NBC television crews will be wearing Columbia Sportswear for the 2000 Summer Games in Sydney, Australia and the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City, UT. The Portland, OR, outdoor apparel and footwear manufacture outfitted the 1994 Lillihammer Games as well. Thomas Miller, promotional and licensing manager at Columbia, said the deal is perfect for Columbia. ìWeíre not a company that traditionally spends a lot on sponsorship of athletes, and the Olympics are still a premiere brand in any category,î he said. ìItís great to be associated with that, from a non-athletic angle.î These types of promotions have ìlegsî too, he added. ìIf NBC likes what we do here, they could potentially include us into other programming,î he said.
The North Face recently announced a reorganization plan that effectively terminated upwards of 61 employees. About 43 of the companyís San Leandro, CA, workforce were let go, as well as five of the Carbondale, CO, employee base. An additional 13 field merchandisers were cut. Ashley Devery, TNF spokesperson, said the layoffs were due to a soft first quarter. The company will work to manage costs moving forward. Devery said the privatization offer by Leonard Green & Partners, which would offer TNF shareholders $17 per share for TNF stock, was still under negotiation by both sides.
Long-time outdoor industry vet Dick Holcombe has jumped to the Internetóas executive vice president of product and distribution for Gear.com, a discount sports product Website. Holcombe comes to Gear.com from Woolrich, Rockport and Chipman-Union, to name a few.
Black Diamond Equipment hired Maile Buker as marketing director. She brings experience in marketing and brand management from Coors and Nike. (Apparel, Broadcast, Financial, Outdoor)