Columbia Sportswear 1998 Annual Report Download - page 8

We first realized that the world wanted more Columbia
Sportswear product in 1975 when our parkas were a big hit in
Japan. When Gert and Tim discovered that many of Columbia’s
parkas were making their way across the Pacific, they realized it
was time to go global. A few years later, we added Canada and
Europe to our international distribution and soon discovered that
people everywhere appreciate a well-made product. Today, we
employ more than 1,300 people around the world, with our corpo-
rate headquarters and international distribution center located in
Portland, Oregon.
We distribute products through approximately 10,000 retail-
ers in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Australia and
New Zealand, and we work with 19 independent sales agencies in
the United States. Our wholly owned subsidiary and 6 independent
sales agencies in Canada handle Canadian sales and
distribution. Columbia Sportswear recently launched a fully owned
subsidiary in Tokyo, Japan and we own and operate a European
sales and marketing office in Strasbourg, France. European orders
are fulfilled through a third party distribution center in Waalwijk,
The Netherlands.
Columbia owns and operates a manufacturing facility in Chaffee,
Missouri, and contracts with more than 100 other factories around
the world.
In November 1996, Columbia Sportswear opened its flagship retail
store in downtown Portland, Oregon. This was followed by retail
store openings in Seoul, Korea (January 1997), Nagoya, Japan
(March 1998) and Sydney, Australia (November 1998). We own and
operate eight outlet stores in the US: two in Portland, Oregon, and
one each in Lincoln City, Oregon; Bend, Oregon; Birch Run,
Michigan; Lancaster, Pennsylvania; Kenosha, Wisconsin; and
Medford, Minnesota. We also own and operate three outlet stores
internationally: Windsor, Ontario, Canada; Troyes, France; and
Yokohama, Japan.
GLOBAL PRESENCE
time to go
GLOBAL
COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT
spreading the
warmth
our support of Outward Bound. Columbia provides scholarship
assistance to low-income students who couldn’t otherwise experi-
ence this type of outdoor adventure. Columbia employees also
make a difference through a volunteer program that organizes
groups of employees for causes like SMART (Start Making A
Reader Today) and SOLV IT (a project of Stop Oregon Litter
and Vandalism).
Our offices and factory are responsible for recycling tens of
thousands of pounds of paper and cardboard, as well as glass,
plastic, aluminum and tin. By avoiding excessive packaging and by
using recycled papers and soy-based inks, Columbia’s products also
reflect our commitment to reduce, reuse and recycle. We educate
our employees about environmental awareness, and we encourage
them to carpool and use mass transit with incentives like subsi-
dized bus passes, guaranteed reserved parking for car-poolers,
and bike racks and showers in the office for cyclists.
Sales and
Distribution
Manufacturing
Facilities
RETAIL
People everywhere
appreciate a
well-made product.
As Columbia Sportswear has grown, so has our commitment to
serving our expanding community. This means a lot of public
appearances and chicken luncheons for Gert, but she’s not com-
plaining – she loves what she does despite her busy and sometimes
confusing schedule. For instance, she was chatting with a
gentleman she met at the Columbia-sponsored Albuquerque
International Balloon Fiesta in New Mexico when she asked what
he did for a living. He replied, “I’m governor of this state.” Oops.
Locally and throughout the world, Columbia provides support to
organizations that specialize in human assistance, conservationism,
the environment and education. Our Rethreads program provides
worn but still wearable clothing to people in need all over the
world. Columbia Sportswear is also a member of the Conservation
Alliance, a group of specialty outdoor businesses that has become
a powerful source of grass roots conservation and environmental
funding. Columbia's interest in outdoor education is reflected in
Columbia is commited to serving its
expanding community.