The owners of the Spyder brand plan to open 25 Spyder stores in South Korea by the end of the year as part of its assault on the market that kicked off last month, when an all new line became available at freestanding stores and shop-in-shops.
The announcement illustrates how quickly Spyder’s new owner Authentic Brands Group (ABG) is moving in their quest to grow the brand.
ABG acquired Spyder in August 2013 in partnership with a division of Li & Fung that has since been spun off as Global Brands Group Holding Limited, a publicly listed company that maintains headquarters in Hong Kong and New York. Under the partnership, Global Brands is the master licensee for Spyder, which grants it long-term control of design, sourcing and distribution, while Spyder continues to employ its own designers, sales and marketing staff at its headquarters in Boulder, CO.
A Spyder design team based in Boulder collaborated with counterparts in Seoul to design the all new line specifically for South Koreans, who are well known for favoring brightly colored performance gear during their weekend hikes into the mountains. The new South Korean line retains Spyder’s performance and technical DNA and includes true performance ski outerwear, but also features components that are more fashion and lifestyle focused than the traditional Spyder offering.
The line has been sold into shop-in-shops at fashion hot spots including Galleria Department Store, Hyundai Department Store, Lotte Department Store and AK Department Store. The brand is also launching at freestanding Spyder stores in Seoul, Daegu, Gumi, Incheon and Sokcho. National print, out of home, digital, social, and TV promotion of the brand begin this month. Global Brands will open and operate the new mono-branded Spyder stores.
In North America and Europe, where Spyder already has an extremely robust presence in the core ski channels, ABG is focusing on how the brand can better service the sporting goods and department store channels without damaging its market share in core ski specialty and on-mountain shops.
This will be achieved in part by making Spyder a four season brand and extending it into new categories and emerging markets where there is less risk of channel conflict.
“We see tremendous equity in the Spyder brand and its ability to translate across key markets in Asia,” said Bruce Rockowitz, CEO and Vice Chairman, Global Brands. “We look forward to replicating the success we have achieved in other markets to South Korea, through the roll out of a number of exciting brand and category extensions.”
