Columbia Sportswear Company announced that to protect the health and safety of its employees, consumers and the communities where it operates, it will close its North America brick & mortar retail stores on Monday, March 16. Columbia expects these stores to remain closed through Friday, March 27.
Consumers seeking the products of the Columbia family of brands are encouraged to visit the respective brand e-commerce sites at columbia.com, sorel.com, mountainhardwear.com, and prana.com.
“The health and safety of our employees, consumers and the communities where we live and work is paramount to us,” said Tim Boyle, Chair, President and CEO of Columbia Sportswear. “During this temporary closure we are also offering catastrophic paid leave to our employees most affected by this virus in an effort to live our values of Doing the Right Thing for our employees, consumers and communities.”
In addition to the North America store closures, Columbia has taken many steps to carry out the health and safety advice from health authorities around the world. These steps have included store closures in select markets outside of North America, enhanced cleaning protocols in all locations, implementation of work from home plans to reduce health risks, facilitation of sick leave to encourage and enable employees to stay home and avoid the risk of spreading illness to others, and travel restrictions to limit potential transmission of COVID-19.
Columbia’s administrative facilities remain open to provide customer support with the least amount of disruption possible. As Columbia continues to monitor this complex and rapidly evolving situation, Columbia’s plans may change.
“Columbia has been in business since 1938 and weathered many storms by keeping its focus on the well-being of its employees, consumers and the larger community,” said Boyle.
Photo courtesy Columbia Sportswear
