Will The EU Boycott US Outdoor Brands? Plus: The Outdoor Innovation Mailbag!
- colin7931
- Mar 31
- 39 min read
Today on show Colin is joined by the regular Monday crew (Producer Dave, Outdoor Industry Insider Eoin Comerford) to talk about the recent movement that is encouraging outdoor enthusiasts in Europe to look locally for their outdoor products in protest of recent "political" developments in the US. (06:46)
They also talk about Academy forging ahead with plans to open 25 new doors in 2025 and Lululemon's recent earnings report showing double digit growth. (21:10)
Then they crack open listener feedback that came in after last week's episode regarding the evolution of innovation in the outdoor industry. (30:38)
They of course wrap things up with The Parting Shot where this week we have a look back on a busy first quarter of 2025 in the Outdoor Industry. (44:34)
Check out hundreds of wildly cool products by visiting and shopping at Garage Grown Gear!
Register For Obōz Trails For Tree Challenge at trailsfortrees.com.
Thanks for listening! The Rock Fight is a production of Rock Fight, LLC.
Sign up for NEWS FROM THE FRONT, Rock Fight's weekly newsletter by heading to www.rockfight.co and clicking Join The Mailing List.
Please follow and subscribe to The Rock Fight and give us a 5 star rating and a written review wherever you get your podcasts.
Want to pick a fight with The Rock Fight? Send your feedback, questions, and comments to myrockfight@gmail.com.
Click Here To Listen On Your Favorite Podcast Player
Or Just Click The Player Below!
Episode Transcript:
Colin True
00:00:00.240 - 00:00:55.420
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 True and today producer Dave and Owen Comfort and I will be talking about the potential global panic around us based brands, as well as listener feedback to what we had to say here on the Rock Fight last week.
But before we get to that, come back to the Rock Fight this Wednesday to hear Justin Hausman and I talk about some of the latest stories that come out of the outdoor adventure community. Also, come back to the show on Friday for what will no doubt be another episode of the Rock Fight.
And lastly, it's time for you to subscribe to both the Rock Flight and also to Open Container, the newest Rock Fight podcast that is hosted by outdoor industry legend Doug Schnitzpahn.
All you need to do is tap that little follow button on whatever podcast app you're listening to right now, then look up Open Container, do the same thing there, and that's it. And now you helped us out. Thank you so much. So stick around. We'll be right back.
Chris DeMakes
00:00:59.060 - 00:00:59.920
Rock Fight!
Colin True
00:01:03.860 - 00:02:51.812
All right, folks, let's talk about a game changer. Literally, if you're a brand or retailer in the outdoor industry, think of Endeavor like the ultimate power up for your sales game.
This platform is designed to level up retail associates, giving them the XP they need to master your gear, sell more, and rack up rewards along the way. It's like a cheat code for better sales, making sure your products don't just sit on the shelves but actually move. Why is this valuable?
Well trained and motivated staff sell way more gear. Brands using endeavor like K2 Sports and Smith Optics have seen better sell through stronger brand engagement and real data insights on what works.
And here's where Endeavor gets really interesting. It's gamified. That means learning about products and earning incentives feels fun and not like homework.
But there's also a couple of other power ups you'll want to consider. First is their partnership with locally, so online shoppers can instantly find a knowledgeable staffer in a nearby store ready to seal the deal.
Second is an option known as freemium, where you can launch brand assets, push newsfeed posts and coordinate rep clinics.
And with Endeavor's pay as you go plans, you can take sales contests, education campaigns, or collect staff insights collection programs all out for a test drive. The bottom line? If your retail game is feeling like it's stuck in easy mode, Endeavor is the upgrade you need to unlock next level sales.
Max out your Team's knowledge and beat the boss when it comes to customer experience. Head to endeavor. That's end VR IO to learn more today, foreign, you're listening to Rock Fight Radio.
Oh, you got DJCT back with you spinning the hits. And it's that time because we have another new song from that hit machine Fitz.
And Fitz wants to ask you, why just settle for a smart sock when you can opt for a smarter sock?
FITS!
00:02:51.876 - 00:04:01.848
You've got a million choices lying on the floor. Thin ones, thick ones, even some you never wore. But there's a sock who specs rise above the rest.
Don't settle for a smart one when the smarter sock is best.
Option four, the smarter sock fits Fits is the smarter sock fits Whole foot comfort is the answer to the question of the knit fits Opt for the smarter sock Whole foot comfort is the goal. It's only common sense. With four different pack tents, the difference is immense. The Y line's added volume really is legit to the next level.
Comfort of the fit we call fitness. Opt for the smarter sock fits Fits is the smarter sock fits Whole foot comfort is the answer to the question of the knit fits.
Opt for the smarter sock. Opt for.
The smarter sock fits Fits is the smarter sock fits. Whole foot comfort is the answer to the question of the knit fits. Opt for the smarter sock fits.
Colin True
00:04:01.994 - 00:04:23.820
And now back to the show.
All right, I'm here with producer Dave and consigliere to the rock fight, outdoor industry insider Owen Comerford, who is very sad right now because he's eating a little large plate of crow because I sent him a video showing that in actuality, the Hoka speed loafer is real and not the hope that the dream is dead. Owen, you thought it was gonna.
Eoin Comerford
00:04:23.900 - 00:04:42.980
I thought they were still gonna come out and say, no, no, no. There was actually none of them that were for sale. Yeah, I'm a little bitter. They look even worse in public, though. Oh, my God.
Because the rocking motion of the soul is so.
Colin True
00:04:43.100 - 00:04:43.748
It doesn't work.
Eoin Comerford
00:04:43.804 - 00:04:46.228
Stupid. Oh, my gosh.
Colin True
00:04:46.404 - 00:04:57.324
It looks like a prank. It looks like someone ripped two shoes apart, glued them together as a joke. But, no, not good. And we're only, what, I think three days. Oh, no.
Tomorrow, by the time this airs, will be April Fool's Day. So it's a shame.
Eoin Comerford
00:04:57.412 - 00:05:03.580
It really is, because it would have been. But the fact that. Did you actually watch the whole thing? Like the reflective.
Colin True
00:05:03.660 - 00:05:04.508
I didn't watch the whole.
Eoin Comerford
00:05:04.564 - 00:05:06.556
Yeah, I mean, this. This guy went.
Colin True
00:05:06.628 - 00:05:08.720
I was taking it way too seriously.
Eoin Comerford
00:05:09.060 - 00:05:24.188
The suede around there. Oh, my God, wow. I mean, they. They definitely put in the time.
You know, my biggest beef, though, was that the speed tassel didn't really actually cinch up the speed.
Colin True
00:05:24.284 - 00:05:25.452
The tassel didn't speed.
Eoin Comerford
00:05:25.516 - 00:05:25.884
No.
Colin True
00:05:25.972 - 00:05:28.600
So, Gaby, you wearing yours right now? You got your.
Producer Dave
00:05:30.000 - 00:05:39.000
I do not. But I will tell you right now, the speed loafer on StockX is going for $390.
Colin True
00:05:39.080 - 00:05:39.832
Fuck off.
Producer Dave
00:05:39.936 - 00:05:59.974
So it's actually increased. I even see a sale for 476. So the sneaker collectors are seeing possibly they're seeing a discontinued item in the future.
So they're going for the last remaining items. But I hate to tell you, it is up. It is trending up.
Colin True
00:06:00.062 - 00:06:11.254
This. This supports our last week's episode, though, on, like, innovation and thinking differently and product drops and everything.
Like, there's, you know, the dumbest thing you could imagine and it's.
Eoin Comerford
00:06:11.382 - 00:06:11.974
Yeah.
Colin True
00:06:12.102 - 00:06:14.070
God damn it. Well, good on you, Hoka.
Producer Dave
00:06:14.150 - 00:06:17.990
There you go. Colin, I just put a bid in for you right now in your name.
Colin True
00:06:18.030 - 00:06:19.638
For four to get my Christmas present early.
Producer Dave
00:06:19.694 - 00:06:22.780
$425. We'll see if they take it only.
Colin True
00:06:22.820 - 00:06:24.012
In men's size six.
Eoin Comerford
00:06:24.116 - 00:06:25.036
Okay.
Producer Dave
00:06:25.228 - 00:06:26.280
That's right.
Eoin Comerford
00:06:26.980 - 00:06:34.700
Mark. Mark the date. March 31, 2025. Peak. Hoka. This is it.
Colin True
00:06:34.740 - 00:06:35.740
It's all downhill from here.
Eoin Comerford
00:06:35.780 - 00:06:36.960
It's all downhill.
Colin True
00:06:37.380 - 00:06:40.188
And then came along the speed loafer.
Producer Dave
00:06:40.364 - 00:06:41.164
So funny.
Eoin Comerford
00:06:41.212 - 00:06:42.200
There you go.
Producer Dave
00:06:42.500 - 00:06:46.320
That ominous MUSIC plays That's right, the market has spoken.
Colin True
00:06:46.660 - 00:07:28.674
All right, today's opening shot is presented by Garage Grown Gear, your hub for ultralight gear. Learn more by heading to GarageGrown.
Last week, Owen, on LinkedIn, you put up a post about something that you discovered on the outdoor brand focused buy from EU subreddit that was encouraging Europeans to buy locally in order to avoid US based outdoor brands. This bit of a response to your thread. And also this was a response to some of the turmoil that's been coming out of Washington, D.C.
over the last few months.
Let's just start with the idea itself though, that US brands could be put in a bad position if a larger boycott of consumers outside the US actually takes hold. Is that something that could actually take hold?
Eoin Comerford
00:07:28.762 - 00:08:43.970
I think the answer is yes. But the question is, how big of an impact would it be for most US based brands?
Their European business is anywhere from as low as 10% or 0% in some cases, but kind of in that 10 to 15% range. And then some are upwards of 35 to 40%, because obviously it is the. The big market. VF Corp. For example, about 33%.
About a third of their businesses in Europe. So. Yeah, but even if it's a 10% hit, that's a 3% hit to the top line. So I don't think it's going to absolutely slay the outdoor brands.
And typically boycotts tend to fizzle over time.
Now I do feel though that the intensity of the feelings that people have and the degree to which it isn't just one small sub segment of these populations are feeling this. I mean, in Canada you're definitely feeling it as well. So I do think it'll hurt. Is it going to be like a 10, 20% down in total?
Probably not, but I think that there will be an impact.
Colin True
00:08:44.649 - 00:09:08.529
It does seem like this is one of those, I don't know, these are passion project purchases, right? So is someone really not going to buy like a black diamond backpack because they're like, oh, that's a US Brand.
Like how much would the US have to become a global villain that someone would say, like, no, I'm not going to buy that backpacking brand at the local shop. I'm not sure if that's how most consumers approach these things. Dave, you want to jump in?
Producer Dave
00:09:08.569 - 00:09:12.833
I just, I disagree. I think we're already there, right? Especially in Europe.
Colin True
00:09:13.001 - 00:09:14.449
Doomsday Dave has arrived.
Producer Dave
00:09:14.529 - 00:10:19.892
Well, what you're like what Owen was talking about. The brands that are really in danger of this are the biggest international brand. I mean, North Face, Patagonia, that's what we're talking about here.
VF Right. I mean they're the ones that have a sizable piece. And is there a movement building to not buy that pack versus another? You bet there is.
And there's plenty of options. Well, that's true. It's not like there's no other way to get it.
There's just so many local, regional brands that make good packs, that make good outerwear, that make good lifestyle. I mean, it's just, it's so much more a mainstream entity there.
It's, it could actually end up as a lot of these ill thought boycotts or tariffs do create, you know, create shelf space or opportunity for these brands that they're not going to give up when this goes over. Hopefully goes over and we come back to some kind of normalcy. I mean, that's the thing. Once you receive, once it recedes, it's hard to get back.
So I, I do think that there is a cost to it and it just might be targeted and not so widespread, but it's certainly going to be a part of our, it's certainly unraveling. Our, our close relationship, that's for sure.
Colin True
00:10:19.996 - 00:10:28.372
Is this an opportunity for like the MIAs of the world who like announced an entry into the US to pull back, be like, actually, second thought, we're out.
Producer Dave
00:10:28.556 - 00:10:30.436
That's a good question, Owen.
Eoin Comerford
00:10:30.548 - 00:10:36.708
Yeah, I don't feel like, oddly that there is the same reaction the other way. Right.
Producer Dave
00:10:36.764 - 00:10:37.556
Yeah, right.
Eoin Comerford
00:10:37.708 - 00:10:45.396
I don't feel like there's, if anything, I think there are some US customers that will want to support Europeans, the European brands.
Colin True
00:10:45.428 - 00:10:45.956
Sure.
Eoin Comerford
00:10:46.108 - 00:11:24.856
The one thing I would say too about the US Outdoor brands is I think a number of them aren't necessarily very tightly linked to the US in the mind of the European consumer. Like, does the average European consumer know that Black diamond is US Based? Maybe, maybe not. They definitely know that North Face is.
They know that Levi's is. Or Jack Daniels. Right. So there are some brands that. And. Right.
And then there are the brands like Patagonia where yes, obviously I think everybody would know that they're a US Brand, but they get a pass because they also, also they're clearly not in support of the current administration and are actively talking against.
Colin True
00:11:24.928 - 00:11:25.832
And I've said so.
Eoin Comerford
00:11:25.936 - 00:11:37.460
So, you know, I think it'll vary. It'll vary quite a bit. I think the more USI you are, if that's a new, a new adjective, the maybe the worse it's going to be for you.
Colin True
00:11:37.760 - 00:11:40.100
We call that maga. Right.
Producer Dave
00:11:40.400 - 00:12:41.296
Well, yeah, well, going from that, you know, like, like we said, this kind of started just kind of bubbling up in social media, but it has metastasized into an actual kind of a bigger, more concentrate. Buyurope.com has sprouted up and it's run by volunteers. Right now they get about 20,000, you know, visitors a day, 1200 brands listed.
But it's specifically there to create alternatives to American brands. And it cites the brands that they're competing with.
And you can shop by category, you know, like athletic wear or smartphones or any kind of, any kind of consumer good fashion. And of course outdoor and athletic are grouped together there.
And it's just now a, just a nice catalog listing of all of these brands and what they do and the American equivalents that they compete with and allow you to go to their website and, and check it out.
I mean, there's even a, they even have browser extensions that allow you to plug into your browser so that when you're looking on your search engines, you can immediately find the European equivalent of what you're looking at.
Colin True
00:12:41.448 - 00:12:41.824
Wow.
Producer Dave
00:12:41.872 - 00:13:04.080
Right. And so that's a pretty powerful tool that's being done on a shoe screen.
But that's the kind of stuff, like you said, there's a passion behind it and an anger. And I think that's what you're going to, you know, anger breeds some great innov.
So as these tools become more ingrained in people's lives, that's what I mean, it's going to create some stickiness in their behavior that's going to be hard to undo.
Colin True
00:13:04.660 - 00:13:26.130
I think this is an opportunity for another, like, don't buy this jacket moment. US Brands almost get behind it in a way. Like, don't say maybe don't say don't buy our stuff.
But to kind of, like, this is a way to kind of draw a line in the sand and be like, shine a light on, hey, this is what's happening in other places. Right. Because of the pressure that our presidential administration is putting on the marketplace here in the United States.
Not, okay, like, what do we do about this?
Eoin Comerford
00:13:26.250 - 00:14:03.242
Right. Yeah.
And, well, I wonder also, will some brands like Patagonia try to go at this head on in, in the European markets and in other markets to say, hey, listen, we don't support what's going on, you know, so if you, if you do want to see change, support us.
Because we're addressing things like the, the attack on public lands, sustainability, attack on climate change, all of those issues and really come at it full force. What they can't do is you can't be, you know, different things, different messages in different areas of the world.
Colin True
00:14:03.266 - 00:14:03.402
Right.
Eoin Comerford
00:14:03.426 - 00:14:23.338
You can't like be, yeah, you know, picking or pick a, pick a North American brand. You can't be like, we're not saying anything in the US because we're afraid of repercussions.
But in international markets, we're saying, oh, it's, it's a, you know, it's a different deal. That, that won't work because that'll come back and kind of bite them in the ass here in the, in the home market.
Colin True
00:14:23.394 - 00:14:49.878
I would say, I think ultimately this is going to come down to what the administration continues to do. Right. To your point, these things tend to fizzle.
Kind of like, kind of what I was saying, like, I'm not going to get the Chick Fil a sandwich because I don't agree with things. Then it's six months later and I've kind of forgotten about that and you're hungry and there's a Chick Fil A.
If this kind of pace continues of the, just call it bad news coming out of the White House, the chance of this really getting some traction and maybe doing some damage becomes more likely.
Eoin Comerford
00:14:50.014 - 00:15:38.340
Yeah. And this is everyday headline news in Europe, right? I mean, what's happening? Yeah, I mean, even they're way more in tune.
Even the text thing that got out there from our defense secretary and our VP in there, there's a lot of sort of anti European sentiment about like, you know, these guys are basically just freeloaders and we shouldn't do this and whatever, whatever that stuff is that's headline news in Europe, that the VP of the United States is basically calling Europe freeloaders now. I guess that's nothing that Trump has actually said out loud, but it does continue to undermine that overall relationship.
Colin True
00:15:38.840 - 00:15:47.060
When you guys get the text with the nuclear codes, probably later this afternoon, are you going to do anything with that? You going to sell it? Maybe take out a small nation? What are you thinking?
Eoin Comerford
00:15:48.200 - 00:15:49.220
It depends.
Producer Dave
00:15:49.640 - 00:15:52.300
I'm reporting it as spam. What are you talking about?
Colin True
00:15:53.000 - 00:15:56.300
This can't be real. Oh, no, it can. It can be actually.
Producer Dave
00:15:56.760 - 00:15:57.500
Right.
Colin True
00:15:58.040 - 00:16:13.824
Oh, and I mean, I talked about things that metastasize. I would say Your post on LinkedIn metastasized. Any, any takeaways from the con.
I just looked at it before we hopped on and man, There were about 32 different conversations, some of them pretty far away from your original post.
Eoin Comerford
00:16:13.912 - 00:17:02.700
No, it got pretty heated.
I mean, obviously there are political undertones in the overall post, as you'd imagine, and overtones and overtones, but people went down all kinds of rabbit holes around, you know, there are no. My favorite one was, oh, there are no substitutes for these brands in Europe. I'm like, hello, yeah, excuse me. There are some amazing European brands.
But then the other, there was some maga wa there about the Europeans need to pay their fair share and all that kind of stuff. There was a lot of back and forth on, oh, you know, boycotts never work or no, this is a disaster. It was, it was. Yeah. All over the place.
Colin True
00:17:03.080 - 00:17:14.688
Yeah. Like my favorite was the. There was travel got brought into it and how, you know, you couldn't. It's just as simple to travel today.
Nothing bad will happen to you as it was, you know, three or four months ago, you know.
Eoin Comerford
00:17:14.824 - 00:17:36.252
Yeah. No, and every one of those again. And back to the headline news. Every one of those headline news in those countries.
Countries where those, you know, where people are and you know, are they one off situations that 99.9% of international travelers won't experience? Probably, but probably right now they're news and, and they're.
Colin True
00:17:36.316 - 00:17:41.308
They're I think it happening once is not great. Can we just. Maybe that's, you know.
Eoin Comerford
00:17:41.364 - 00:18:11.592
Yeah. But I mean, my favorite one there was that the.
Well, not favorite, but the one that I found most notable was the favorite awful thing that happened this. Oh, God. But the one that really sort of resonated was actually this Canadian actress. She was in one of the American Pie movies.
So I'm sure you know who it is. Colin. But she was on her way. I think, you know, this is about.
Colin True
00:18:11.616 - 00:18:13.700
Your opinion of me, but I'll take it this way.
Producer Dave
00:18:15.120 - 00:18:16.936
He thinks you're younger than you are.
Eoin Comerford
00:18:17.008 - 00:19:04.290
There you go. So she was detained, though. So there was something with her visa, whatever. So she was like, oh, okay, I'll just go back.
No, no, no, we're going to detain you. And they detained her for 12 days, moved her between multiple detention centers. And she had. I mean, she has. She's a person of means. She has lawyers.
She actually had political people reaching out. And it still took 12 days to get her out. And it was major news for in Canada.
My favorite, again, maybe not favorite is the wrong word, but part, though, was when they went to the White House press secretary about this, her answer was. I'm paraphrasing. Her answer was, well, Canadians won't have to worry about those issues when Canada becomes the 51st state.
Producer Dave
00:19:05.870 - 00:19:06.630
Yeah.
Colin True
00:19:06.790 - 00:19:11.210
She knows her script. She studied her lines. Maybe unlike the Canadian actress.
Eoin Comerford
00:19:11.550 - 00:19:15.014
So talk about just absolutely pouring fuel on the fire.
Colin True
00:19:15.102 - 00:19:15.510
Wow.
Producer Dave
00:19:15.590 - 00:19:17.416
I mean, that's what we do.
Colin True
00:19:17.568 - 00:19:21.864
Well, that actor's doing this episode from the basement at Guantanamo Bay, so that's.
Producer Dave
00:19:21.992 - 00:19:50.980
Jasmine Mooney, by the way, is the actress. Well, I was just gonna say circling back. For every crisis, there is an opportunity. And like you said, European brands are gonna be getting looked at.
And just even in the research that I did with the buy to europe.com, there's a few that I want to give shouts out to. I mean. Cause look, need for Trees is a Lithuanian hammock company. They're the first Lithuanian hammock company.
And I would known about them if I didn't track this website.
Colin True
00:19:51.100 - 00:19:51.956
Need for Trees.
Producer Dave
00:19:52.068 - 00:19:52.676
Right.
Colin True
00:19:52.828 - 00:19:55.044
Reach out for advertising opportunities here in.
Producer Dave
00:19:55.052 - 00:20:04.452
The Rock Fight and Clattermussen, which is in a long line of Scandinavian outdoor lifestyle. They're refined mountaineering equipment that's more of.
Colin True
00:20:04.476 - 00:20:06.436
Like a fiber replacement, actually.
Producer Dave
00:20:06.508 - 00:20:09.364
Fabulous stuff. Never would have seen them. And they're pieces.
Eoin Comerford
00:20:09.492 - 00:20:11.060
We sold them in this jar.
Producer Dave
00:20:11.220 - 00:20:33.536
You did? Okay, well, I like them. They're fantastic. And then my favorite of the bunch here was from the Sports nutrition.
And I thought, wow, I think this American brand got like somehow made it through the net of the boycott Jim Beam and it's not the whiskey, it's Jim G Y M Beam. It's a German Slovakian sports nutrition brand.
Colin True
00:20:33.608 - 00:20:37.760
That's an amazing coincidence or a brilliant branding.
Producer Dave
00:20:37.840 - 00:20:45.584
So I'm just, I'm giving them a shout out just for the audacity to take that on. And the play on English language is just the chef kiss.
Colin True
00:20:45.632 - 00:20:51.860
So somewhere there's a drunk ultra runner who thinks that they read online that they this would be the food or drink.
Producer Dave
00:20:52.000 - 00:21:09.880
Maybe they're doing like you know, single malt, you know, sports bars or, or, or mash gummies. I could see that's a good idea. That's so fantastic. So anyway, I would have never have seen them if it wasn't for the buy europe.com. so thank you.
Colin True
00:21:10.260 - 00:21:29.672
Well, and some, maybe a stroke of good news or maybe working in against of some of the the general trends we're seeing in the outdoor economy. Academy this week said they're going to open up to 25 new locations this year. What do you think's going on at Academy?
O they're, they're actually maybe bucking the trend or is that just. They're sticking to their plans regardless what's happening at Academy.
Eoin Comerford
00:21:29.816 - 00:21:34.420
I wish I could say that, you know, it was all amazingly wonderful news.
Colin True
00:21:34.720 - 00:21:37.620
But 25 new doors, how could that be bad?
Eoin Comerford
00:21:38.240 - 00:21:44.840
Right? Right. Gosh, I'm like the grim reaper here. But what I would say is we're.
Colin True
00:21:44.840 - 00:21:46.200
Just reporting the news. We're not making it.
Eoin Comerford
00:21:46.240 - 00:22:23.390
Okay, so. Well, it's great that they are opening doors. Let's just start with that. But I would tell you that is a slowdown from their original plan.
Originally they were going to open I think 30 to 35 stores this year. So it's a bit of a slowdown. Also, I feel like part of the reason is that their newer doors are not doing maybe as well as they had hoped.
They do about I think 14 million a year is what they said in their Q3 earnings call, which sounds like a lot. But these are big stores. They're 70,000 square feet, like bigger than a Dick's Sporting Goods.
Colin True
00:22:23.550 - 00:22:24.462
A lot of inventory.
Eoin Comerford
00:22:24.526 - 00:22:31.170
A lot of inventory. So that equates to about 200 bucks a square foot, which is well below their average.
Producer Dave
00:22:33.750 - 00:22:37.790
What would they be looking for? Owen, what would a store like that size be looking for?
Eoin Comerford
00:22:37.830 - 00:24:46.740
For a square footage closer to probably 250. $250 a square foot would be a better number for them.
So yeah, I, they are taking a little bit slower and I mean Academy in general has had a bit of a tough time over the last couple of years.
They saw the big boom that everyone else did in 21 ish to 22 but the last couple of years they've been down in the mid single digits pretty much every quarter. So that's on a comp store basis but then they're trying to offset that with adding stores. Yeah, I think it's an interesting play.
The other piece that's interesting is that their big excitement is that they're launching Nike in their stores. Now they already had Nike but this is like a major increase in the Nike presence.
It's the biggest launch in their history which I think says as much about Nike as it does about anything else.
That Nike really wants to get some more wholesale business because I mean Academy, you know, great, great merchants, you know, they, they, they know their business very well run stores but they're not the high end experience that you would have in a Dick's Sporting goods. Right. It's much, much closer to like a Walmart type of experience.
You know it's rows and rows and rows of gondola shelving with you know, like if you've got shoes it's all self served, like there's the shoe and here are all the sizes underneath it. Right.
But the impression that I, that I got from that call is actually they may be going more shop and shop which would be them really taking a page out of Dick sporting his book and trying to build a much more elevated experience around Nike. Specifically in those stores where it's not just another brand, just one more shoe on a shelf that they're really leaning into a whole experience.
So it'll be interesting to see where that goes and whether they try to follow some of the success that, that, that Dick's has seen with that elevated approach.
Colin True
00:24:47.200 - 00:25:10.424
I'm trying to picture a Academy shop and shop and I'm having a tough time thinking of nice things to say. I think that's going to be rough.
Well, it'd be interesting though, I mean and also what to say about Nike where we know that they were publicly like a lot of conversation around back into specialty and everything like that. And I know this is wholesale but it's you know, but maybe this is just you know, step one for them.
Kind of like they're, they're stepping downwards in a large retailer kind of a.
Producer Dave
00:25:10.432 - 00:25:24.410
Big relationship and then they're sidestepping. This is a utilitarian Retail approach. Okay. This is, you gotta get in there for yourself. It's like preppers for footwear. Like, you gotta get in there.
You gotta stake your claim. I like it. I think it goes with the zeitgeist.
Colin True
00:25:24.570 - 00:25:53.010
It could be really cool. Yeah, we'll see. We'll see.
Last thing in the news column, Lululemon reported, came out Yesterday, sold on SGB that they had double digit growth in Q4, driven mostly by international sales. What are we making from this? Because I mean, Lululemon, you know, not an North American brand.
So now we're really gonna tie that back to their initial. Well, they are a North American brand, not a US brand. We're not gonna tie that back to the first story, but seems like again, maybe bucking Trend.
This is Q4. How's the first quarter going to impact things? There's kind of a lot sort of buried in that headline, I feel like.
Eoin Comerford
00:25:53.550 - 00:27:18.006
Yeah. So I think the key thing is that it was driven by international sales. Right.
Because actually if you look at comp store sales, North America was flat compared to the prior year, which in the current environment, flat maybe is the new up. I don't know. But the reality is that if you go back a few years, Lulu was growing at 15, 20, 25% a quarter every quarter. It was just a juggernaut.
And so they've really, I think, hit a level of saturation within the US Market where moving dramatically bigger here is a little tougher. And so I think they're going to be looking for new growth factors.
And obviously international is the main one right now for them where they can take what's really working here in the US and move it elsewhere. It was interesting to see also that their gross margins were expanding.
So again, that's a little bit part of the saturation where you're saying, hey, listen, we don't want to push sales. We're really harvesting a little bit of that demand that we have.
So yeah, I think the other thing that jumped out at me from these results was that they have $2 billion in cash. It's like, woof. So.
Colin True
00:27:18.158 - 00:27:18.742
Jesus.
Eoin Comerford
00:27:18.806 - 00:27:21.878
Yeah, right. So is that going to be.
Colin True
00:27:21.934 - 00:27:31.094
Just talking about the other day. Oh, we were talking about on this Theo podcast about how like, well, Columbia's, you know, they're great, they got 500 million bucks in cash.
Meanwhile, Lulu's like 2 billion.
Eoin Comerford
00:27:31.182 - 00:27:31.446
Cool.
Colin True
00:27:31.478 - 00:27:31.926
2 billion.
Eoin Comerford
00:27:31.998 - 00:27:32.770
2 billion.
Producer Dave
00:27:33.550 - 00:27:35.370
Apple says hold my beer.
Eoin Comerford
00:27:38.080 - 00:27:55.940
Right.
So it's funny that a, they're not returning that to their shareholders, but is that, well, let's use that as our war chest to fund that international expansion? Probably, I guess. Or is there an acquisition on the horizon? Hard to say.
Colin True
00:27:56.720 - 00:27:57.940
Who would they buy?
Eoin Comerford
00:27:58.320 - 00:27:59.980
Steel, obviously.
Colin True
00:28:00.640 - 00:28:13.188
That's what I was thinking. Yeah. See, it's a small pivot for steel to go from what they're doing now to make lulu looking clothes. Right. Just a few fewer baffles, you know, some.
Some do some darker colors and they're there.
Producer Dave
00:28:13.324 - 00:28:15.160
Yeah, it's all about the baffles.
Colin True
00:28:17.740 - 00:28:19.924
Hey, who wants to know what's new at garage growing gear?
Eoin Comerford
00:28:19.972 - 00:28:21.108
Oh, I do so much.
Colin True
00:28:21.164 - 00:28:21.588
Do you?
Eoin Comerford
00:28:21.644 - 00:28:22.228
Oh, yeah.
Colin True
00:28:22.324 - 00:29:07.710
Take your cup of coffee on the go with chocolate coffee chocolate bars by Koba. I've never had Koba chocolate. Have you guys ever had coffee chocolate bars by Koba? I have not had that, no. They also. You can.
You can also check out new color blocked fleece hoodies. Hoodies and pants by Sambob. The best names are in garage growing gear. Every brand, every week it's another brand that I get excited about. Sambo.
That's a great name. And take a look at this ultra versatile one person notch tent by tarp Tent. That one's okay. It's not as good as Sambob.
GGG has a new has new ultralight backpacking gear each week. So check out the new page on their site to stay up to the up, up to date on the latest link is in the show notes.
Head to garagegrowngear.com check them out today to get all the cool names over on garage. Koba. Sambo.
Eoin Comerford
00:29:09.250 - 00:29:14.350
I've got a guess. Sambo founders Samuel and Robert. I mean, was it that simple?
Colin True
00:29:15.330 - 00:29:22.170
I kind of hope it isn't. It could be way funnier if it was like you know, Dave and Joe or something, right?
Eoin Comerford
00:29:22.210 - 00:29:26.910
Or the Hindu word for fleece. I mean, something like that maybe.
Producer Dave
00:29:27.830 - 00:29:28.542
Fantastic.
Colin True
00:29:28.606 - 00:29:32.142
I want to try some Kobe though. I love coffee and chocolate, so I'm kind of into both of those things.
Producer Dave
00:29:32.246 - 00:29:35.806
Is it ggg? Is that how they refer to themselves?
Colin True
00:29:35.918 - 00:29:38.030
Ggg? I think it's interchangeable.
Producer Dave
00:29:38.110 - 00:29:43.358
Not triple G. Right? Triple G. Triple G, Soul Triple G. Yeah.
Colin True
00:29:43.374 - 00:29:45.950
It's like an action movie coming this summer.
Producer Dave
00:29:46.110 - 00:29:50.910
Triple G. Yeah, I think it's the. I think it's the new. The action star, right?
Colin True
00:29:50.950 - 00:29:56.174
I think G man Lloyd Vogel, he wraps himself in dyneema and goes on a tear.
Producer Dave
00:29:56.222 - 00:30:01.480
That's what happens in triple G. Right? In triple G. Oh, I, I like this. I think this is going.
Colin True
00:30:01.600 - 00:30:03.460
Minneapolis is a tough town.
Eoin Comerford
00:30:03.760 - 00:30:11.304
Or it's like Guy Fieri's gear shop because he's got Triple D. Oh, Diners Dragons and Dives.
Colin True
00:30:11.432 - 00:30:22.296
And so, Lloyd, we can't keep feeding you these good ideas for free. Okay. All right. We're gonna have to charge you for this one. If you get the collab going with Guy Fieri that we want credit.
We went like, you know, a rock fight shop, merch shop in there.
Producer Dave
00:30:22.448 - 00:30:25.736
And if you're gonna size up to Triple G, we want to be there, too.
Colin True
00:30:25.888 - 00:32:24.070
Triple G. All right, let's take it to some listener feedback as presented by Oboz, who loves hiking and wants us all to talk more about hiking.
You know, it's the activity that we all do but no one talks about. And we're going to count the ways we love hiking in a minute.
But first, we're going to turn now, something I posted on LinkedIn last week, which is a post about last Monday's episode of the Rock Fight where Owen, Dave, and I made some broader innovation recommendations for the outdoor industry. That post got 50 comments. So not quite a full comer for, but not bad. All right. It was. It was pretty good for me. Thanks, buddy.
Yeah, I was pretty proud of myself. I'm like, oh, you know, I'm like, that's like double A level if you're the majors, you know, was it 130?
So one of the more active comic comment threads was started by a gentleman named Patrick who wrote, I got one for you. Let's innovate how we message climate impact to consumers. Allbirds led the way here by listing the CO2 of their products in if.
If it is true that, quote, climate change is the single greatest threat to life outdoors and, quote, we're in business to save our home planet. So invoking some Patagonia lines there, as some outdoor companies have claimed, then we need to do better.
The innovation here would be to take the Allbirds lead and extend CO2e labels to all products, make it an industry standard, have it certified this work. This type of work would need to be organized by the Outdoor Industry association with key players like REI and Patagonia helping to lead the way.
I like this one because one, when I was at Timberland in the early 2000s, we launched a nutrition label to provide transparency into the impact of the products we were making. That fizzled out after there was not a lot of consumer uptake on that. RAB has launched one in the last couple of years.
Tim Fisher is on the Rock Fight about a year and a half ago talking about what they're doing to try and do the same thing. My question for you Guys, is, can brand transparency really lead to consumers being more engaged on more sustainable practices?
I mean, is that really something that we feel like if this was a broader initiative and more brands did it, do we feel like it could really change consumer buying habits?
Eoin Comerford
00:32:24.890 - 00:33:29.180
I think so, because it kind of cuts through all of the bullshit, right? If, if you could really condense it down to a few things, and that's the big if.
But if you could condense down to a few things that A, people could understand, but B, then it would give you a mode of comparison because I think quite frankly there's so much talk about sustainability within our industry that it just becomes noise and you're just like, okay, all I know is that Patagonia is really sustainable and everyone else kind of talks about it.
So, you know, whereas if you could say, oh no, no, the carbon impact of this jacket was ba ba da ba, and here's X, y or Z versus just okay, it's recyclable, it's 100% recycled polyester. But what does that mean? And actually how was it produced? What were the, what were the upstream and downstream impacts?
And I think there is stuff out there is like the HIG index and there are the. Definitely things. But yeah, if you could just put it onto a, like a, like, yeah, like a nutrition label.
Colin True
00:33:29.260 - 00:33:29.772
Letter grade.
Eoin Comerford
00:33:29.836 - 00:33:30.444
Yeah, exactly.
Colin True
00:33:30.492 - 00:33:49.860
Yeah, yeah, just that's the thing too. I think some of these is why I think the timberland didn't. Timberland one didn't work.
And you know, even if we had everybody to do it and it's like, well, we released this amount of carbon dioxide for the creation of this pair of shoes. It's like, no, it just gets a B minus. The one over here is an A minus. So you decide which one you want. It's got to be something really simple.
I feel like if it's going to work.
Eoin Comerford
00:33:50.560 - 00:33:51.780
Yeah, I would agree.
Producer Dave
00:33:52.240 - 00:34:53.530
No, I agree.
Again, this has been tried many times and you've got the third party validators like Bluesign or Higgs, like you're talking about all attempting to make a trust mark that people understand what it means. I think the letter grade is probably the simplest way to do that. And it has to come from the brands.
I mean, they're the ones with the direct relationships with consumers. So if they're not going to do it, it ain't going to happen.
And it's one of those things that obviously a complete organized approach would be the ideal way to go.
That has not happened as of yet, but that doesn't mean that just in the adage that a trickle of water can carve a pretty deep canyon, they just have to start doing it until where we start to kind of maybe coalesce into some kind of similarities in the way we get to it and at some point then have some, some group take a, take control and help create some regularity to it and consistency. But I think right now it's, it's a great way to stand out.
Colin True
00:34:53.990 - 00:35:18.428
That's just the hard part. We talk a lot about this, obviously about the, the brands that, where's the collaboration which could be another form of innovation. Right.
You know, Rebecca wrote actually I'd like to see the outdoor industry innovating to create functional performance gear that doesn't use fossil based textiles, any harmful chemicals and which has genuinely reliable end of life solutions. I mean that's the dream. But that probably doesn't happen without legislation, more legislation and obviously collaboration.
Producer Dave
00:35:18.524 - 00:35:58.580
Yeah, I don't know if it needs regulation in that same way.
I think that's the next great innovation story where before the last 70 years has all been about what can your product do and what does it prevent from happening. I think the removal of fossil fuel or petrol based everything is the great challenge of our innovation for the next, I hope.
You know, I don't know how long it's going to take, but there's the sustainability as a whole and how we manufacture and all those things are definitely part of this process. But the one big one is how to remove petroleum from the essentials that build our products.
Eoin Comerford
00:35:59.360 - 00:37:30.450
I think it comes back to the same thing. And where I think the label approach can help is if consumers want to support sustainability with their wallet, how do they know who to support?
Because these technologies will require dollars, they'll require development and investment, et cetera.
And so if consumers can say, okay, well I want to support that, so I'm going to only buy a rated for this, that or the other thing, then I think that would help. The other thing I would say is while, well, there's a lot that can be done through voluntary things and through associations, et cetera.
To me it's going to take probably somebody like an REI to step up and basically require it.
And they're already, I would say halfway there with their supplier standards and they've made big moves here, it's now a matter of I think taking that work and saying, okay, these are all the things you need to do to be to sell at rei or at least these are the questions you have to be able to answer. And here's then your scorecard. And so when you're on rei.com, when you're in an REI store, you'd be able to actually see what that means.
In other words, when capitalism comes into play, that is, it's going to impact how much open to buy from REI you're going to get in a year. Suddenly, then everybody will get on board and we'll start to see that level of standardization.
Producer Dave
00:37:32.330 - 00:37:43.586
It goes right along with, you know, of all companies, Walmart. Right.
Didn't they change some of their packaging requirements a few years back in terms of its plastic componentry, which really upended the packaging?
Eoin Comerford
00:37:43.778 - 00:37:44.402
Absolutely.
Producer Dave
00:37:44.466 - 00:37:53.490
Kind of supply chain. Right. And a massive impact over some fairly small regulatory changes in their, in their process had a big impact.
Colin True
00:37:53.610 - 00:39:17.182
The other thing we spoke about last week was on experiential marketing as a form of innovation.
And on that part of the conversation, one comment was left by Tyler, who wants to make sure that sales reps get their due when it comes to supporting their role in supporting retailers. But more interesting than that, I thought one thing Tyler wrote was about retailers themselves and we touched on it a little bit.
But I want to read what he wrote.
He said, I cannot tell you as a rep how many times I have created or supported events for retailers, invested personal time, energy and cost only to show up at a store with fewer than a dozen people there. Usually the retailer does a poor job of marketing the event with a single Facebook post.
Post I've had brands offer to pay for advertising retailers can't execute. I'm not blaming retailers. Many independents don't have a marketing person.
Maybe they have a social media person who's usually the youngest person on staff forced into that role, or they don't have the budget.
But from a brand and rep perspective, you know, once bitten, twice shy on continuing to try and engage with retailers who aren't or can't create a meaningful event. And I said during our conversation we talked about how many retailers excel at community engagement, but there's some that just don't do it at all.
And I think it's a good summation in Tyler's point that often retailers aren't alone in trying to pull some of these things off. Both their reps and brands will offer resources that they either don't take advantage of or don't know what to do with it.
Maybe they don't have the resources to do with it, but they also don't prioritize it as they're kind of planning for the future as well. So I don't know. Owen, did that resonate at all with some of your retail experience?
Eoin Comerford
00:39:17.286 - 00:39:49.638
Totally, yeah. No, I mean that's a great point. If you can't get behind it as a retailer to drive the traffic, then it's, it's a waste of everybody's time.
What I would say as well though is you have to come at it from the consumer's perspective and figure out what your consumers are interested in because yeah, there have been times where we've done exactly this at. Mr. We would do an event and you know, nobody would show up.
Or you do an events, you do an event and it's the same eight people that show up every week.
Colin True
00:39:49.694 - 00:39:51.334
It's just like the fan club that arrives.
Eoin Comerford
00:39:51.382 - 00:39:55.106
It's like, okay guys, it's great that you're here but you know, bring a friend.
Colin True
00:39:55.178 - 00:39:56.530
This cost us a thousand bucks.
Eoin Comerford
00:39:56.610 - 00:40:17.458
Thanks. So yeah, if you're gonna do it, do it well and then get the word out.
But yeah, I mean have, have the, have the gifts of, you know, have, have a gift with purchase. Have, have a, have a raffle, have somebody interesting there to talk. I mean really make it worthwhile.
Make either people are going to learn something or get something right out of this.
Colin True
00:40:17.514 - 00:40:17.970
Right.
Eoin Comerford
00:40:18.090 - 00:40:29.330
Experience and serve booze. It would be, would be my other advice. Free beer always helps. Helps. So yeah, but that definitely resonated.
Producer Dave
00:40:29.410 - 00:41:08.638
Yeah. And I would just go on to, I mean, yeah, it's always demoralizing though.
You put all that work into it and you think you're going to get a bigger turnout. But I think the game, it is a smaller, intimate process. Like I said, it is one brick at a time.
And so 10 people, a half a dozen, that's the nature of the beast.
But you continue to make those connections and you continue to make the impression and that's how you build loyalty and enthusiasts and you know, evangelists. So I just, I think it's just kind of a necessary evil that does have to be thought of in a, in a much smaller, more deliberate timeframe.
Colin True
00:41:08.814 - 00:41:20.206
Yeah, I think some of this is apathy winning when some of the folks, hey, we have brands who offer resources, perhaps offer resources and someone just being like who's been in the game maybe a long time and have that like, no, I don't want to, you know.
Eoin Comerford
00:41:20.278 - 00:41:53.392
Like, like so many things.
If you come at it from a self serving perspective like let's hold an event to sell more brand X, it just doesn't necessarily work versus you know, a run store having a run club that works because it isn't really about the sale. Right. It isn't about that. It's about community. It's about people getting out together. It's those things.
And if they happen to, if it happens to start and end in the store and then, you know, people's shoes are running out and they get a new pair of shoes as part of the process, then it, you know that, that, that works, right?
Producer Dave
00:41:53.496 - 00:41:59.164
Yeah. Brands tend to want to be product first, experience second, and it' actually it's the opposite.
Eoin Comerford
00:41:59.212 - 00:41:59.852
Right, exactly.
Producer Dave
00:41:59.916 - 00:42:06.040
Build joy and connection and appreciation of the event or the activity and the products, then follow.
Colin True
00:42:07.140 - 00:42:10.476
Let's have an event where people buy things at the place where people buy things.
Eoin Comerford
00:42:10.548 - 00:42:11.356
Exactly.
Colin True
00:42:11.548 - 00:42:12.620
Right, right, right.
Eoin Comerford
00:42:12.660 - 00:42:13.520
Exactly.
Producer Dave
00:42:15.380 - 00:42:15.820
All right.
Colin True
00:42:15.860 - 00:42:33.484
Today's episode of the Rock Fight, presented by Oboz. Who's helping us ask the question, how do I love hiking? Let me count the ways. Number one, the magic of trail snacks.
Somehow a peanut butter sandwich tastes Michelin starred at 3000, 3000ft. I think it's more like, I guess 3000ft. It can taste good at 3000ft.
Eoin Comerford
00:42:33.532 - 00:42:41.788
Well, I know I wouldn't say Michelin. It might be a Yelp 4 1/2 star at 3,000ft. At 13,000ft, it's Michelin starch.
Colin True
00:42:41.964 - 00:42:47.276
I see. So that's where the elevation comes into this. The quality of the peanut butter goes up the higher in elevation you go.
Producer Dave
00:42:47.348 - 00:42:51.894
That's right. The white tablecloth appears above the tree line.
Eoin Comerford
00:42:52.062 - 00:42:56.410
The less oxygen in your brain, the better it tastes.
Colin True
00:42:57.310 - 00:43:06.890
This number two, we're gonna reconnect with your inner caveman. You walk far, you see things, you feel alive. Did they walk far or just outside the cave?
Eoin Comerford
00:43:07.550 - 00:43:13.090
I just, I wasn't around then. Colin. Contrary to, Contrary to.
Colin True
00:43:15.560 - 00:43:24.784
Number three, epic sunrises you earned, waking up at 4am feels worth it sometimes, sometimes not. You know, not all the time.
Eoin Comerford
00:43:24.872 - 00:43:29.520
It depends why. It depends why you're waking up at 4am it would, would be what I would say.
Colin True
00:43:29.560 - 00:44:36.620
That's what I'm usually up. I can't comment on this. That's about when I wake up anyway. Number four. Hey.
For every hike completed over a mile long during the month of April, Oboz will plant a tree as part of its Tree Trails for Trees challenge. For each hike completed, participants will also receive chances to win weekly prizes from Oboz and its challenge partners.
Registration is free and open now@tails4trees.com and it's open to walkers, hikers, runners and people using mobility assistive devices. After registering, participants must track their hikes on a GPS enabled device.
And not only will that hike result in a tree being planted, but for each hike completed, participants will receive an entry to win weekly prizes from Trails for Tree Challenge partners. Free Fly, Jason, Mark, I don't know. Jason Mark, Rab, Smartwool, Thule, and of course, Oboz footwear number five.
This hiking appreciation moment, guys, is brought to you by Oboes of Bozeman, Montana, maker of the Catabatic collection that includes the Catabatic LT and the Catabatic Wind. Check out the full Catabatic footwear collection@obozfootwear.com today. All right, you guys ready for the parting shot?
Eoin Comerford
00:44:41.600 - 00:44:45.384
Yeah. I just wanted to say how, how cool that, that Trees for Trails thing is.
Colin True
00:44:45.552 - 00:45:16.856
Yeah, yeah, I'm gonna do that actually. I'm gonna register for that. Yeah, yeah. All right, so today's the last day of Q1, 2025. So I thought let's take a second, let's re.
It's, it's been a busy quarter, so let's revisit some of the topics we've discussed over the past three months of 2025 here on the rise, see if anybody has some follow up thoughts. So we kicked off the year on January 6th with, and really kicked off the year with our top five footwear brands.
Maybe our most infamous episode, would we say of the Rock fight. Any love for Salomon? Do we want to, do we not mention Solomon right now? We never mentioned that brand again.
Eoin Comerford
00:45:16.928 - 00:45:18.260
I don't know who you're talking about.
Colin True
00:45:19.760 - 00:45:32.708
On January 13th, Owen, you and I broke the news about Rumpels management shakeup. And then on the 22nd, we had our emergency reaction to REI's new CEO, Mary Beth.
We've not yet been able to secure Mary Beth on the Rock fight to keep working on that one.
Eoin Comerford
00:45:32.764 - 00:45:41.220
Yeah, she and I, we, we've exchanged some, some messages on LinkedIn. But I, I don't know, she. I guess she's busy or something. But.
Colin True
00:45:41.260 - 00:45:49.380
Yeah, yeah, right, we'll get, we'll get her on. It'll be good fun. You get to meet producer Dave. I mean, come on, everyone loves producer Dave.
Producer Dave
00:45:49.460 - 00:45:51.840
She's got, she's got things to do.
Colin True
00:45:52.220 - 00:45:58.036
February 3rd. We've alluded to this already in this episode where we talked about the HOKA speed loafer. The worst day of Owen's life.
Eoin Comerford
00:45:58.108 - 00:45:59.640
That son of a bitch.
Colin True
00:46:01.600 - 00:46:18.168
You Hoka. Nobody. Nobody. Clip that sound bite and play it, please. And then February 10th, we are back with our top five gear brands.
Any thought memories from the top five gear brands, guys? What stands out from that Episode.
Eoin Comerford
00:46:18.344 - 00:46:27.400
I think we got that one right. That one was pretty good from what I remember. Yeah. Yeah. Well, can you remember them? Is now the question. Question.
Colin True
00:46:27.700 - 00:46:30.796
Okay, we got black diamond, Nemo. Nemo.
Eoin Comerford
00:46:30.828 - 00:46:37.260
Nemo, Black diamond, Black diamond, and exped. Oh, oh, you're right. Exped. Did. Did make it. Msr.
Colin True
00:46:37.340 - 00:46:42.156
Nemo, black diamond, expat, msr. And I want to say see to summit. But that was accessories.
Eoin Comerford
00:46:42.188 - 00:46:44.120
No, that didn't make it.
Colin True
00:46:46.340 - 00:46:48.940
People are gonna get so mad at us. We're gonna get so mad.
Eoin Comerford
00:46:49.100 - 00:46:51.240
We should probably know these things.
Producer Dave
00:46:52.580 - 00:46:53.308
Oh, my God.
Colin True
00:46:53.324 - 00:46:53.724
What was it?
Eoin Comerford
00:46:53.732 - 00:46:55.930
Oh, Osprey. Okay.
Colin True
00:46:56.590 - 00:46:58.486
Man, I thought we were gonna end that episode.
Eoin Comerford
00:46:58.598 - 00:47:01.450
Oh, my God. That would have been ugly. Okay.
Colin True
00:47:01.870 - 00:47:35.314
February 17th, we had our first of several authentic brands conversations. On March 3, we asked if Sierra could take down REI. And then on March 10, kind of our last. I didn't wanna go too much deeper into March.
Cause we're ending March. But we had our top five accessories, which actually, I have gotten. We have gotten to a lot of hate mail.
Maybe more than the Solomon thing about how dare we include smart wool over darn tough on the top five accessories? And to which I say, yeah, I hear you. Apparently the insiders like darn tough. I like darn tough. Smartwool is like, darn tough makes a.
Eoin Comerford
00:47:35.402 - 00:47:49.384
Hell of a sock. I think it was more around the fact that smart wool provides just a broader breadth of items within our fictional store.
But you can't go wrong with either of those two, quite frankly.
Colin True
00:47:49.402 - 00:47:59.996
Frankly, I think we will do this exercise again, and the rules will be a little different. It'll be like if we're building, like, you know, new brands only or, like, you know, there'll be like, some. It won't just be the big guys.
Don't worry, guys.
Producer Dave
00:48:00.028 - 00:48:12.092
We're not done with brands with patented technology that are distinctly different from everybody else. That might be an interesting way to look at socks. I'm just saying, like, not thinking of.
Eoin Comerford
00:48:12.116 - 00:48:16.636
Any brands with a.
Producer Dave
00:48:16.708 - 00:48:28.340
With a key musical ear. The ability to deliver ear worm terms to spectro fight radio audiences. Yeah, but it's all about that custom fit feel. I'll tell you.
Eoin Comerford
00:48:28.640 - 00:48:30.020
Okay, that's the.
Colin True
00:48:33.120 - 00:48:34.520
Do you work with a sock brand?
Eoin Comerford
00:48:34.560 - 00:48:35.300
I do work.
Colin True
00:48:35.680 - 00:48:38.232
Who do you work with? You wanna. You wanna reveal here on the show.
Eoin Comerford
00:48:38.256 - 00:48:38.792
Who you work with?
Producer Dave
00:48:38.816 - 00:48:40.584
I do not. I do not.
Colin True
00:48:40.752 - 00:48:42.472
Do they make funny songs?
Producer Dave
00:48:42.536 - 00:48:47.736
Do they. Do they make hilariously funny songs? And they make an incredibly great fitting song.
Colin True
00:48:47.928 - 00:48:50.362
The song. Wait, the songs fit or the socks fit?
Producer Dave
00:48:50.426 - 00:48:53.162
Yes, Colin, Yes. That's right.
Colin True
00:48:53.346 - 00:48:58.710
I said I added an S at the end. Last thoughts on Q1 2025.
Eoin Comerford
00:48:59.250 - 00:49:07.390
It's been fun, guys. I mean, this is my first full quarter with the. With the team and I am having a. I'm having a blast.
Colin True
00:49:07.890 - 00:49:10.922
Yeah. We also launched open containers. I mean, it was a busy first quarter.
Eoin Comerford
00:49:11.026 - 00:49:12.350
Yeah, absolutely.
Colin True
00:49:13.090 - 00:49:30.388
The Rock Fights a production of Rock Fight llc. Our producer today is producer David. He works for the sock brand Karstad. Art direction provide a Sarah Gensert for Owen Comberfurt. I'm colletrue.
Thanks for listening. And Krista makes his back once again to sing the rock fight fight song. We'll see you next time. Rock Fighters.
Chris DeMakes
00:49:30.484 - 00:50:26.340
Rock fight, Rock fight Rock fight Rock fight Rock fight, Rock fighting To the rock fight where we speak our truth Slay sacred cows and sometimes agree to disagree we talk about human powered outdoor activities and pig bites about topics that we find interesting like pop culture, music the latest movie reviews ideas that aim for the head this is where we speak our truth. This is where we speak our truth.
Rock flight Rock flight Rock flight welcome to the rock flight Rock flight, Rock flight welcome to the rock fight Rock fight Rock fight Rock fight Rock fight, Rock fight Welcome to the rock fight Rock fight Rock fight.
Eoin Comerford
00:50:28.400 - 00:50:30.800
Rock fight.
