ϳԹ Business Journal confirmed today that Eagle Creek, the luggage and backpack brand founded in 1975 and currently owned by VF Corporation, is slated to cease business operations by the end of the year. VF will discontinue the brand due to strategic and financial concerns.
“Yesterday we announced internally that after much evaluation and consideration, VF has decided to wind down the operations of the Eagle Creek brand,” says Craig Hodges, VF’s vice president of corporate affairs and communications.
Hodges told OBJ that VF determined it “no longer makes strategic or financial sense” to continue operating the brand. Most of the steps necessary to close the business, he says, will be completed by late fall.
“A small number of Eagle Creek roles will be eliminated,” said Hodges. “Some associates, however, will transition into roles that will fully support our JanSport and Eastpak brands. Our highest priority is to support every associate as they either transition away from VF or into a new position within the company.”
Throughout the shutdown process, VF will focus on keeping “associates and customers informed of changes and as they happen,” according to Hodges.
About Eagle Creek
Founded in 1975 by Steve and Nona Barker in the San Jacinto Mountains of California, Eagle Creek is now headquartered in Greenwood Village, Colorado, under VF’s portfolio of outdoor brands. VF has owned the brand since 2007, guiding its expansion in the backpack category and managing wholesale distribution around the U.S. and internationally to Canada and Europe.
The brand has won multiple awards for its gear over the years, including a Gear of the Year Award from Men’s Journal and a Travel Award from ϳԹ magazine, both of which it received in 2014.