Outdoor January Off to a Smooth Start

Outerwear sales flourish due to cold wave... 8 companies record an average growth rate of 20%

Leading outdoor companies like The North Face and Discovery have had a smooth start in January.

This contrasts with the downturn they experienced last January.

According to industry sources, major outdoor companies have been off to a smooth start until mid-January; from January 1 to 24, brands such as The North Face, Discovery, K2, Black Yak, NEPA, Eider, Kolon Sport, and Columbia have recorded a sales performance increase of 21.2% compared to last year.

During this period, Black Yak and NEPA saw single-digit growth, while all other brands experienced double-digit growth rates. In particular, Discovery and K2 maintained high growth rates of 40.1% and 33.5% respectively, and Columbia also reported a growth rate of 56.4%.

Besides, The North Face and Kolon Sport each recorded growth rates of 17.1% and 13.3%, respectively, while Eider and Kolon Sport both exceeded a 10% growth rate.

Sales were ranked as follows from January 1 to 24: The North Face, Discovery, K2, Black Yak, NEPA, Eider, Kolon Sport, Columbia. The cumulative sales saw The North Face leading with over 37 billion won, followed by Discovery with over 31 billion won. K2 was in the range of 27 billion won, while Black Yak and NEPA recorded around 22 billion and 20 billion won respectively.

Besides, Eider posted sales in the range of 17 billion won, and Kolon Sport achieved around 13 billion won.

This performance is attributed to the revival of outerwear sales, a key item for outdoor brands, due to January’s heavy snow and cold wave.

An industry insider said, “The relatively warm weather and consumer downturn due to COVID-19 were dragging us down until mid-December, but the sudden cold in January revived the sales of heavy outerwear, making up for last year's poor performance.”