Outdoor Voices is in the middle of a firestorm after former employees have revealed the troubled activewear company is headed towards bankruptcy, following reports that the brand is closing all stores and transitioning to an online-only retail model.

The brand has seemingly removed all of its 15 brick-and-mortar retail locations nationwide from its website. 

The news of the potential insolvency was first reported by Sourcing Journal, which cited former Outdoor Voices employees with close knowledge of the matter. The activewear brand has also missed rent and vendor payments in recent months, according to the publication, and gave pink slips to most of its corporate employees.

According to another report, from Puck News, Outdoor Voices has already closed all of its retail locations and intends to focus solely on its e-commerce business.

Rise & Fall

Like Lululemon, Outdoor Voices has developed a cult-like following as devotees of the brand have embraced its merchandise as much as its #doingthings lifestyle ethos. Founded in 2013 by Tyler Haney, the brand moved from its New York City roots to Austin, Texas, as it grew. 

By early 2020, right before activewear and athleisure began to see a pandemic-related boom, Haney stepped down as CEO during restructuring efforts. Internal strife had been brewing and an anonymous letter had been sent to the Outdoor Voices’ board and executives that targeted Haney for her management style.

Financial troubles were also percolating, with the company’s valuation down to $40 million in 2020, a steep decline from its 2018 valuation of $110 million. By 2021, the brand had named Gabrielle Conforti, former Urban Outfitters president, as its CEO. 

The activewear company had begun shopping for a buyer in 2022, according to Business of Fashion. 

Haney may have been out of the picture, focusing on Joggy, a cannabis supplement brand, but she appeared to find time to keep a watchful eye on the brand she founded — even leaving comments last year on Outdoor Voices’ social media posts that indicated she had felt the brand had lost its way. 

Now, with news swirling of a potential Outdoor Voices bankruptcy, the active Reddit community on r/OutdoorVoices has been posting images of closed stores, many with notes in the windows that have the Venmo handles of former employees. One photo from a shop in Minneapolis reads, “Our (chairwoman) Ashley Merrill refuses to pay anyone severance. We appreciate anything that you can give. All funds will go directly to this staff. Thank you!” 

Activewear Brands Struggle Post-Pandemic 

It’s been a trying time for some in the activewear game, with leggings giant Lululemon even admitting that it will remain cautious in 2024 in the face of market uncertainty.

Gap’s activewear arm, Athleta, reported an 18% net sales drop in its third quarter of fiscal 2023 compared to the prior year, noting in its earnings release that sales continued to be a challenge. Athleta has said it would work on re-engaging its core customers.

Activewear brand Bandier had also been looking for a buyer to mitigate supply chain challenges before getting acquired along with Carbon38 by BC Brands in January. 

More traditional sportswear giants have also seen some headwinds. Under Armour also reported slowing sales, and Nike cut its annual revenue forecast, announcing a $2 billion cost-savings plan that included restructuring.

One outlier is Gymshark, which recently reported a rather uncommon push-and-pull situation, having experienced slumping profits in 2023 (reporting $16.5 million, down from $35.3 million) but a 15% revenue increase. The brand, founded and led by U.K.’s youngest billionaire, Ben Francis, is going full-steam ahead. 

Outdoor Voices didn’t immediately respond to Athletech News’ request for comment

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A consortium of investors has acquired Bandier and Carbon38 in a move meant to reinvigorate the activewear space.

Formerly plagued with supply chain challenges, Bandier had been actively seeking a buyer as recently as last month for its assets, inventory, intellectual property and certain commercial real estate leases.

BC Brands, led by CEO Kate Nadolny, views the union of Bandier and Carbon38 brands as marking the start of an exciting chapter in activewear. Nadolny previously served as Bandier’s CEO.

“We are fueled by a shared passion for excellence and a commitment to pushing the boundaries of what activewear can be,” Nadolny said. “Our journey together is just starting, and we’re eager to unveil the incredible possibilities that lie ahead.” 

Looking ahead, BC Brands plans to expand both retail and wholesale channels across domestic and international markets. 

Along with its e-commerce footprint, Bandier operates brick-and-mortar retail shops in hot spots, including New York City, Southampton, New York, Dallas and Los Angeles.

Carbon38’s e-commerce shop offers luxury merchandise under its proprietary label in addition to third-party activewear brands, such as Nike, Adidas by Stella McCartney and Cynthia Rowley.

BC Brands is supported by investment firm Restore Capital and BNF Capital’s Annvest, according to a LinkedIn post by Hilco Global, Restore Capital’s operating company. 

“Despite operating as a unified organization internally, both brands will maintain their independent identities when engaging with consumers,” the post read. “This integration aims to enhance operational efficiency and scale for the two brands, enabling them to explore potential acquisitions in an industry poised for consolidation.”

While BC Brands plans to continue cornering the market on women’s activewear, other brands, such as Lululemon, Rhone and Ten Thousand, are looking to target male consumers. Lululemon recently announced it would boost its brand awareness this year, accompanied by the launch of a new men’s footwear line. 

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Bandier, a women’s activewear brand with five retail store locations and an ecommerce presence, is seeking a buyer for its assets, inventory, intellectual property and certain commercial real estate leases. 

Initially launched as a single retail shop in Southampton, New York, in 2014 selling apparel, footwear, and accessories, Bandier grew its retail footprint and online presence as A-listers such as Jennifer Aniston and style influencers became fans of its leggings, tank tops and other apparel offerings. 

As Bandier searches for a buyer to mitigate reported headwind factors such as supply chain challenges, the activewear brand is still operating and has rolled out holiday gift guides on its site and is active on its social media pages.

Bandier filed a notice with the New York State Department of Labor WARN Unit last month, indicating that 52 employees were laid off on Nov. 22, 2023. The brand cited economic reasons for the downsizing and noted that “the planned layoffs are expected to be permanent, but all employees are expected to be rehired by the new entity, Bandier ABC, LLC.”

Along with one remote employee, the WARN notice said the staff cuts occurred at Bandier’s NYC headquarters and its New York retail locations in Manhattan and Southampton.

Bandier has two other retail locations in Dallas and Los Angeles.

The brand also began selling its private-label brands on Amazon in 2021— a decision that founder Jennifer Bandier said at the time would allow the brand to “meet the demands of the activewear boom.”

Earlier this year, Bandier partnered with Head Sportswear to capitalize on the pickleball surge, offering tennis and pickleball apparel collections

The company requests that offers be submitted by 5 p.m. on Dec. 18, 2023. Development Specialists, Inc. (DSI) is handling the sale.

Can Activewear Brands Weather the Storm?

Bandier’s strategy – selling its assets to circumvent bankruptcy – follows a recently issued report by McKinsey that sounds the alarm for the fashion industry.

Opening the report with “storm clouds are gathering,” McKinsey warns that fashion companies will face economic headwinds, shifts in technology and an “evolving competitive landscape” in 2024. 

Not intending to be entirely gloomy, the management consulting company identifies technical outdoor clothing as a top trend in the new year, noting that consumers are increasingly embracing healthier lifestyles. 

Despite economic challenges, some brands, like Vancouver-based Lululemon, continue to prove their resiliency. The activewear brand joined the prestigious S&P 500 this fall, with shares rising over 10% in response. Lululemon also inked a five-year deal with Peloton to become the provider of Peloton-branded apparel in exchange for exclusive digital fitness content for its Lululemon Studio. 

Rhone, a premium activewear brand backed by NBA team owners and former NFL players, also made headlines this season as its founders reclaimed the brand from private equity firm L Catterton. Based in Connecticut, Rhone is accelerating store openings and is adding a women’s collection in 2024.

As for men’s activewear, Ten Thousand, founded by former professional soccer player and venture capitalist Keith Nowak, raised $21.5 million in a Series A this year and landed a sponsorship deal with luxury lifestyle and wellness operator Life Time.

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The Commerce Experience Summit ’23, hosted by Bloomreach, offered insightful thought leadership on using data insights to create meaningful connections with consumers. 

The summit included three event tracks with e-commerce and digital leaders over the course of a two-day virtual conference. 

One of the tracks, Spill The Tea: Using Data to Personalize Experiences At Scale, hosted by Adam Schifferli, Head of Customer Success & Professional Services Americas, featured a roundtable discussion with Nicolas A. Santos, Marketing Director of Anatomie Fashion, Ben Bolognini, Head of Marketing and E-commerce, BYLT Basics, Kristen Stewart, Head of Digital, Bandier.

The marketing leaders did spill the tea, sharing their insights on digital seekers, personalized experiences, omnichannel approaches, and the best practices to improve the customer experience.

In an ever-changing environment with advancing technology, here’s how three digital and marketing retail experts are reaching (and retaining) consumers:

Spilling the ‘Who’: Digital Seekers

Nicolas Santos, Marketing Director of Anatomie Fashion, said the luxury brand is looking for convenience, speed, and a personalized experience when it comes to digital seekers.

The fashion brand is heavily focused on travel but quickly pivoted in 2020 after numerous flights were canceled due to COVID. 

Anatomie then moved towards performance, athleisure wear, and professional leisure fashion for those on the go. Santos said at the Experience Summit that Anatomie succeeded in those verticals and that the brand attracts a mature demographic, ages 45-54, who are empty-nesters, and “love traveling and the good things in life.”

The target Anatomie customer is also heavily focused on convenience. The luxury brand also has segments for those ages 34-44 and 54 – 60 plus, but Santos confirmed that those aged 45-54 are their core consumers.

The brand has retail locations that allow consumers to get a perfect fashion fit, allowing for a personalized shopping experience.

“How do we give the same experience that our retail customers are receiving when they go to the store and they have a stylist one-on-one helping choosing their fit? How do we transition that experience into online?” Santos said. He added that Anatomie customers seek and expect the same experience, whether online or in person. 

Ben Bolognini, Head of Marketing and E-commerce for BYLT Basics, said the target consumers for the fashion brand are “affluent millennials, primarily males, who value health and wellness and go after what they do best.” 

He added that BYLT Basics equips its target consumers with confidence as they go about their day. 

“We have so much data, seemingly unlimited… where do you even start?” he said. However, he explained that BYLT Basics is now reverse-engineering its approach to expand past its core audience. 

“The data tells us a story,” Bolognini said. BYLT Basics is looking at gift-giving moments to see how they can create a “second time customer.” 

Bandier is another brand that has a great handle on its core consumer.

“We consider ourselves (or termed ourselves) the fitness edit for the fashion woman,” said Kristen Stewart, Head of Digital for luxury activewear brand Bandier, at the Commerce Experience Summit. She described the Bandier consumer as a fashion-savvy, image-conscious individual. “This is someone who doesn’t just wear clothes but wears an ensemble,” Stewart explained.

“They walk down the street in an outfit and they want to translate that everywhere they go, even in their activewear. They want a ‘look’ when they are on their treadmill or in a pilates class.”

While Bandier has a solid customer base with its brick-and-mortar locations, as the brand has expanded, the athletic wear company has had to consider what their consumer may look like if they aren’t based in NYC or LA, but somewhere in between, without access to a store location but still aspires for the sought-after look.

Bandier’s Head of Digital described the athletic wear company’s consumers as falling into two groups: a slightly older demographic and a younger, up-and-coming Gen Z/younger millennial “becoming fashion-forward,” and is looking to be advised on how to style their activewear.

Despite the age difference between the two groups, Stewart reports an overlap in values where social proof is important. Still, the more mature group tends to value quality over social proof.

Dishing the ‘What’: Personalized Experiences

Santos says there are many layers of personalized experiences, but Anatomie is looking to centralize its data in a CDP. The brand also takes an omnichannel approach while creating a journey through text, email, and on-site. 

He confirmed that on-site is one big goal for this year, where Anatomie wants to identify customers before they even get to the point of sale.

Bolognini of BYLT Basics remarked that it’s essential to test and learn constantly. 

He shared at the Commerce Experience Summit that he was a customer organically before joining BYLT. As a former customer, Bolognini said he has a solid “frame of reference” and uses that to resonate with BYLT consumers. He suggests considering what it’s like to be in the customer’s shoes — without overthinking the process.

Bandier is eyeing new technology in its personalization.

“We’ve taken an approach of stripping everything to bare bones and building up from your most basic personalization and then building better from there,” Stewart said. She added that Bandier had utilized production recommendation engines for years but that the brand continuously looks for ways to improve using new technology. 

“Using new tech like AI, product surveys, and preference centers on the communication side – where people tell us what they want to hear from us,” Stewart said. 

She added that Bandier takes the approach of leading and inspiring without dictating, allowing consumers to discover their own style. 

The ‘Where’: 

Santos reported that Anatomie has a robust email customer base and is continually testing SMS, but “email is the main player.” 

The luxury brand has had luck with social platforms, like Facebook, and is strategic with its website. Instead of an automatic pop-up to capture email, Anatomie will give the customer some time to go through the site. If they go to exit the page, a 15% off promo code may pop up. 

The brand is exploring how to get consumers comfortable with providing their phone numbers for SMS.

BYLT is also taking an omnichannel approach and is examining what content is best to present in every channel while still using heat mapping tools. The basics brand believes data centralization is critical to being effective everywhere. 

Bandier is also focused on building an omnichannel experience, Stewart confirmed to Bloomreach.

“We want to make sure we are talking to our customers in the way that reaches them in the places they are,” she added. “We have a strong in-store experience. The [Bandier] stores are really beautiful and provide personalized experiences, but how do you translate that online?” 

Stewart said at the event by Bloomreach that the online experience could seem distant and colder and that creating a warm clienteling online means trying to build a relationship, whether via email or SMS or taking it beyond.

While there are paid marketing plans, there’s only so much data a brand can have while trying to create particular journeys for people. Overall, customer data is the crux, Stewart said. 

The ‘When’: 

All three marketing leaders agreed the “when” is always. 

As tech advances, Anatomie will incorporate AI into its verticals to learn more about its customers and intentions, allowing the luxury brand to provide a more catered experience.

Stewart said she has been pushing for personalization since 2012 and notes that it’s evolved. 

“The time for personalization is now,” she said, adding that it’s imperative to look at the data (and nuisances within the data) to understand when to add the next layer.

“Customers will tell you what they want – and when,” Stewart said. “Giving yourself the time to set up a proper foundation to make what you’re doing scalable,” she advises.

“You will be easily prepared for the future if you set a solid foundation now and it’s worth taking the time to build it before rushing to trying new things,” Stewart continued, adding that taking that path leads to being agile in the future. 

The ‘Why’:

Santos said at the Commerce Experience Summit that Anatomie intends to build a long-term relationship with clients while staying away from promotions and discounts, as Anatomie prefers to lean into luxury. The brand hopes to create client journeys so that the brand can stop relying on promotions. 

The ‘why’ for Bandier is simple, says Stewart. “To add value to our customers’ lives, to add engagement by creating value in their lives. An engaged customer is a retained customer,” Stewart concludes. 

Click here to access content from Bloomreach Commerce Experience Summit ’23 and hear e-commerce and digital leaders discuss customer trends, personalization, and revenue-driving tactics.

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