Six months after withdrawing its IPOapplication, cooler giant Yeti has submitted new with the Securities and Exchange Commission, seeking to raise $100 millionin an initial public offering, the first step toward becoming a publicly traded company.
Known best for its rugged, rotomolded plastic coolers, Yeti was at firstpopularprimarily among hunters and fishermen, but word spread quicklythrough other outdoor groups. Today, the tough coolers are ubiquitous in the outdoors,from rafts to campgrounds to truck flatbeds.The company has been trying to go public since 2016, when itfirst submitted an applicationto the SEC. But the company withdrewthis past March, afterthe company’s 2017 net income plummetedto $15.4 million from$48.7 million in 2016—roughly a 68 percent drop. In an executive summaryas part of the , Yeti saidthe drop in sales traced back to a cocktail of factors, including a slew of retailers that ordered too many coolers in 2016 and wound up with overstock (and fewer orders) in 2017, the prolonged merger of Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s that led to delays in orders, and overall downward trends in physicalretail business.
To combat the decline and stimulatedemand, Yeticut ties with 1,100 “underperforming retailers,” putting more emphasis on digital marketing to grow itsdirect-to-consumer and online sales. The company also prioritizednew product launches, including additions to its lines of soft coolers, waterproof duffels, and Rambler drinking vessels.
Yeti fans, pay attention: If the IPO goes as planned, you’ll soon be able to buy stock in your favorite cooler company.