Spring 2019 - Inside Outdoor Magazine

Inside Outdoor | SPRING 2019 6 Outdoor History and the Future of Nearshoring There are a number of reasons spelled out in this issue’s feature on near- shoring why apparel and other softgoods manufacturers could soon see a “step change” in production moving closer to home or closer to where the intended users are purchasing those items. Chief among the reasons, one could argue, is the increasing need for speed and flexibility in the apparel supply chain in order to keep pace with today’s digital consumers and their on-demand shopping ex- pectations. But that’s not the reason why we believe outdoor brands and textile suppliers will be among the first mass movers toward near- and on-shoring, at least if history is any indication. Quite simply, near- and on-shoring, if only due to geography and the related footprint, is a much more sustainable model compared to one that involves ship- ping crates across the globe and stocking warehouses before demand is fully understood. It’s even quite possible that nearshore sourcing and manufacturing strategies may be the straightest path toward achieving goals around truly trans- parent, circular value chains. Time and time again, when members of the outdoor industry have been pre- sented with opportunities to “do good” by our planet and society, they have not only followed the lead in those socially correct courses, but our industry has been out front blazing the trails. Oftentimes, outdoor companies have been the ones providing the necessary scale to make a movement cost-efficient and wide- spread. That’s even true in cases when a more eco-friendly or socially conscious supply strategy would mean a small hit to margins. We saw it with the switch to organic cotton and the push to incorporate recy- cled PET. Outdoor brands and suppliers led the charge, once again, with respon- sibly sourced down and wool, as well as with eco-conscious dyes. More recently, outdoor brands and their suppliers were out front in the charge to build better DWRs and raise awareness over microplastics in our oceans and water supplies. Quite frankly, it’s a pretty impressive history. So while it might be true that the near- and on-shoring of manufacturing could soon prove a competitive advantage, if not a necessity, to “keeping up” with the changing times and our digital transformations, and while it’s also true that trans- parency and sustainability are become increasingly important buying criteria to apparel shoppers, outdoor companies, we’d argue, will move more and more of their production to nearer shores not just because it is right for business, but be- cause, once again, it is the right thing to do. From the Editor Martin Vilaboy Editor-in-Chief martin@bekabusinessmedia.com Gerald Baldino Managing Editor gerald@bekabusinessmedia.com Percy Zamora Art Director outdoor@bekapublishing.com Ernest Shiwanov Editor at Large ernest@bekapublishing.com Berge Kaprelian Group Publisher berge@bekabusinessmedia.com Rene Galan Associate Publisher rene@bekabusinessmedia.com Anthony Graffeo Associate Publisher anthony@bekabusinessmedia.com David Garcia Digital Marketing Manager david@bekabusinessmedia.com Beka Business Media Berge Kaprelian President and CEO Neil Ende General Counsel Jim Bankes Business Accounting Corporate Headquarters 10115 E Bell Road, Suite 107 - #517 Scottsdale, Arizona 85260 Voice: 480.503.0770 Fax: 480.503.0990 Email: berge@bekabusinessmedia.com © 2019 Beka Business Media, All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in any form or medium without express written permission of Beka Business Media, is prohibited. Inside Outdoor and the Inside Outdoor logo are trademarks of Beka Business Media

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