Revenues at VF Corp.’s Outdoor Coalition, which includes sales of The North Face, Jansport, Vans and Reef branded products, rose 17% during the quarter ending in June. The coalition clocked double-digit growth domestically and internationally.


The North Face’s global brand revenues grew an astounding 40% in the quarter. Again, the growth was steady across most geographic and product categories. Wholesale and retail revenues each rose in the quarter, with retail revenues up nearly 50% driven by strong same-store sales gains and new store openings.


Vans global revenues rose 14%, reflecting double-digit increases both domestically and internationally. Retail revenues grew about 20% during the quarter. 


VF Corp. President and CEO Eric Wiseman said the company expects 15%-plus revenue growth for the Outdoor Coalition in the second half of this year, with solid gains anticipated both domestically and internationally.  “We are looking forward to exceptionally strong growth in our owned retail businesses as we benefit from the new store openings of the past year and a continuation of positive same store sales trends.”


“We continue to expect higher operating margins in Outdoor for the full year with solid improvement in the second half driven by the seasonality of our retail businesses, particularly in the fourth quarter,” he continued.


The Outdoor Coalition’s international business rose 29% for the period, outpacing VFC’s overall international growth of 23%.  Coalition operating income rose 11% in the quarter reflecting the strong volume gains.  Operating margins declined in the quarter due to a seasonal dip in sales at its growing owned-retail businesses and higher spending on store openings and advertising.


Operating margins in the outdoor business declined only slightly in the quarter due mostly to the seasonality of the growing retail business. Higher-than-expected revenues and strong gross margins translated into additional profits that largely offset spending on new stores. The company expects “solid improvement” in margins in the next two quarters. Wiseman said the company expects overall product costs to increase in the low-single-digits.