Outdoor: Movin' & Shakin' – Eagles Nest Outfitters and Swix Sport moving; plus new faces at Mountain Hardwear, Point6, Icebreaker, Woolrich, Obermeyer, and more …

Got any news or tips about somebody, some product or some company doing some moving or shaking? Let us know so we can slip it into our occasional Movin’ & Shakin’ updates. Just email snewsbox@snewsnet.com.

Real Estate

Eagles Nest Outfitters (www.eaglesnestoutfittersinc.com) is moving its corporate headquarters and distribution center across town in Asheville, N.C., after its founders purchased a building in the downtown area seven times the size of its old location.

ENO founders Peter and Paul Pinholster purchased the 17,500-square-foot building at 24 Buxton Ave. to address growth at ENO after a decade of renting at 2000 Riverside Drive, which was only 2,500 square feet, company officials told SNEWS.

“Being in a 2,500-square-foot space and coming here is mind blowing in how we can increase efficiencies to further grow the business,” ENO sales manager Bobby Jackson said. The company plans to expand its research and development operations and have more room to set up booths in preparation for shows. Founded in 1999, ENO manufactures outdoor hammocks, rain flies, bug nests and accessories for adventure travelers.

Although the new space is located only a few blocks from the main downtown area, Jackson said the company doesn’t plan on opening a retail front. “We have several retailers selling our product in the area and wouldn’t want to step on their toes,” he said.

Company officials declined to release a purchase price of the new building, but public records show it was purchased from Macon Bank, as a previous foreclosure, for $800,000.

“Needless to say, it’s a great time to buy real estate,” Jackson said.

Also in need of larger quarters, Swix Sport USA (www.swixsport.com), a supplier of wintersports accessories, has moved its operations from Wilmington to Haverhill, Mass. 

Company officials said they spent nearly $500,000 to build the new 60,000-square-foot office at 60 Newark St. in Haverhill, which doubles the size of its old offices to accommodate growth and new acquisitions.

“In designing our new facility we tried to build in features that embrace our culture and our business priorities. These features include a yoga room and an athletic facility with weight machines, free weights, employee locker rooms and elliptical and treadmill machines,” Swix CEO Steven Poulin said in a statement.

People

• Vancouver, Canada-based Arc’teryx (www.arcteryx.com) announced a shifting of its executive team within the company. George Curleigh assumes the role of vice president, sales. With 19 years experience in European and North American sales management and retail, he will oversee all global sales and service efforts. Shifting to vice president, product and merchandising, Gary Bryant brings his extensive background in the outdoor industry to oversee all facets of research, design and product development. Moving to vice president, operations, 15-year Arc’teryx veteran Lance Richardson will oversee all facets of supply chain, logistics and operations. Tom Fayle, also at the company for 15 years, assumes the newly created position of director, advanced research and development, where he will direct the innovation pipeline that is the heart and soul of the company.

• Mountain Hardwear (www.mountainhardwear.com) has hired Jimmy Hopper as its sports marketing manager and Laura Schaffer as public relations and gives back program manager to bolster its marketing team. Hopper previously worked for Teva, Keen and The North Face. Schaffer previously worked for REI, the Salt Lake Organizing Committee, and Snowbird Ski & Summer Resort. Both Hopper and Schaffer will be based out of Mountain Hardwear’s Richmond, Calif. headquarters.

• Steamboat Springs, Colo.-based Point6 (www.point6.com) has hired Tim Kelley as its U.S. sales manager overseeing all domestic sales. Kelley, to be based out of Boise, Idaho, has previous sales experience with outdoor brands Life-Link, Dynafit and most recently I/O Bio Merino. Betsy Seabert, Point6’s international sales and marketing director, will continue to oversee all international sales.

• Icebreaker (www.icebreaker.com) has added Linda Tanouye as its vice president of development and sourcing. Tanouye will be based out of the company’s U.S. headquarters in Portland, Ore., leading the company’s development team sourcing new manufacturing capabilities. Tanouye has 20 years of experience in development and sourcing for outdoor apparel companies, including TaylorMade-Adidas Golf, Vans and Nike.

• Wolverine Worldwide (www.wolverineworldwide.com), parent company of Merrell and Chaco footwear brands, appointed Nicholas Long to its board of directors. Long is the CEO of MillerCoors.

• Woolrich (www.woolrich.com) has hired Becky Egers as merchandise manager for its catalog and Internet business. Egers, who is moving from Maine to the company’s headquarters in Woolrich, Pa., will be responsible for leading the merchandising, seasonal assortment planning, buying, and product positioning and pagination of the Woolrich consumer catalog and website. Egers joins Woolrich after 19 years with L.L. Bean.

• Aspen, Colo.-based Sport Obermeyer (www.obermeyer.com) has appointed Ryan Meyer as the brand’s newest merchandiser. In his new role, Meyer will serve as overall product category expert, helping to improve brand collections from starting concept through design, line development, sales and the production process. Meyer previously served as vice president of merchandising at ski retailer St. Bernard Sports for 12 years.

• Point 65 Kayaks Sweden (www.point65.com) and Wynit Inc., the U.S. distributor for Point 65, announced its new team of sales representatives. The rep team will service outdoor retailers in key markets. Greg Allen, Tim Goodwin and Ali Tajiran will cover the South and Midwest. Josh Marino with cover the Midwest and Great Lakes. Vaughn Smith will cover the Northeast. And Nick Foster will cover the Southeast.

• Lakewood, Colo.-based Choose Outdoors (www.chooseoutdoors.org), a nonprofit advocating stewardship of public lands through outdoor recreation, has chosen Jeff Olson as its new president. Olson has worked with conservation issues since 1987, currently a consultant and previously having worked with the National Forest Foundation, Natural Resources Council of America and the Ford Foundation. Among other issues, Choose Outdoors is working to increase public awareness about the mountain pine beetle epidemic and encourage private sector engagement in promoting the use of beetle killed wood and assisting with mitigation efforts.

• Bencia, Calif-based Kiva Designs (www.kividesigns.com) has hired Tom Konecki as its new vice president of brand and business development. Konecki will work to build Kiva’s relationships with premier retailers across multiple channels including international sales and overseas distribution. Konecki previously worked with Bass, Born and R.G. Barry Corp.

• Shimano American Corp. (www.shimano.com) has added Joe Lawwill as the mountain bike marketing specialist. Based out of company headquarters in Irvine, Calif., he will take over all aspects of mountain bike marketing including advertising, sponsorship, events and public relations. Lawwill brings years of experience as a professional mountain bike racer and other perspectives including research and development, action photography, Super D course design, and other marketing initiatives including advertising and graphic design.

Contracts

• Denver-based Optic Nerve (www.nerveusa.com) has hired Salida, Colo.-based Brand Amp (www.brandamp.com) as its public relations agency of record. Brand Amp, led by Lee Hart, works closely with Optic Nerve sales and brand manager Gregory Niver on the overall brand direction including identifying strategic opportunities for all areas of the business. Brand Amp will lead the company’s marketing communications strategy including public relations and social media campaigns.

Internet

• Seattle-based Recreational Equipment Inc. (REI) and Santa Monica, Calif.-based Demand Media, parent of Trails.com, announced a three-year partnership to swap each other’s services online. Trails.com will license its content to REI’s new Guidepost website (www.rei.com/guidepost), which helps customers find outdoor recreation destinations nearby their location or REI store. In turn, REI will exclusively power the Gear Store at Trails.com.

• Amer Sports (www.amersports.com), parent company of outdoor brands Arc’teryx, Atomic and Salomon, said it will expand the distribution of its products through its own e-commerce channels. After successfully piloting e-commerce sites in France with Salomon and Suunto, the company will gradually open new web-shops in Europe and North-America. The company said it can better tell its brand story through the sites and enable it to grow faster in softgoods, following “consumer habit changes in purchasing and information seeking.” The pilot sites doubled the company’s brands’ website traffic and also increased traffic to the company’s retail partners, officials said.

–Compiled by David Clucas