Luxury outdoor brand Canada Goose is betting big on US brick-and-mortar

Luxury jacket maker Canada Goose is all in on its brick-and-mortar strategy, which it says is fueled by increasing consumer demand across US cities for the chance to engage more directly with the brand.

The Toronto-based outerwear brand opened a permanent location in Las Vegas in early November, with plans for a Denver store to open in December. Pop-up locations in Aspen and Detroit are also set to open before the end of the year.

“DTC channels, especially brick-and-mortar stores, serve as an unfiltered window into our brand and allow us to create meaningful relationships with our customers,” Canada Goose president Carrie Baker told Retail Brew via email. “Opening new doors was a natural step for the brand to engage with more people directly.”

Busy season: Canada Goose is probably best known for quilted, thigh-length parkas with fur-trimmed hoods (the brand made the decision to go fur-free in 2021), which retail for nearly $1,500 (or maybe you recognize the brand from Nicolas Cage’s wardrobe in National Treasure). But the brand has recently pushed beyond winter and into other seasons and categories to meet consumer demand, Baker said.

• “As we’ve successfully expanded into new categories and seasons, moving into new markets in the West, like Las Vegas, is a natural next step for us,” she explained.
• The Las Vegas store will include a “Snow Room” for customers to test out their jackets in harsher climates. The room snows daily and reaches temperatures as low as -10°F, the brand said.
• Las Vegas’s relatively mild winters might make it seem an unlikely spot for a Snow Room, but Baker said the environmental footprint of all stores and Snow Rooms was top of mind during the design process. “Our Snow Rooms use less energy than an average home over the course of a day,” she said. “The Snow Room also has high insulation values, so it can sustain its low temperatures even when not in operation.”

Global growth: In early November, Canada Goose cut its revenue and profit forecast for the year, pointing to Covid-19 lockdowns hurting sales in China. While more than 20% of the brand’s revenue was generated in the Asia-Pacific region in Q2, it was the only region where revenue didn’t grow.

Meanwhile, Canada Goose sales in the US are on the rise, including at existing stores and wholesale, the brand said. The new US locations join nearly 50 brick-and-mortar stores globally, including 16 in mainland China.

Editor's note 12/02/22: This story has been updated since it first ran to note Canada Goose's decision to go fur-free in 2021.