If you pulled a Rip Van Winkle and went to sleep ten years ago and awoke just this last week, you would probably think that you had done so in some sort of bizarro world where VF Corporation, which relied on selling jeans to the value market and intimate apparel to women, had seen a vast majority of its most recent quarter’s sales come from a combination of The North Face, Vans, Jansport, Kipling, and a Italian fashion outdoor label.

But that is exactly what is now happening as VFC relied on the company’s Outdoor Coalition, which includes the above brands, to deliver roughly 69% of the company’s nearly 25% sales increase for the third quarter.

Total VF Corp. sales rose 24.9% to $1.79 billion from $1.44 billion in the third quarter last year. Net income increased 24.0% to $155.4 million, $1.38 per diluted share, from $125.3 million, or $1.14 per diluted per share, in the year-ago period. Acquisitions were the key driver here as of the Vans, Napapijri, and Kipling deals this year added $183.6 million in sales and 12 cents per share in earnings to the quarter. Without the acquisitions, Q3 sales for the corporation would have increased about 10% and diluted EPS would have risen 10.5% versus last year.

“We are aggressively driving integration and growth plans for all of our acquired businesses, both in Outdoor and Sportswear, and are very pleased by the benefits we've seen to date,” commented VFC chairman and CEO Mackey McDonald. “We are on or ahead of schedule in meeting our sales and operating margin goals, and remain extremely excited at the future growth prospects for all these brands.”

Combined sales of the Outdoor businesses, which include The North Face, Vans, JanSport, Eastpak, Napapijri and Kipling brands, jumped 116% in the quarter to $457.1 million from $211.6 million in Q3 last year. The North Face brand posted a 44% sales increase, while the total Coalition would have grown just 29.3% without the acquisitions, revealing a less robust business elsewhere in the ODC.

The North Face reportedly saw growth across all product categories. Spring bookings for TNF are up 22% in the U.S. and 23% in Europe. The brand added a TNF retail store in Boston during the quarter. Sales in the Packs business also rose strongly in the quarter, with growth said to be driven by travel and apparel products. The Vans business was also reportedly performing above expectations, with double-digit sales growth in its core footwear business in the quarter.

Last Week, SEW’s sister publication, The B.O.S.S. Report, caught up with Outdoor Coalition president Mike Egeck as he worked through the final details of the announced move of the Jansport packs business to be closer to ODC headquarters in San Leandro, CA.

Egeck said 15 or so key personnel will make the move to San Leandro, primarily in the sales, marketing, and RD&D areas. Another 15 positions will be eliminated in Wisconsin and re-hired in San Leandro. He said they will invest more in RD&D positions. The 15 to 20 positions eliminated will come from the business planning, forecasting, and sourcing areas, functions that will be merged into the ODC’s shared services group. The company had already announced that JanSport president Mike Cisler would be exiting the company.

Jansport has also narrowed its sales organization to get more focus in the group, cutting the sales force down to six agencies from the previous 17 groups. Territories have been expanded and most will now be exclusive to Jansport.

Egeck also said the Eastpak business will now roll under Steve Murray and the Vans business in Soouthern California. Egeck said the move here made sense due to a new positioning for the brand that is much closer to the Vans profile. The Vans sales force will now be handling Eastpak as well. Eastpak, which is said to be the largest pack brand in Europe, is actually positioned there as an Action Sports / Youth culture brand. Egeck said they actually do a number of events in Europe with Vans.

The move is expected to help resolve some of the overlap in positioning between the Jansport and Eastpak brands in the U.S.

It makes sense to bring the brand closer as the various elements of the ODC business start to feed off of each other in a more meaningful way. A new Jansport Apparel line made its debut at the Outdoor Retailer Summer Market and Jansport’s know-how in the bag and luggage category is expected to be utilized across a number of the Coalition’s brands.

Mr. Egeck said the facility in Appleton had 395 people working there and will lose a total of 40 positions in the short term. However, he sees adding back another ten positions in the near future as the operation there ramps up to handle the dealer services elements of the Jansport, TNF, and Napapiji businesses. The Kipling brand, while still reported under the ODC umbrella, will be handled out of New York City to leverage some of the Nautica group assets.

Sales in the VF Imagewear coalition were up approximately 5% to $192 million from $183 million last year.