Joseph Joy

10044145

Section 6

Canada Goose Inc: At a Retail Crossroads

How should Canada Goose expand its brand and grow sales without diluting its current

brand image while maintaining the core values of style, authenticity and functionality in its

products.

Canada Goose has an opportunity to sell women’s clothes to a high end retailer called

Asmuns Place who would advertise in print. Additionally, the company has an option to sell

men’s coats to another high end retailer called Levine’s Menswear but this would require an

expensive sales representative. Lastly there is an option to sell men’s products to Asmuns Palace

in the future if they avoid a deal with Levine’s Menswear. Smaller independent retailers have

voiced concerns over the fact they would not be able to compete with the discounts or be able to

take the risks of new prototypes and that they feel threatened by the larger retailers. Additionally

a risk of moving sales to a national retailer is devaluing the brand. Canada Goose products have

had success internationally. Canada Goose uses furs from northern Canadian fur traders because

it supports Native Canadian communities, avoids risk of unwanted chemical by-products that

will pollute the environment, avoids inhumane treatment of animals and supports the idea of only

producing its products in Canada. Canada Goose cannot prohibit retail partners from heavily

discounting merchandise but at the same time these distributors are prohibited to use their

products as loss leaders. Many competitors in the premium winter jacket market, but Canada

Goose only really considers North Face as a close competitor. The company relies mainly on

word-of-mouth advertising due to high quality of products which allows them to reinvest the

majority of their profits into product development while also maintaining the low-key company

profile required for many premium retail brands. Canada Goose intentionally avoids ads on

popular media outlets in order to avoid overexposing the brand. The customer base has rapidly

expanded from just affluent 34-50 year olds to 16-64 year olds over time. Demand is exceeding

supply for its products. Athletic Legends Sportswear partnership with Ontario based company

resulted in success and there was an apparent demand for both men’s and women’s products.

Consumers buy Canada Goose products due to their style, authenticity and functionality.

An important requirement for customers of Canada Goose products is that the products need to

be easily recognizable since they are premium products.