Canada's beloved Roots brand cashes in at Winter Olympics - produces sporting wear for US, Canadian and UK teams - Brief Article

DSN Retailing Today, March 11, 2002 by Mike Duff

TORONTO -- Even before the recently concluded Winter Olympics, Roots, a Canadian manufacturer and retailer of athletic wear, expected big things from its outfitting of athletes representing Canada, the United States and Britain. But the company initially didn't realize just how big things could get.

From the time of the opening ceremonies, Roots' apparel line--particularly its Team U.S.A. beret--became a phenomenon, and the company and its various partners were sent scrambling to meet demand that was exponentially greater than expected.

The roots of Roots' success at this year's Salt Lake City games were laid four years ago during the winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan. There, crowds and athletes took note of the Roots-manufactured apparel worn by the Canadian team. In the spotlight at the time was none other than a piece of headwear--in the case of Nagano it was a poorboy cap--that garnered most of the attention.

Don Green, Roots co-founder, said that U. S. and other athletes liked the look the manufacturer provided for the Canadians and went to their respective Olympic committees with a suggestion. Rather than putting together collections from various apparel makers, why not have a unified look from a single provider? Indeed, why not have a look like the Canadians had? Green said the U.S. and British Olympic committees became interested in the post-Nagano period, perhaps in part because Canadian Olympic gear, for the first time, continued selling after the winter games were over.

"They came to us," said Green. "I give the athletes a lot of credit. They wanted to be cooler, hipper."

In developing its Olympic apparel lines, Roots invited in athletes and got their feedback. With the U.S. lines, though, the company had a particular challenge that went beyond the usual considerations. The athletes on the U.S. team would be representing a country that had suffered a profound tragedy and was at war. "We developed a subdued, classic look for America," Green said. "These were very low-key designs, but smart looks. They captured the mood of the country."

Certainly, the looks caught on and, to a degree, this got Roots scrambling. Because most Roots stores are in Canada, a sudden surge in demand was largely handled via the Internet and phone orders, but adding fulfillment capacity was almost an afterthought, noted Mark Layton, senior partner and ceo for PFSweb. Roots contacted the Piano, Texas, business process outsourcing provider just days before the Olympics began, he said, anticipating a degree of interest from the United States that couldn't be handled in its handful of U.S. stores and the limited number of additional outlets that were carrying the company's Olympic lines.

At first, though, Roots anticipated relatively modest spillover, said Layton. PFSweb set up an operation designed to handle about 100 phone calls and 60 orders a day, which worked fine for the first three days. Then came the opening ceremonies. On the following Saturday, PFSweb got 2,000 phone calls and went into overdrive, adding capacity to meet a level of demand that was apparently going to exceed everyone's wildest dreams.

After the United States swept the pipe snowboarding medals, the phone volume went up to 70,000 to 80,000 a day, Layton said. The company upgraded its capacity to process phone, fax and Internet orders to 130,000 a day, which was complicated by its determination not to compromise on security issues. Sure, in the case of Web orders, resolution of credit card conflicts had to be done via e-mail rather than during the ordering process. But, said Layton, considering the small amount of time that the PFSweb had to work with and the shortcuts required, things went fairly smoothly. Given the improvised nature of the response, it may be a tribute to note that orders were being mailed around 30 days, Green noted.

"This was a pet rock story, as far as I'm concerned," said Layton. "How do you project a frenzy like this?"

Layton said one small consolidation PFSweb staffers had as they worked through the night to establish and maintain Roots' electronic sales capability was the knowledge that their client's manufacturing people were up just as late and scrambling just as frantically.

Green said the fact that Roots has its own manufacturing capability was critical in its ability to respond to demand. The company has two plants in the Toronto area, one dedicated to leather goods, the other to fleece. During the Olympics, the company devoted the fleece plant exclusively to beret production. What it couldn't do itself, including some beret production, was outsourced.

Although Green would not share sales figures about his privately-held company--estimates put last year's revenues at $300 million Canadian (US$ 188)--he said the Olympic experience had a significant impact on the business both in terms of dollars and plans. Roots is rethinking the company and looking to potentially expand throughout, including its retail stores, headquarters staff and manufacturing base.