I clearly remember the exact day in 2001 when I decided that Canada Goose, the small family business I’d recently taken over from my parents, would commit to always making our signature parkas in Canada. I was sitting at my desk, upstairs from our Toronto factory (the only one we had at the time), reading that morning’s newspaper headlines, and I saw that two North American apparel companies were moving their manufacturing abroad. Their leaders gave two reasons: First, the high cost of domestic labor had been squeezing their margins, so it was just good business to pursue higher profits elsewhere. Second, they didn’t believe that customers cared where products were made so long as the brand and the quality remained the same.
The CEO of Canada Goose on Creating a Homegrown Luxury Brand
After working at his family’s coat manufacturing company for a few years, the author realized that high-end coats made in Canada could become a luxury product globally. Targeting European consumers first, he introduced the brand and then marketed it in innovative ways, including outfitting polar explorers and TV and film crews who were shooting in remote cold-weather locations. Perhaps most important, he committed to domestic manufacturing and opened factories across Canada along with training centers for sewers. This paved the way for phenomenal growth and a successful IPO.
Today the company has stores in 12 cities around the world and runs an international e-commerce business. Its focus on delivering an exceptional experience inspired the creation of “cold rooms” in the stores where shoppers can test products in temperatures as low as –25 Celsius before they make a purchase.
As Canada Goose expands organically and through acquisition, Reiss says, the company will continue to make its coats in Canada and other products wherever it can get the highest-quality products at the scale it needs.