I spend a fair amount of time in Vermont. Orvis is the major employer in that State and something fairly interesting is going on. Orvis laid off hundreds upon hundreds of workers recently (virtually everyone in and around the town of Manchester lost their jobs). The inside scoop is that they are trying to find a buyer for all their clothing, rip the tags off, and rebrand them, rather than doing a full liquidation.
Yesterday, I received this note from Orvis explaining their future trajectory:
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To our Orvis family,
Since 1856, we’ve been guided by the same purpose: to make world-class products that inspire generations of adventure in the field and on the water. It’s what drove us in our earliest days, and it’s what drives us now as we set our sights on the next 169 years.
We’re stepping into an exciting new chapter—one focused on our core passions of fly fishing and wingshooting. This return to our roots is a renewed dedication to innovation, a commitment to our angling and upland communities, and to the wild places we love.
As we sharpen our focus, you’ll see special savings on Last Release products that won’t return once they’re gone.
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I personally think Orvis is screwed. Let me explain why.
Orvis once was "the best" retailer in the USA for fine hunting, fishing, and apparel. 30 years ago the Orvis reels were made in England by "Hardy of Alnwick", the Orvis shotguns were enhanced versions of guns made by Beretta and others. The coats and jackets were made in the UK by Barbour. The boots were made in France by Le Chameau. The CFO (Charles F. Orvis) clothing line was very high quality and was made in the first world.
Two things happened.
First, virtually everything they retailed was coming out of the third world, yet the prices were very high. They chased technology and had their reels made in Korea. Their shotguns were no longer higher quality "white labeled" items, they were just the same Italian guns you could buy for less from a hundred other dealers. They sold off Gokey, an american luggage and footwear company and started carrying third world shoes.
Second, their owners finally got caught in their wokeness. You see, in Vermont you can be a leftist and still like hunting and fishing like their owners. However, there is a smug condescension that you can catch and release trout and you can shoot grouse and pheasants, but you're NO FRIEND OF OURS if you hunt big game, go on safari, or own rifles. Their gun room was forbidden from selling rifles until fairly recently, even if consigned used rifles. Their magazines that showed amazing lodges were just catering to bird hunters and fly fisherman, nothing else was permitted.
And that is why their move to liquidate all the crap they've been making and selling while focusing on their core hunting and fishing clientele is going to fail badly. They alienated the purists by substituting plastic junk for what used to be first-world tackle. They ignored the traditional fly fisherman that uses cane and fiberglass trying to create fast-action carbon rods that are just like the soulless rods made by many far more famous operations. They had waders made in China that they wanted to charge more for than Simms waders. The final nail in the coffin is they have crapped on their core community, sportsman. In my sporting circles we don't have "good sport" and "bad sport", ANY hunting and fishing done ethically is "Good Sport". But not so with Orvis, the Perkins family has always had a lefty elitism that didn't want to cater to the broader interests of an outdoor hunting and fishing company.
Orvis ran themselves into the ground and it is doubtful they can bounce back because they don't have a loyal hunting customer base and there is nothing special about chi-com fishing tackle and Kenya-made dry flies.
