Hestra Job is an accessory-specific outerwear brand that supplies work gloves to mountain operations teams at more than 50 North American ski areas.
OTHER CONSIDERATIONS
Zoom and email to stay in touch with its customers. “Our uniform deals are done in-house and without reps. We do business over Zoom and FedEx samples around,” says Flylow’s Abrams. At Mammut, “Our uniform business is all about forging relationships, in per- son and usually on skis. We get out on the mountain to show the product in its intended environment. It’s very grass- roots and hands-on,” Lennig says. PGRI’s Manara sees one upside to this: “I feel like Covid took every tradi- tional timeline and threw it out the win- dow. It was chaos.” But the disruption ended up being a boon. “Today, the tim- ing of our uniform buy is more aligned with our retail purchasing, and bringing the total volumes together makes it easi- er to apply discounts.” Accessories Accessory-specific companies also play the uniform game. Hestra Job works directly with mountain ops at 50+ ski resorts in the U.S. and Canada, including Vail Resorts, Mammoth, Calif., Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, Eldora, Colo., and the Yellowstone Club, Mont. The Swed- ish company is the exclusive work glove partner to the NSP and also partners with PSIA-AASI. “These partnerships have allowed us to stay in front of our target audience,” says Josh Jacobson, national sales manager for Hestra Job.
Those organizations help the glove maker connect with customers. “NSAA runs regional and seasonal events, and PSIA and NSP also host regional and national events that allow us to engage with patrollers and instructors,” Jacob- son says. Rep locations like the Outdoor Market Alliance in Lakewood, Colo., are another way the brand gets its handwear in front of buyers. Helly Hansen rounds out its uniform offering with accessories like radio har- nesses, vest packs, gloves, and hats. And Alterra has marketing agreements with Dakine and Darn Tough; individual resorts work with those brands on packs and socks. It Can Be Complicated For resorts, the uniform buy can be com- plex. Ski areas have different on-moun- tain staffs with a range of needs, from lift ops to snowmakers to ski instructors to parking-lot attendants. The broad goal is to find uniforms that keep employees comfortable, dry, and warm in variable conditions. Resorts in the Pacific North- west need uniforms that will keep staff- ers dry in wet weather, while low temps might be a more pressing issue at Eastern resorts. Inclusive sizing and sustainable products come into play, as does a brand’s ability to keep styles and colorways con- sistent from year to year to allow for uni- form replenishing. It’s all about keeping uniforms uniform.
The Sustainability Factor Beyond the obvious uniform features, from durability to inclusive sizing to customization, ski resorts are consider- ing a brand’s sustainability story. “PFAS are a really hot topic right now. There’s a lot of change happening in this space, and it’s not just uniforms. It’s every piece of outerwear that’s on the planet,” says Christian Knapp, PGRI chief marketing officer. “Sustainability is important to all of our properties and to our industry. You want your [uniform] partner to be on the cutting edge.” Brands like Mammut tout their sustainability record as a selling point. “We’re not interested in selling a prod- uct that won’t last for a long time. It has to have a high standard for sustainabili- ty,” says Lennig. “Resorts are looking for a product that can perform for more ski seasons, which reduces the overall bot- tom line and the environmental impact.” The Changing Sales Process Most buying today takes place at the local level, not at trade shows as was once the case. “It’s helpful for people to be able to touch and feel the products and com- pare them in a live situation, but we hav- en’t seen as much attendance at shows since Covid,” says Stearns of Mountain Uniforms. The company attends some regional NSAA shows but relies more on
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