Columbia Sportswear Co. signed an agreement with Chogori India Retail Ltd.(CIRL), based in New Delhi, India, to serve as the company’s exclusive distributor in India, effective immediately.

“Chogori India Retail Ltd. is proud to represent Columbia in India”
Columbia president and chief executive officer Tim Boyle said, “We are pleased to welcome CIRL to our existing base of 26 independent distributors that have been instrumental in establishing Columbia’s brands in more than 70 countries over the past two decades. We are confident that CIRL, with more than a decade of experience building consumer brands in India, is well-equipped to compete and make us one of the first U.S.-based outdoor companies to penetrate the world’s second-most-populous country.”

“Chogori India Retail Ltd. is proud to represent Columbia in India,” said CIRL’s founder Hemant Sachdev, an accomplished businessman and alpinist who climbed to the summit of Mount Everest in May 2013. “We look forward to bringing the outstanding performance and quality of Columbia’s products to India’s emerging base of outdoor consumers.”

 

The investment comes as Columbia is experiencing strong growth of its PFG line of apparel, which is designed for warmer climates where much of the world's fastest growing populations live.