Westcomb/Granite Gear Sign Co-Shipping Deal

Westcomb will warehouse and ship for Granite Gear in Canada, while Granite Gear will provide the same services for Westcomb in the United States. 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 they make jackets and insulating layers, their busy season is the fall, while ours is the spring,” said 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-ORWM R&R at a condo Granite Gear rents at the base of Little Cottonwood Canyon.
The arrangement should enable both companies to deliver fill-orders much more quickly within each other’s countries-possibly within three days. That’s particularly important for Westcomb, a three-year old Vancouver, BC-based company that will be launching its broadest offering ever in the United States 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, said Alan Yiu, founder and lead designer for the company.

“During that time, consumers could change their minds or find another product to use,” Yiu said. “We could lose a sale.”

Westcomb can now ship fewer, larger shipments to Granite Gear ’s warehouse in Minnesota and visa versa. That enables either company to lower expenses and ensure prompt delivery of fill-in orders. Yiu expects 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.