Eagle Creek celebrates 40 years of industry firsts and innovation in 2015, 40 years after Steve and Nona Barker started building backpacks in Idyllwild, CA, selling them at their small retail shop. True to form, Eagle Creek has used their experience and expertise to evolve into the leading adventure travel gear company, building durable travel products that truly meet the needs of the modern traveler.
Just five years after building their very first pack, Eagle Creek had the vision to pioneer the Adventure Travel Gear category, by manufacturing products with market-leading quality standards and smart travel functionality. Today, Eagle Creek is a fully integrated company that remains focused on the end user, and how their travel products can truly make travelers’ lives and the process of getting from point A to point B better.
“The 40th Anniversary is a time to reflect and celebrate what we’ve already accomplished and to support and refine our vision of how we will influence the future of travel,” said Roger Spatz, President at Eagle Creek, which the Barkers sold to VF Corp. in 2008. “Forty years spent focusing on the travel needs of consumers gives us special insight and depth of understanding on how to deliver exceptional, well-made product, and we’re thankful for that. But we’re also celebrating the people whose passion has propelled the brand to the level it’s at now.”
Key innovations throughout the years include the first backpack designed specifically for travel (1980), the Undercover line of travel security products (1984), the legendary Pack-It packing system and SwitchBack, the first wheeled convertible backpack (1996), super lightweight Pack-It Specter (2012), the award winning and patent pending Morphus (2013), 2-in-1 Ultra Light convertibles (2014), and most recently the EC Lync System, new for 2015. Other highlights include intangibles like the No Matter What Warranty, the Live.Work.Travel. Giving Program and Bluesign partnership (2011), and many product awards along the way.
Looking toward the future of travel, Eagle Creek is focusing its research and development on continued product platform design, developing new technologies, integrating durability, versatility and end user travel functionality for core and new markets. As smart travel sensibilities are integrated into more everyday lifestyle categories, Eagle Creek will lead the charge and expand their product line to meet those needs.
“We’ve been so fortunate to have such amazing
employees, and industry partners who have been with us through our ups
and downs, retail staff that loves the product and shares that love on
the shop floor, and of course, our passionate consumers without whom we
wouldn’t have 40 years of travel tales to tell,” said Spatz.
