Last year I interviewed Tom McGee, Ipath President and CEO of Klonelab, about Ipath opening an office in Encinitas, and the company’s move away from pot leaf imagery.
Recently I heard Ipath closed its Encinitas location. I asked Tom about the changes and what is happening with the company, including its move into women’s footwear.
Why did Ipath decide to close the Encinitas office?
Tom McGee: The Encinitas office was always meant to be used for sales and marketing, and all of the back-end operations and design was done out of the Boston office. We felt a need to consolidate the team under one roof to create a cohesive camaraderie and brain trust.
Two offices in different time zones kept us from having the meaningful white board sessions or water cooler creativity we needed to help the brand succeed. Now, having all of the team under one roof makes for better all-around collaboration and creates efficiencies.
Why back to Boston?
Klonelab, our main company, is located in this area and we have an amazing group of people in our headquarters that will also be able to add great value to the daily needs of the Ipath business.
Did you move your whole family back there?
My primary role is the CEO of Klonelab, so with only sales and team management running out of Encinitas, I never needed to move to So Cal. I was able to come out once a month and work with our team and riders on product and marketing direction.
As you know, we recently hired the amazing Kristin Cusic to come in as VP of Marketing for both Klonelab and the Ipath brand, and that role is here in the Boston office.
What other changes are going on at the company?
We are really focusing our efforts on social media and how that shapes and influences the buying habits of the active youth consumer. Kids today are all about instant gratification, so we need to make sure they are always up-to-date on anything new or exciting we are doing with the brand.
We just hired Pete Whitten as Senior Graphic Designer. He is helping to re-vamp the brand image and messaging as well as creating the branding for the launch of the women’s line in Spring 2014.
See page 2 for how Ipath is handling challenges and product news
Business is tough for many action sports brands right now. How are you weathering the storm?
We are facing a lot of the same challenges as most brands in the action sports space. Both small and key account retail is very tough.
In the footwear industry, classic running and retro basketball silhouettes are on an upward trend, and these needs are being met by true athletic brands with a heritage in that space. Retailers aren’t looking for action sports brands to give them classic running shoes or retro basketball shoes.
In our case, the retro basketball movement may help us out because the original Grasshopper silhouette was based on this look and feel in 1999.
In the vulcanized category, Vans and Converse rule the roost, so there isn’t a lot of need for another canvas or vulcanized silhouette.
We have adjusted our budgets for marketing, and will be focusing our spending on social media and letting people know we still have an exciting team of athletes representing the brand. Our mission is to spread the “Search and Enjoy” message.
Anything new on the horizon we should know about?
We are introducing a “Classic Rewind” collection with styles and colors from the 2004 Ipath collection. We are also introducing a women’s and kids’ line in our SS14 Catalog and at tradeshows.
We introduced sandals this season for men’s and the success and sell-through were great.
While Ipath is born from skate, it has always represented a vibe and feel for the global nomad in every action sport athlete, whether skate, surf or snow.
