Mountain Warehouse targets outdoor leisure enthusiasts, with a discount-led offer encompassing clothing, footwear and related equipment and accessories. The product range is strongly own branded. It was founded in 1997 by Mark Neale as the retail partner for Karrimor International – a UK-based outdoor clothing and equipment manufacturer. With more than 250 UK outlets now in place, domestic growth has slowed of late in favour of a rapid and widespread international development programme. It now has nearly 90 overseas stores across Poland, the Netherlands, Germany, Ireland, Austria, Canada, the US and New Zealand, with dedicated websites in most of these markets. In 2015 it struck a deal with Alibaba to enter the Chinese market. It has been focusing on expanding its product ranges including a specialist premium brand Mountainlife Extreme, to compete with brands such as The North Face and Berghaus, as well as retailers such as Cotswolds and Go Outdoors. It has also introduced female-focused athleisure range Zakti which includes yoga, gym and dancewear.
Outdoor clothing specialist Mountain Warehouse plans to open more big stores and expects to be back in the black this financial year.
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Mountain Warehouse chief executive Mark Neale has warned the business may need to make substantial redundancies following a “catastrophic” drop in sales triggered by the coronavirus.
Mountain Warehouse has recorded a boost in sales across the festive period bolstered by a strong Black Friday performance.
While many retailers – Boots is the latest – are shutting stores, others have ambitious opening programmes. Here we shine the spotlight on some of the big names that are laying down square footage.
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