With a new equity partner in TSG Consumer Partners, The Backcountry Group is set to shift to its next gear of growth – both here and abroad.

As reported in early July, TSG Consumer Partners acquired The Backcountry Group from Liberty Interactive Corp. While Backcountry founder Jim Holland retains a stake in Backcountry, the companies did not disclose any other financial details of the transaction.

TSG, a San Francisco-based private-equity firm with approximately $3 billion in equity capital under management, has been investing in the consumer space for the last 25 years.

“We believe TSG is going to be a great partner for us as we continue to grow our businesses,” said Backcountry President and CEO Jill Layfield in an interview with the B.O.S.S Report. “They’re really committed to our goal of becoming the global leader of outdoor specialty retail.”

She pointed to TSG’s track record of helping brands such as Planet Fitness, Vitaminwater, Revolve Clothing and Smashbox Cosmetics ramp up their expansion efforts.

“They’re really excited about all of the different brands in our portfolio and the niches they each address in the outdoor market, and want to deeply partner with us to tap all the different growth opportunities we have in front of us,” said Layfield. “For me personally, it’s extremely exciting to have an owner who has such expertise building amazing world-class brands and a partner to really unlock a lot of opportunity for us in the future.”

Layfield said TSG has “has been interested in Backcountry for some time” and was among the “number of suitors” quickly arriving after Liberty began formally exploring a potential sale earlier this year. Liberty acquired its controlling stake in Backcountry in 2007, and Backcountry only became available after Liberty’s sale last year of Provide Commerce to FTD Companies led to numerous queries on whether Liberty’s other e-commerce properties might be for sale.

TSG has already committed to expand Backcountry’s marketing efforts. Print advertising, catalogs, and online marketing will be part of the pumped-up marketing thrust across brands.

“We have some really compelling brands with a lot of loyalty once you dig into the metrics but there’s certainly an opportunity to get more people to know about us,’ said Layfield. “So far, I think we’ve been pretty conservative as it relates to marketing and TSG sees an opportunity to step on the gas a bit there.”

TSG also will help Backcountry build on its recent success expanding into Europe, led by its December-2013 acquisition of Bergfreunde.de. Layfield said Bergfreunde.de is a “super authentic brand” with roots in the DACH region (Austria, Germany, Switzerland) and has been expanding at a rate of 50 percent year over year. Since the acquisition, Bergfreunde.de added four adjacent countries in 2014 and another two this year, including the U.K. and France. TSG will provide the necessary capital to support infrastructure investments, such as fulfillment capabilities, but will also help strategically manage growth. Said Layfield, “They’ll really help us from a category, country and brand perspective to map out the best approach for Europe. TSG believes in the opportunity in Europe for a scaled online specialty retailer.”

Finally, TSG will help support the company’s expansion into adjacent categories across its outdoor, bike, powersports and European businesses, including “more meaningfully” entering yoga and running at Backcountry.com, expanding side-by-side at Motosport.com and increasing its cycling push in Europe. Said Layfield, “They’re eager to partner with us to chase those new category opportunities within our current businesses.”

Further out, TSG will help Backcountry explore other categories that can be built into the platform. Said Layfield, ”It’s early days and we have no intermediate plans to do so, but TSG recognizes we have an amazing platform and can effectively extend this platform to multiple categories and multiple branded websites.”

TSG will also be supportive of acquisitions with Backcountry’s success absorbing and leveraging three acquisitions over the last five years. Said Layfield, “I think we’ve built a real competency as it relates to acquiring and integrating businesses.”

The sale comes as Backcountry is coming off a strong year. She said significant investments in 2012 and 2013 around operational efficiencies and further supporting its growth platforms are “really paying some nice dividends in 2014 and in 2015.” But generally healthier business conditions across the sector also boosted Backcountry’s performance last year. Said Layfield, “We definitely outperformed the market and had an amazing year in ‘14 and ‘15 is off to a phenomenal start.”

Backcountry.com, its flagship site, is “particularly performing very, very strong and 2015 we’re seeing double digit growth north of 20 percent,” added Layfield.

Layfield believes Backcountry.com continues to benefit from its broad selection of premium outdoor merchandise. Said Layfield, “We continue to focus on not only having the best assortment from all the big brands and hopefully doing a good job of telling their stories but also scouring the globe to find what’s unique and undiscovered in premium outdoor and bringing those brands to the consumer via Backcountry.com”

Also supporting Backcountry.com is the continued expansion of its Expert Gearhead program, a “really personalized” way for customers to learn and get advice from outdoor experts. Finally, she credited Backcountry.com’s merchandise reach that’s “rooted in the core of outdoor but effectively speaking to a consumer and an assortment that includes premium lifestyle product.”

For 2015, Backcountry.com is launching a fitness category focusing on training, fitness, running and yoga. It’s also continuing to build its brand assortments, including introducing Nike and Brooks for the first time. Following on the successful launch of Frye last year, Ugg and Free People will be arriving this fall to support its lifestyle offerings. Many European exclusives such as the Chamonix-based freeski brand, Black Crows, have also been added to the mix. Other new foreign brands include

A major focus for Backcountry.com will also be continued investments in Expert Gearhead Connections as a key differentiator but also on just “continuing to really be the best story teller for what’s unique and emerging in the outdoor world,” said Layfield.

Backcountry.com was its first website with its launch in 1996, but the company has since diversified across a number of websites, with CompetitiveCyclist.com in particular becoming a “very big business.” While known for its premium selection of road bikes and mountain bikes, hard goods and soft goods, CompetitiveCyclist.com stands out for its Bike Configuration tool that enables cyclists to design their own dream bike all the way down to how the handlebar tape is wrapped. The customized bikes, which range from $5,000 to as high as $20,000, are assembled at its Salt Lake City facility. The site was upgraded over the last year with enhancements to its Bike Configuration tool and Fit tools.

“The experience is world class and no one does anything even remotely close to what CompetitiveCyclist does so we’re continuing to make that customization experience even more flawless and amazing,” said Layfield.

Motosport.com is benefiting from a strong response to the launch earlier this year of a side-by-side category, the fastest growing segment in powersports.

In its flash businesses, Backcountry earlier this year closed Chainlove.com, which covered the cycling space, and essentially integrated the site into SteepandCheap.com, which covers outdoor. Layfield said the company found “there wasn’t enough differentiation” between the two closeout sites. The company also operates WhiskeyMilitia.com, which focuses on action sports.

Layfield said SteepandCheap.com is undergoing a major redesign this year and the overall flash business continues to grow and complement its full-price websites. She elaborated, “There’s always going to be some excess or aged inventory in the marketplace and our flash business is an effective liquidation channel. We appreciate having an off-price channel so we can protect our full price premium business.”

The company also last year launched its first adventure travel business at detour.backcountry.com. Layfield described Detour as a “fun project in the company,” noting that it went from concept to launch in only three months. Detour now reaches four markets – Norcal, Utah, Colorado and Northeast – and has been integrated into Backcountry.com.

“It’s gained some nice traction,” said Layfield. “We’re really excited to provide our customers with the best premium outdoor gear while also providing them with access to what we believe are the best guided adventures.”

Looking ahead, Layfield feels encouraged about the prospects for the outdoor specialty channel. She added, “The brands and retailers that focus on the specialty customer are benefiting today.”

She also said the industry continues to evolve with omnichannel trends and predicted a day at least a few years into the future when Backcountry will probably have its own physical stores to fully meet today’s consumer’s needs.

“I think great brands and great retailers will have to be great at mobile, offline and online,” said Layfield. “The way it’s done will likely be nuanced depending on who the brand is and who the retailer is. But if you want to win the consumer you’re going to have to be present on their terms in their channels.”

For the intermediate term, Backcountry will be exploring its ample, untapped opportunities across its existing platforms with TSG’s help.

“There’s a lot of growth for us left to capitalize on in our core business,” said Layfield. “We are very excited to partner with TSG on this next phase of growth.”