By Charlie Lunan
Vancouver, BC-based Westcomb Outerwear and Minnesota-based Granite Gear will launch a reciprocal shipping program this Fall in a move designed to speed up shipments to their dealers. Westcomb will warehouse and ship for Granite Gear in Canada, while Granite Gear will do the same for Westcomb in the U.S. The beauty of the deal is that the companies have complementary peak seasons, since Westcomb focuses on winter apparel and Granite Gear on more summer-oriented gear.
“Since [Westcomb] makes jackets and insulating layers, their busy season is the Fall, while ours is the Spring,” says Dan Cruikshank, a partner at Granite Gear. “So we have extra warehouse capacity when their warehouse is full. The synergies are pretty amazing.”
The two companies cooked up the deal during a little post-OR Winter Market R&R at a condo Granite Gear rents at the base of Little Cottonwood Canyon outside Salt Lake City. The arrangement should enable both companies to deliver fill-orders much more quickly within each others countries-possibly within three days.
Thats particularly important for Westcomb, a 3-year-old company that will be launching its broadest offering ever in the U.S. this Fall. Under its current arrangement, Westcomb sometimes delays shipping fill-in orders to U.S. dealers so it can accumulate enough orders to justify customs brokerage and other fees and expenses. That can delay shipments from its Vancouver, BC, warehouse by as much as a week, notes Alan Yiu, Westcombs founder and lead designer.
“During that time, consumers could change their minds or find another product to use,” Yiu says. “We could lose a sale.”
Westcomb can now ship fewer, larger shipments to Granite Gears warehouse in Minnesota, and visa versa. That enables both companies to lower expenses and ensure prompt delivery of fill-in orders. Yiu expects that U.S. dealers will receive their Westcomb orders within three working days.
The arrangement could also cut shipping costs for dealers who carry both brands, since the companies will now be able to combine orders into single shipments.
“We think this is exactly what the industry should be about-the spirit of two like-minded companies working together and helping each other out,” says Jeff Knight, co-founder and president of Granite Gear.
