The North Face is perhaps the most consistent grower in the outdoor arena, having gained share in all but one month out of the past 4 years. Brand management has been solid, and VFC has grown without sacrificing the integrity of the brand – thus far. TNF’s evil twin has been Columbia Sportswear, as COLM more often than not lost share as TNF raced forward. As such, it’s tough to ignore the change in market share trajectories between the two over the past several months. Part of TNF’s pause has been its shift to a retail model, which is not reflected in the charts below. I’m not a fan of a brand getting to a point where growth needs to come from owned retail. As for COLM, how could the trend below be bad, particularly given that the improved share position is not coming from reduced price points?
