From a very small hat company to a global brand with $1.5 billion in annual revenue, Columbia Sportswear has seen dizzying growth but had also once been to the brink of bankruptcy. The company has prospered through good times and bad through creativity and product innovation, Columbia CEO Tim Boyle told an audience Wednesday evening at the Hilton Vancouver Washington.
“The one thing we never abandoned was our passion. You have to be passionate to succeed,” said Boyle, who spoke about success in terms familiar to an audience of businesspeople, students and government officials .
Boyle’s visit came at the midpoint of a local weeklong series of events tied to Global Entrepreneurship Week, which promotes entrepreneurship and innovation in startups, businesses and individual innovators in their early stages. Activities are taking place across all 50 U.S. states and in 157 countries. The event was sponsored by the Columbia River Economic Development Council and Washington State University Vancouver’s Business Growth Mentor and Analysis Program.
The story of Columbia Sportswear, based in Beaverton, Ore., began when Boyle’s grandparents immigrated from Germany in the late 1930s. They bought Rosenfeld Hat Company and changed its name to Columbia Hat Company. In 1960, Tim Boyle’s mother, Gertrude, designed its first fishing vest and the company name was changed to Columbia Sportswear.
In the early years, the company was in over its head financially. Its banker warned that bankruptcy could well be inevitable. “And yet, he believed in the company’s potential,” said Boyle.
At the end of their meeting, the banker said, “I know someone from a little shoe company out in Beaverton. You should talk with them.”
That “little shoe company” was Nike. Ron Nelson, one of Nike’s first 12 employees, became a critically important adviser to Columbia Sportswear. It was a valuable lesson for the company.
‘You have to engage people outside your company to get a sense of whether your ideas are valid. We constantly asked people what they thought about the products we had, and also the products we were developing for the future,” said Boyle.
When Boyle’s grandparents died, the company stayed in the family. It was run by Tim’s mother and father, Gertrude and Joseph Boyle. After Joseph died, Gertrude asked Tim if he’d join the company. He was 21 years old and a journalism major at University of Oregon.
“I knew absolutely nothing about the industry,” he noted. “We did great — took the company from a million (dollars) in sales in one year to half a million the next,” Boyle said with a chuckle.
Columbia broadened its offerings, selling the core equipment people needed for their adventures in the great outdoors or in their backyard — where Columbia baseballs and gloves were a prominent part of the lineup.
One of the company’s most popular items was the Bugaboo, a jacket that fought off cold with its layered design. The jacket was a harbinger of fast growth. Another strategy was partnering with companies that had needs but did not want to expand their manufacturing infrastructure. Orvis, an early customer, turned out to be one of its best. “They asked if we could help them out, and it worked well. Columbia manufactured the goods, and Orvis marketed them under their brand banner,” said Boyle.
Columbia had a significant marketing budget, but the company leadership wanted messaging that would truly break through the clutter. The answer? Gertrude Boyle became the company spokesperson as Gert Boyle, marketed as “one tough mother.” In the 1970s and ’80s, creating ads that featured an extreme close-up of an elderly woman staring straight into your eyes was beyond unusual. Columbia Sportswear’s ads stood out, and the company’s success continued spiraling upward. Gert Boyle, now 91, is appearing again in company ads after a 10-year hiatus.
In response to a question about the company’s environmental message, Boyle said that “keeping a healthy environment is pretty critical to us. If there isn’t any outdoors, that’s going to be a problem.”
Columbia has a team devoted to reducing its carbon footprint, including lessening the weight and waste involved in packaging and shipping goods, he said.
Boyle also was asked whether the company had any plans for an expansion into Vancouver. Last November, Boyle had spent time reviewing Vancouver for a small operational center. “It’s not a matter of “will it happen?,” he responded. “It’s just a matter of when.”
Boyle’s message on the greatest threat to innovation: “Not taking a chance with your ideas.”
