Press release:
Sitka, the surf, skate and outdoor goods company based on Vancouver Island, is transitioning to a new business model that breaks the traditional pre-book model of the apparel industry. Sitka’s Perpetual Program offers multiple capsule collections throughout the year, while making staple Sitka styles available on a continuous, year-round basis.
Created with feedback from some of the company’s key retail partners, the Sitka Perpetual Program is based on immediate availability throughout the entire year. Seasonal product is shown and made available when it’s ready to ship, ensuring retailers have product arriving when they need it and can reorder at their convenience.
Sitka’s approach to the wholesale model is designed to help grow and streamline business for both the company and its retail partners. It recognizes that there is increasing demand from consumers to have the products they want available at any time, and the Perpetual Program makes this possible at the retail level. Through shifting more of Sitka’s production to domestic factories, the company is gaining better control over the production schedule. The Sitka Perpetual Program provides retailers with the product they need when they need it – not when the traditional seasonal cycle says they should have it.
The move to work with more Canadian-based factories comes not only as part of the decision to gain better control over their production schedule, but also as part of Sitka’s efforts to support local economies and produce goods in a more sustainable way. This is part of the company’s commitment to the environment, which it recently solidified by joining 1% For the Planet. As of July 2014, 1% of Sitka’s gross sales is being donated to non-profit environmental groups, including Pacific Wild and the Pacific Salmon Foundation.
Sitka knows that any transition can be a challenge, but the company remains committed to providing better products to their valued customers in an improved and simplified way. For more information on Sitka’s business model, please visit sitka.ca/mission.
