Darn Tough Vermont announced first quarter earnings have grown 20 percent year-over-year. The double-digital growth reflects increases across all categories and a positive response to the new Vertex Running Series that launched this spring, says the company.
Improvements to infrastructure and operations also continues to be a major initiative as Darn Tough implemented a new training program for manufacturing employees and completed the year-long upgrade of all knitting machines in the Northfield mill.
“The incremental increases across the entire Darn Tough collection illustrates the passion and drive of our entire team. We’re particularly happy with the double digit increases we achieved in our Running and Lifestyle categories. These were major strategic initiatives for us and we’ve made some great gains,” said Ric Cabot, Darn Tough Vermont President and CEO. “Having the best people on the front line, driving our sales and telling our brand story is as important as having the right hands on the line at the mill to create the world’s best sock.”
The popularity of the new Vertex series for serious runners drove growth in the company’s Endurance/Running category of 80 percent year-over-year. According to Darn Tough, the plans was to original release it in black only, but “response to the innovative new offering from retailers and consumers alike caused the brand to fast-track a larger, more colorful collection.”
The Lifestyle category has also seen a significant increase, up 58 percent from last year.
Meanwhile, Darn Tough hired Techline Rep Group (TRG) to help drive sales for the brand in Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana and Oklahoma area (TALO). Also during the first quarter, Darn Tough upgraded the remaining 23 percent of their knitting machines to state-of-the-art True Seamless toe technology which can now produce any sock in the Darn Tough catalog. In addition, the entire Northfield mill has been fully networked, enabling comprehensive production data collection, improving efficiency and limiting waste.
