The latest news out of VF Corporation isn’t as eye-opening as the Denver-based company selling its Eagle Creek brand to a former employee, but it does signal a shifting market focus for one of its smaller assets.

The company on Thursday announced that Eastpak, one of its portfolio pack brands founded in Boston in 1952 and now based in Antwerp, Belgium, is relaunching in North America.

Eastpak says the decision to return in full to the U.S. and Canada “comes after several years strategically focused on European and APAC regions, where the brand has deep roots, high aspiration, and strong business growth.”

The brand’s president, Nina Flood, who VF appointed to the role in 2020, has targeted growth in North America after Eastpak initially entered the region “through global e-commerce sites like Asos and Ssense and other high-end retail.” 

With the launch of its U.S. website, us.eastpak.com, Eastpak is now “fully platformed” here with the goal of expanding its presence in “key U.S. and Canada fashion and lifestyle retailers.”

“Consumers have been clamoring for Eastpak in the North Americas—which led to launching our new website and opening new retail channels,” said Flood, who works out of VF’s European headquarters in Stabio, Switzerland. “It’s amazing to see the potential for Eastpak as new consumers discover the brand and loyal ones can now get it much more quickly and easily through domestic retail.”

Flood is a VF veteran who has spent 17 years at the company and various brands. She previously served as president of Kipling Americas and, before that, she was VP of strategy and marketing at Nautica (which VF sold in 2018). In early 2021, she also took over another VF brand, JanSport, and now leads both JanSport and Eastpak globally.

Eastpak’s North American operation, which will be based at VF’s global headquarters in Denver, is now searching for a regional packs general manager. No other new positions have been announced, the company said.

Eastpak said its relaunch for Fall 2021 will include “iconic silhouettes such as the Padded Pak’r and Padded Zippl’r and also introduce soft carry and wheeled travel items, relatively new product categories for Eastpak since the brand was last distributed in North America.”

A VF spokesman said the decision to bring Eastpak back to North America wasn’t to compensate for the loss of Eagle Creek, which VF was planning to shutter before Travis Campbell announced he would buy the brand and keep it alive.

The company declined to disclose how much revenue it was losing with the divestment of Eagle Creek—and again declined to say how much Campbell was paying for the brand.

Campbell, who broke the news of purchasing Eagle Creek to şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍř Business Journal earlier this month, tells us how he saved the brand before it dissolved. He had decided to move on from VF and was trying to plan his next career move when he shifted gears and put together a proposal to buy Eagle Creek from VF. It was a win-win-win scenario—for Campbell, VF, and Eagle Creek’s legion of fans.

“Nobody wanted to see the brand go away,” Campbell told us. “It was an economic decision that made sense for VF.”

As for the economic decision behind relaunching Eastpak in North America, that will play out in the coming years. The brand is part of VF’s “active” segment that also includes Vans (one of VF’s “core brands” along with The North Face, Timberland, and Dickies), Supreme, Kipling, Napapijri, and JanSport. Eagle Creek was part of this segment until the sale.

VF doesn’t break out revenue for Eastpak, which it considers one of its “emerging” (i.e., smaller) brands, but the company reported combined fiscal 2021 revenue for the active segment of $4.2 billion, with much of that total coming from Vans.

Look for more on VF’s financial performance next month when we recap the company’s fiscal second-quarter earnings, along with revenue and income results from the other publicly traded corporations that make up the OBJ Outdoor Index.

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Eagle Creek will live on. 

VF Corporation announced today that Travis Campbell, the company’s former president of emerging brands, has acquired Eagle Creek from VF for an undisclosed amount. OBJ obtained a copy of the letter that VF President and CEO Steve Rendle sent to employees this morning. “I’m pleased to announce that VF reached an agreement with Travis [Campbell], who is now the new owner of the Eagle Creek brand,” the letter read. “This sale includes all Eagle Creek assets and liabilities. It does not include any Eagle Creek or VF associates.” 

Campbell has served as president of Smartwool, GM Americas of The North Face, and president of the fly-fishing company Far Bank Enterprises. For the last 18 months, he has been president of emerging brands at VF, managing a group of companies which Campbell defines as each worth under $1 billion, like JanSport, Smartwool, Altra, and Eagle Creek.

OBJ broke the news in early June that VF would be sunsetting the iconic pack and travel brand by the end of the year because it “no longer makes strategic or financial sense.” It was not long after that Campbell’s wife asked him the obvious question: “Why on earth are you not trying to buy that business?” 

How Campbell Acquired Eagle Creek

Campbell had already decided to move on from VF and was trying to plan his next move. He had come to realize that he missed running, nurturing, and growing a single brand, but he wanted to keep his family rooted in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. That’s when he decided to put together a proposal for VF to buy Eagle Creek. “Nobody wanted to see the brand go away,” said Campbell. “It was an economic decision that made sense for VF.”

But it devastated founders Steve and Nona Barker. In an exclusive interview with OBJ after VF’s announcement, Steve Barker said, “Eagle Creek is a great and viable brand. It has a great future and shouldn’t die.”

Campbell said that when he approached VF with the idea of an acquisition, he got nothing but positive reactions. “It was a fast transaction because of the level of trust that existed between me and VF,” he said.

Rendle is happy with the outcome. “From the VF perspective, it enabled us to pursue an efficient and value-enhancing alternative to winding down the brand,” he said. “For Eagle Creek, its loyal consumers, and the outdoor industry overall, we’re pleased that the brand will continue on under the ownership of Travis, who has extensive industry knowledge and is a proven business executive. His career experience, including leadership positions with VF, The North Face and Smartwool, make him well-positioned to be the next steward of the Eagle Creek brand and continue its legacy.” 

Campbell Reveals His Plans for the Company

“It’s equal parts exciting and terrifying,” said Campbell, who has helped build many brands but has never owned one himself. “This is a personal purchase. I am currently the sole owner. As the business grows and evolves, I’ll likely bring in outside capital, probably more from banking than outside equity.”

Campbell said his first goal is to “do no harm” to the brand. “Eagle Creek already makes great products in a number of categories,” he said. “I want to work on supply chain issues and get back into stock with the best selling products in our line. We will likely trim some products that aren’t working and over-index on the things that are working. I’ll dig in and listen to former employees and current sales reps and figure it out.”

The Eagle Creek business is currently about 75 percent wholesale and 25 percent direct-to-consumer (DTC). “We have a diverse customer base, everything from Grassroots specialty retailers to REI to The Container Store,” Campbell said. “I think the ratio will continue to evolve, and we’re going to want to get better at DTC because it can help the whole ecosystem by telling your brand story directly. But wholesale will always remain super important.”

Campbell acknowledged global travel is at a low point right now due to the pandemic, but he fully expects it to come roaring back. And he intends to be ready when it does. “The cool thing is that the brand has already pivoted to close-to-home recreation, with strong sales in things like duffle bags and packing cubes,” he said. “Those products that facilitate local camping trips have been really working for the business while the business travel stuff has been lagging.”

The brand’s HQ will be in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, but Campbell confirmed the new Eagle Creek will primarily be a virtual organization. “It’s tricky,” he said. “My desire would be to have everyone based in Steamboat, but the practical reality of housing constraints in mountain towns these days means there’s no way I’ll be able to bring everyone in.”

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On June 9, şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍř Business Journal that , the beloved, legacy travel company, would shut down by the end of 2021. Details and context around parent company VF Corp.’s decision to shutter the iconic brand were scarce, with company spokesperson Craig Hodges saying simply that Eagle Creek “no longer makes strategic or financial sense.”

But many people, including founders Steve and Nona Barker, beg to differ.

In fall 1975, the Barkers—who met at Steve’s California climbing shop, Mountain People—founded Eagle Creek Mountain Packs with $2,500 in savings. Inspired after wandering around the west in a VW Squareback, they saw an opportunity and a need to create a company that focused on travel.

And so they did. Through the ’80s, ’90s, and early aughts, Eagle Creek grew and thrived. Highlights include opening several retail stores in California, launching a mail-order business, opening a production facility in Mexico, and setting up an ESOP (Employee Stock Ownership Program) so the staff could maintain control of the company. The brand’s homegrown culture was legendary. Company leaders served pie each month to celebrate birthdays; hosted horseshoe tournaments and chili contests; and held an annual food drive. 

But the early 2000s were dark days. Between September 11, the SARS epidemic, and the Iraq war, Barker calls the period “the perfect storm for a travel gear business.” It got so bad that the Barkers’ bank tried to liquidate the company and foreclose on their home. Over the next few years, Eagle Creek worked its way back to profitability, thanks to hard work, smart strategy, and the support of so many Eagle Creekers who had joined the family along the way. 

When VF approached them with an acquisition deal in 2007, it seemed to the Barkers like a strong move that would solidify the brand’s foothold in the travel world. in developing brand awareness and the product line, while leveraging the network of a robust supply chain and vast retailer community. Plus, every employee would receive a nice ESOP payout.

After three years of transition, the Barkers stepped down in 2010 and bid farewell to the brand they had nurtured for more than 30 years. They felt good about handing over the reins.

And even now, they don’t regret selling—in general. Barker said it was the right thing to do, especially given that employees received a big payout, around $10 per share, and lots of long-term staff were nearing retirement. But, said Barker, they might regret selling to VF specifically, based on the company’s recent decision to shutter the brand.

OBJ sat down for a Zoom call with Steve and Nona Barker about a week after VF’s closure announcement. By that time, their anger at the news had worn off. They had a houseful of grandkids and were packing up for a weekend in the mountains. They were nostalgic but also determined. Bottom line: They do not want this brand to die.

An edited version of our conversation is below.

First question: Did you see this coming? 

Steve Barker: We were not blindsided. [VF Corp. CEO] Steve Rendle reached out about 45 days before the announcement. So we saw this coming, but it didn’t make the announcement any easier. We’ve had an overwhelming response from the outdoor industry. I was shocked at how many people reached out. There was a lot of empathy from people who had also grown brands in the industry. We’ve been going through a sort of grief process. We went through denial and I certainly went through my anger at moments. Then it was depression and acceptance. Now I’m just determined. 

What are you determined about? 

SB: What I’d like folks in the industry to know is that Eagle Creek is a great and viable brand. It has a great future and shouldn’t die. A brand is sort of a living thing to us. We created it and nurtured it in its early years, and just as it takes a village to raise a kid, it takes a community to grow a brand. We had a great community of employees, reps, and retailers. And then our retailers themselves created a community around adventure travel. Our secret sauce was to leverage our culture because we had very little money, and so it was all about discretionary effort on the part of our fellow employees. And you know what? That culture ended up being pivotal to our ability to overcome hurdles and to grow as we became more profitable and could fund ourselves.

What kind of hurdles did you hit along the way?

SB: There was 9/11, SARS, the Iraq war. These were all tough tough times for us and others in the travel business. But the culture persevered. Then in the early ’90s, some of our early investors pushed us to sell the company, which would have left the employees and founders with very little to show for years of sweat. But we were able to get the company back and put it into employee ownership. We had an ESOP [Employee Stock Ownership Plan], which meant all our employees were able to grow along with us until we decided to sell. 

Many would say that Eagle Creek really started the adventure travel category in the outdoor space. Are you comfortable taking credit for that?

SB: Well, we were all in love with the outdoor industry. It was just natural for us to support ORCA [the original name of Outdoor Industry Association], the Conservation Alliance, şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍř Travel Trade Association, and others. People from Eagle Creek served on boards and volunteered. But this is more than just wanting to hang on to memories and a legacy. We really believe that travel is an integral part of outdoor. And, you know, we did pioneer that niche. We got brands like REI to actually include travel in their mix. A big thing for us was when retailers started to merchandise travel as a category. If you look at the architecture of most brands today, what they carry in travel is a brand architecture that was really pioneered by Eagle Creek. Even if you look at newcomers like Yeti, who just got into travel, their assortment is basically what we brought to the market years ago.

Why do you think travel is so key to the outdoor industry?

SB: One of the unintentional consequences of VF’s decision to sell Eagle Creek—coupled with REI’s recent announcement to close down its international travel operations—is the message sent to the marketplace about the viability of the travel sector. This kind of corny, but travel is key to world peace. Going out and seeing new cultures, meeting new people and appreciating them—it’s the anecdote to the America-first point of view. Travel done right supports conservation. It supports the communities that offer sustainable economies. It benefits gateway communities in North America. Going forward, I think travel is going to be key to implementing natural climate solutions like 30 by 30, the Biden administration’s push to conserve 30 percent of the nation’s land and water by 2030.

What’s your outlook for the travel industry as a whole?

Nona Barker: When we started our company, only 3 percent of U.S. citizens had a passport. Today, about 47 percent have one. And that’s still pathetic compared to Canada, the U.K., and other developed countries—70 percent of those citizens have passports.

SB: If the U.S. can get to 70 or 80 percent passport ownership, that’s a significant opportunity. I think it’s important that the outdoor industry embrace travel because it’s ideally suited to what outdoor retailers are good at. Back in the early retail days, when we saw our customers planning trips like surfing in Bali, we found that a great niche to design products for. These customers still wanted to carry a backpack, but they wanted to get out on a plane first.

Have you learned any big lessons learned from all this?

NB: Somewhere in here there’s a cautionary tale about brands, exit strategies, and legacy. As Ricky Schlesinger, our former senior vice president, used to say, business is cyclical, but life is linear. As we get older, these things become more and more important to us. 

SB: Yeah, seeing an otherwise healthy brand be put down, it’s pretty horrible. It’s not a great analogy, but selling to VF was sort of like marrying off your daughter, seeing it not work out, and not being able to do much about it. When we sold it, we knew this was a possibility and certainly a risk. We were looking for a partner to help us grow. Eagle Creek was small, but VF was attracted to the fact that we were a category leader with global distribution. The whole idea was interesting because I served on the OIA board with folks from VF. It seemed like a good fit, but we were probably the smallest acquisition they’d ever made. I thank them for taking a risk with us, and we’re sorry it wasn’t a good fit, but we think the brand is still viable and sustainable. We hope it doesn’t die.

Are you thinking about buying it back? 

SB: We’ve talked to them about it. We would certainly entertain the idea. My guess is that there’ll be a lot of interest out there in Eagle Creek. And of course, we’re here to help the brand in any way we can. As long as it’s trying to be an ambassador for sustainable travel and conservation of wild places on the planet, we’re all in.

So the story of Eagle Creek is not over just because VF is abandoning it. You feel pretty strongly about that? 

SB: I do feel strongly about that. And frankly, if it ends up being over, it would be a horrible shame. What we created—both the market we pioneered and all the people we touched—was special. We still have great relationships with all of those folks we met along the way. We ran it like a family. 

NB: My take on this is just a little different than Steve’s. I’m thrilled with what we did. I’m personally leaving it on a good note. Somebody probably will pick the brand up, but I don’t think it will be us at this point. I’m sorry that VF couldn’t be successful with it. I guess that’s the nice way of putting it, but the reality is that they failed.

What are your hopes and dreams for this brand? What would be the ideal outcome for Eagle Creek? 

SB: Well, not surprisingly, my vision for a new Eagle Creek would be similar to where I’ve focused my life the last ten years, which is sort of at the nexus of conservation, outdoor participation, and travel. I think it’s an unbranded space and there’s still a huge opportunity for someone to see great success with Eagle Creek. I really feel that, coming out of COVID, we’re going to see a change in attitude around work and living a balanced life. There’s an incredible opportunity for the outdoor industry here, and travel’s a huge piece of that. I really think this is when “Eagle Creek 2.0” could anchor into those values.

Were VF and Eagle Creek just a mismatch?

SB: They were. We made some wrong assumptions. When we went to sell the company, we assumed that travel was mainstream enough that you could just add money, and away it would go. Now I realize it’s more entrepreneurial. It’s going to take a long time to keep grooming and growing the niche, and there’s nothing wrong with that. But that’s not what VF does well. It’s not where they want to focus, and I get that. As a public company, they want to make sure they’re investing in things that are going to get a return for their shareholders. So, yes, it was a mismatch. 

Looking back at the last 15 months, it’s not hard to understand why a company would be skeptical about investing in a travel business, though. Right?  

SB: Yes, there’s going to be a tough lift in the next 18 months. Travel has definitely taken a huge hit, which breaks my heart. We have friends all over the world working in the travel industry and they are hurting bad. They’re worried about their families. We’re coming out of COVID here in the States, but I don’t think people realize that Asia, Africa, and South America are still way deep in this and not seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. That’s why at şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍř Travel Conservation Fund, we’re trying to give grants to folks to keep them alive, to keep rangers in the field, to keep poaching down, and to all the things that travel and tourism fund. So it’s a big concern. 

Well, let’s all cross our fingers for a big comeback, both in the global travel sector and for and Eagle Creek itself.

SB: That’s what we’re hoping for on both fronts. I think a comeback for Eagle Creek is very possible. As I said at the beginning, we’ve received an overwhelming amount of support from the industry and friends since the announcement. We mourn for what the brand is going through. But at the same time, it’s been an incredible ride. 

Any final thoughts?

SB: I just hope VF does the right thing and sells the brand to folks who will do the right thing with it—not take it downmarket, but nurture and grow it. Financially, it’s inconsequential to VF, so it becomes a matter of doing the right thing. I do think Steve [Rendle] has a say in what happens. He knows the values behind this brand and his heart is in the right place. I hope he finds the best steward for the brand to move it forward. 

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şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍř 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 şÚÁĎłÔąĎÍř magazine, both of which it received in 2014.

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