near the kind of volume that the big guys are still doing.
The Hydro Flask, the Yetis, the Stanleys. So, yeah, hard to say.
The other thing I think about Hydro Flask that's interesting is they booted the CEO, the prior CEO, who came from much more of a CPG background, and the new CEO comes from a Nike background.
So much more of a performance brand piece, which to me, I would hope he really gets it more in terms of the importance of brand and price discipline and distribution and all those things. So that in and of itself could bode well for a Hydro Flask.
Colin True
00:42:32.240 - 00:42:58.610
All right, Prana.
The case for Prana is the continued explosion, I think, of functional apparel, athleisure, lifestyle, whatever, and then the heritage and climbing legitimacy that Prana brings to the table.
I think the case against Prana, and I'm judging only by their website and social media, but Colombia does not seem as invested in Prana as either themselves or Mountain Hardware, at least from an outdoor positioning standpoint. Also, they're ranking low on the Owen index. What are your thoughts on Prana? Owen?
Eoin Comerford
00:42:58.610 - 00:43:11.970
I think they definitely have a chance to turn it around. They do.
In their most recent earnings statement, they talked about Prana and the fact that they're really reinvesting in reinvigorating that product line. I think it gotten a little bit stale.
Producer Dave
00:43:11.970 - 00:43:19.650
Well, you talk about kind of a neglected stepchild. They're kind of the poster child of that for the last few years.
Eoin Comerford
00:43:20.450 - 00:43:58.980
Exactly. And they brought in the rezion, which didn't go well. And there were various other issues within the brand.
So having seen the fruits of the labors of the Mountain Hardware Team Columbia potentially has a bit of a playbook that they can call on. Like, oh, okay, here's how we can go about this.
So they would probably be one where maybe there is more because again, they're part of Colombia that has the dollars to invest if they see success and to drive it in the right direction. So, yeah, they would be one that might be at the top of my list.
Colin True
00:43:59.460 - 00:44:01.140
Might be a sneaky good candidate here.
Producer Dave
00:44:01.300 - 00:44:40.400
I agree with that. I want to just say, look, they help pioneer the athleisure in the outdoor space in terms of really what that could be.
And these other brands have come in and taken from the outdoor brands, but they're the ones that really kind of first put that together. The. Again, the climbing and the yoga, you know, both kind of these core sport activities, plus the lifestyles around them. You know, prana. Just be.
Prana. Be cool again. Like, you could completely take. You're such a different take on the way everyone else is coming at Athleisure Outdoor. Be yourself.
It would be fresh and it would be cool. And that's Right.
Eoin Comerford
00:44:40.400 - 00:44:40.680
Right.
Producer Dave
00:44:40.680 - 00:44:41.440
That's all I have to say.
Colin True
00:44:41.440 - 00:44:41.640
Re.
Eoin Comerford
00:44:41.640 - 00:44:42.320
Embrace. Right.
Colin True
00:44:42.320 - 00:44:42.560
Re.
Eoin Comerford
00:44:42.560 - 00:44:45.820
Embrace your roots from those persp. And don't try to be.
Producer Dave
00:44:45.900 - 00:45:10.780
And don't try to be with it and do it the way you did. There was just. There was such a freshness and an earnestness to the. The authenticity. There's that word. But they really came off as authentic.
And I think the people that are there still have that, even though they're in a different structure these days. You know, don't. Don't play the game of the vioris and everybody else. Just be. Be your own self.
Even in the tactics that you use, you could still really take a lot of share.
Colin True
00:45:12.020 - 00:45:14.580
Well, their website right now looks more like the Gap than even.
Producer Dave
00:45:16.740 - 00:45:17.380
That's the thing.
Eoin Comerford
00:45:17.460 - 00:45:18.180
That's the problem.
Producer Dave
00:45:18.260 - 00:45:22.620
Yeah. Their opportunity lies in being more special, not like everyone else.
Colin True
00:45:22.620 - 00:45:54.200
All right, two to go. And one of them we've already talked about. But so Solo stove is the next one. The case for, I think maybe the increase in casual participation.
Solo's products are perfectly suited to that backyard car camping section of outdoor consumers.
The case against is the wins of the past two years have been mostly limited to ads featuring aging 90s rappers and showing up at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. All of these then followed by poor sales that have led to leadership changes two years in a row.
So I'm probably not picking Solo Stove, if I'm being honest. But what do you think about Solo Stove, Owen.
Eoin Comerford
00:45:54.440 - 00:46:17.540
So the big issue with Solo Stove was that they started off as a D2C, then they got into wholesale, but then D2C still really ran the shop. They massively overbought in terms of inventory and then they flushed it all through their D2C.
I mean, I was talking to my buyer who was on Solo Stove. They were selling product on their D2C site for less than our wholesale cost. Right.
Colin True
00:46:17.620 - 00:46:18.420
Oh, my God.
Eoin Comerford
00:46:18.500 - 00:47:21.050
So it was just a complete shit show. And part of that was also just the fact that they were struggling for cash.
They'd gone through this whole acquisition deal and they had all this inventory that they had to liquidate just to basically keep the doors open, which led to then earlier this year, almost going bankrupt. Since then, they've refinanced. I think they have sort of of solidified the base. Right.
Chubby's is doing well as part of that, and they've started to really cut back on the discounting. I think they know that it's their core issue. Right.
And there may be another, I don't know, 612 months of a reset there where they kind of reset the bottom a little bit and rebuild what the base looks like in terms of a sustainable business model about the brand in terms of full price selling. But. But it's still a great category. They still have a great product that has demand.
I think with the right moves there and some real pricing and buying discipline, yeah, they can absolutely make a comeback.
Colin True
00:47:21.690 - 00:48:12.790
You're talking me into it. Because they also don't have to worry about the authenticity piece we've been talking about a lot and winning over buyers and things like that.
All they need to do is fix their house and all of a sudden they could be ascending. Especially given that we're talking about the casual consumer as opposed to. To the core and all that other kind of stuff. Interesting.
The last one on the list is Black Diamond. We all believe that they're the clear winner here.
And it's funny, now, looking through the list, maybe we should just all say Black diamond because, man, this is a tough list to decide from. The case for Black diamond, obviously, is the moves they made, the leadership they have. They're well loved by retailers.
We've heard from multiple retailers who are bringing them back in after a break of not caring them.
The case against, I mean, just market forces probably, like just things not aligning their way in terms of, you know, making it easier for buyers to buy their stuff. But even then the brand seems to be winning.
Eoin Comerford
00:48:12.790 - 00:48:25.810
And tariff exposure. Yeah, exactly. So so that let's. I think I'm fine with saying Black diamond is the winner, but we all have. Maybe that's the top pick.
But we all need another pick to go on the pick here.
Colin True
00:48:26.520 - 00:48:28.200
Do we have to pick all different picks?
Eoin Comerford
00:48:28.280 - 00:48:29.800
No, not necessarily. No.
Colin True
00:48:29.880 - 00:48:30.440
Okay.
Eoin Comerford
00:48:30.440 - 00:48:31.520
It would be more interesting.
Colin True
00:48:31.520 - 00:48:33.080
Who's yours and why is it Chaco?
Eoin Comerford
00:48:33.400 - 00:48:37.080
Okay. I think I'm going to go with soloist. I'm going to go solo. Stove.
Colin True
00:48:37.880 - 00:48:38.840
Yeah. You made a good case.
Eoin Comerford
00:48:39.080 - 00:48:48.520
Yeah. I feel like they have hopefully now the financial wherewithal to manage a reset and get to. And get to a better place.
Colin True
00:48:49.400 - 00:49:27.380
I really want to say, Marvin, just because I really like what John's doing over there, but like we talked about, I think it's just too soon and just for the sake of being different, then if you guys have different picks, I'll go Prana. Only because it's a little nobody. But nobody believes in us because nobody's really talking about it.
But they do have Columbia running them, who are is being bold in a lot of different ways. And like we talked about, it wouldn't take much. They just, you know, wanted to tweak some messaging.
Maybe the refresh is coming, the rebrand is coming for, you know, like the spring all of a sudden drops like, oh, Prana's back. Look at the new video for Prana now, you know, and all of a sudden everybody's talking about prana again in 2026. Dave, who you got?
Producer Dave
00:49:27.380 - 00:49:46.900
Yeah, well, I, I got to go with acg, Right. You know, it's separate from the master brand.
I think acg, you know, whether they'll penetrate the specialty in the next year, I think they're going to definitely pique some interest. We're going to hear a lot more about them. It's what they do. Well, like you said, I just, we. We'll stick to that corner of the. Of the store.
Colin True
00:49:46.900 - 00:51:14.510
All right, well, hey, pressure's on Black Diamond. We all believe that you are taking the mantle from Mountain Hardware as the comeback story of the outdoor industry.
And we all have our backup just in case that doesn't happen. But we'll see how it shakes out in 2026. All right, so Dave had to leave for the parting shot, but Owen's still here with me.
And for the parting shot today, we're actually saying farewell to someone who's meant something to the. To the rock fight. We're saying farewell to Northwest.
Alpine founder Bill Amos posted on social media platforms last week that the 15 year old brand that focused on making functional Climbing and outdoor apparel here in the United States had begun the process of shutting things down. Bill and the Northwest Alpine brand brought a layer of fight to an industry that mostly operates in direct opposition of their own ethos.
They challenge the status quo and they challenge accepted opinions in a way that we here at the Rock Fight, while not always agreeing, but can absolutely toast, respect, and celebrate. Northwest Alpine was one of our first advertisers as well. Like I said, there's some history here.
If you look at the broader outdoor industry brand scene, there are a lot of up and coming amazing brands, which I think means the future is quite bright for the outdoors. But losing a unique voice like Northwest Alpine is never a good thing. So to Bill and Northwest Alpine, thank you for the past 15 years.
That light's a little dimmer today. And that's the parting shot. I do wonder, though, now that Bill isn't trying to grow his own brand, what his posts on LinkedIn will be like.
Is he going to level up?
Eoin Comerford
00:51:14.590 - 00:51:17.870
Well, maybe he'll really share his views.
Colin True
00:51:18.190 - 00:51:19.890
He's gonna let it rip. That's what I mean.
Eoin Comerford
00:51:21.240 - 00:51:22.840
Oh, yeah. Cause he. Yeah, right. Yeah.
Colin True
00:51:25.160 - 00:51:51.290
All right, that's the show for today. We want your emails. Who's on your list? Who do you think the comeback player of 2026 is gonna be from the outdoor industry?
Send them to myrockfightmail.com TheRockfight's a production of Rock Fight LLC. Today's episode was produced by producer Dave art direction provided by Sarah Gensert. For Owen Comerford, I'm Colin True. Thanks for listening.
Krista Makes is here. He's going to take us out with the Rock Fight fight song. We'll see you next time, Rock Fighters.
Producer Dave
00:51:51.290 - 00:52:00.930
You're going to do the parting shot. Then you're going to say, all right, goodbye, everybody. There you go. You can cut that wherever you want to. Yep. See ya. All right, shy bye.
Chris DeMakes
00:52:11.580 - 00:53:01.990
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