Patagonia, Inc.

Patagonia, Inc. is an American clothing company that markets and sells outdoor clothing. The company was founded by Yvon Chouinard in 1973, and is based in Ventura, California.[2]

For the region in South America, see Patagonia.
Patagonia, Inc.
Private benefit corporation
IndustryRetail
Founded1973 (1973)
FounderYvon Chouinard 
HeadquartersVentura, California, U.S.
Key people
Yvon Chouinard, founder
Doug Freeman, Interim CEO[1]
ProductsOutdoor apparel
Revenue$209.09M (2017 estimate)
Number of employees
1000 (As of 2017)
Websitepatagonia.com

History
Mannequin dressed in Patagonia clothing and gear

Yvon Chouinard, an accomplished rock climber,[3] began selling hand forged mountain climbing gear in 1957 through his company Chouinard Equipment.[4] He worked alone selling his gear until 1965 when he partnered with Tom Frost in order to improve his products and address the growing supply and demand issue he faced.[5]

In 1970, Chouinard obtained rugby shirts from Scotland that he wore while climbing because the collar kept the climbing sling from hurting his neck.[5][6]

Great Pacific Iron Works,[7] Patagonia's first store, opened in 1973 in the former Hobson meat-packing plant at Santa Clara St, in Ventura, near Chouinard's blacksmith shop.[8] In 1981, Patagonia and Chouinard Equipment were incorporated within Great Pacific Iron Works.[9] In 1984, Chouinard changed the name of Great Pacific Iron Works to Lost Arrow Corporation.[10][11]

A Patagonia store in Portland, Oregon, was located in a renovated 1895-built former warehouse until moving to a new location in 2017.

Patagonia has expanded its product line to include apparel targeted towards other sports, such as surfing.[12] In addition to clothing, they offer other products such as backpacks, sleeping bags, and camping food.[13]

Starting in April 2017, certain Patagonia merchandise that is in good condition can be returned for new merchandise credits. The used merchandise gets cleaned and repaired and sold on their "Worn Wear" website.[14]

Activism

Patagonia considers itself an "activist company".[15] In 2017, the company was recognized for its innovative family/maternity leave policies.[16]

Environmental

Patagonia commits 1% of its total sales to environmental groups,[17][18] through One Percent for the Planet, an organization of which Yvon Chouinard was a founding member. One Percent for the Planet encourages businesses to commit 1% of their annual net revenue to nonprofit charity organizations focused on conservation and sustainability.[19][20] In 2016, Patagonia took this initiative to the next level and pledged to contribute 100% of sales from Black Friday to environmental organizations, totaling $10m.[21]

Patagonia takes part in corporate social responsibility, through many different ways. They make donations from part of their profits, and take internal sustainability action and raise awareness around environmental concerns and issues. Their mission statement and "reason for being" is: "At Patagonia, we appreciate that all life on earth is under threat of extinction. We aim to use the resources we have—our business, our investments, our voice and our imaginations—to do something about it."

In 2012, Patagonia became a Certified B Corporation, making it a for profit company that meets “rigorous standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency” The company was the first to be registered as a benefit corporation in the State of California, after the California Corporations Code were revised setting new specific requirements.

Patagonia is founded in the saying “cause no unnecessary harm” meaning that they acknowledge that by producing anything, harm is caused, but they are committed to doing all it can to reduce that harm.

The company is based on four core values. These are: “1) Quality: Pursuit of ever‐greater quality in everything we do; 2) Integrity: Relationships built on integrity and respect; 3) Environmentalism: Serve as a catalyst for personal and corporate action; and 4) Not Bound by Convention: Our success—and much of the fun—lies in developing innovative ways to do things.” In 2006, Yvon Chouinard, founder of Patagonia, outlines the company's environmental philosophy in his book: “Lead an examined life; Clean up our own life; Do our penance; Support civil democracy; and Influence other companies” (p. 200). And over the years, they have done just that and have embarked on several sustainability initiatives.

Patagonia has taken a variety of initiatives through the years. This includes: reusing a variety of materials from discarded clothes, unsold items from previous collections, and the waste from fabric cuts. In addition, Patagonia is committed to designing classic products that are long lasting and don’t go out of style before being worn out. Following this initiative, they created the “Seedling” collection for children, manufactured from the waste of fabric cuts, which has garnered considerable success.

Politics and land preservation

In February 2017, Patagonia led a boycott of the Outdoor Retailer trade show, which traditionally took place in Salt Lake City, Utah, because of the Utah state legislature's introduction of legislation that would transfer federal lands to the state. Patagonia also opposed Utah Governor Gary Herbert request that the Trump administration revoke the recently designated Bears Ears National Monument in southern Utah. After several companies joined the Patagonia-led boycott, event organizer Emerald Expositions said it would not accept a proposal from Utah to continue hosting the Outdoor Retailer trade show and would instead move the event to another state.[22]

On December 6, 2017, Patagonia sued the United States Government and President Donald Trump for his proclamations of reducing the Bears Ears National Monument by 85% and the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument by almost 50%. Patagonia is suing over the interpretation of the Property Clause of the U.S. Constitution in which the country vests Congress with the power to manage federal lands. The company's CEO, Rose Marcario, contends that when Congress passed the Antiquities Act of 1906, it did not give any president the power to reverse a prior president's monument designations.[23][24]

In June 2018, the company announced that it would donate the $10 million it received from President Trump's 2017 tax cuts to "groups committed to protecting air, land and water and finding solutions to the climate crisis."[25][26]

Facebook ad boycott

In July 2020, Patagonia Inc will suspend its advertising on Facebook Inc (FB.O) and Facebook's photo-sharing app, Instagram, making it the latest company to enter a U.S. civil rights boycott movement. Several U.S. civil rights organizations launched the Stop Hate for Profit campaign last week which said the social network was doing too little to curb hate speech on their sites.[27]

Materials
Current logo

Down

In 2012, UK animal activist group Four Paws said that Patagonia used live-plucked down feathers and downs of force-fed geese.[28] In a statement on their website, Patagonia denied use of live-plucking but said it had used down procured from the foie-gras industry.[29] As of fall 2014, Patagonia said it was using 100% traceable down to ensure that birds were not force-fed or live-plucked and that down is not blended with down from unknown sources.[30]

Wool

In February 2005, Patagonia's sourcing of wool from Australia was criticized by PETA over the practice of mulesing. Patagonia has since moved its sourcing of wool from Australia to South America and the cooperative Ovis 21. However, in August 2015 PETA released new video footage showing how sheep were treated cruelly in Ovis 21 farms.[31] This led Patagonia to stop sourcing wool from Ovis 21.[32]

In June 2016, Patagonia released a set of new wool principles that guide the treatment of animals as well as land-use practices, and sustainability.[33][34]

gollark: No, we can easily demonstrate that they aren't.
gollark: What if I don't want to? WHAT THEN‽
gollark: I'm not a troll. This is discrimination. And no, I am not very sure.
gollark: I mean, I sort of "internally read out" text, but it doesn't seem to work using the same audio handling pathways.
gollark: Is that actually *hearing*, though?

References
  1. "Patagonia's departing CEO gave us her best business advice, and how company leaders can combine a social mission with financial success". Business Insider.
  2. Nelson, Mike (July 2, 2017). "Patagonia's child care center serves employees and their families". Ventura County Star. Retrieved 3 July 2016.
  3. Wang, Jennifer (12 May 2010). "Patagonia, From the Ground Up". Entrepreneur. Retrieved 2016-04-26.
  4. "Into the Heart of Patagonia's Secret Archives". 6 July 2017.
  5. "Patagonia's History - A Company Created by Climber Yvon Chouinard and his commitment to the Environment (catalog paper, organic and recycled fabrics )". www.patagonia.com. Retrieved 2016-04-26.
  6. Stevenson, Seth. "Patagonia's Founder Is America's Most Unlikely Business Guru". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2016-04-26.
  7. "On Writing: The 1972 Chouinard Catalog that changed a business – and climbing – forever". signalvnoise.com. Retrieved 26 September 2018.
  8. "Patagonia Great Pacific Iron Works (GPIW) - Ventura, CA". 26 September 2018. Archived from the original on 26 September 2018. Retrieved 26 September 2018.
  9. "Trailblazer: Yvon Chouinard | OutInUnder - Slow Social Media".
  10. Chouinard, Yvon (6 September 2016). Let My People Go Surfing: The Education of a Reluctant Businessman--Including 10 More Years of Business Unusual. Penguin. ISBN 9781101992531. Retrieved 26 September 2018 – via Google Books.
  11. "The Great Pacific Iron Works : Ultima Thule Backpack". Sumally. Retrieved 26 September 2018.
  12. "Patagonia stakes a wider claim on the beach". Men's Vogue. Archived from the original on May 12, 2008. Retrieved March 27, 2008.
  13. Picks, Owen Burke, Insider. "The best camping gear you can buy". Business Insider. Retrieved 2019-03-18.
  14. Feldman, Jamie (2017-01-30). "Patagonia Just Made Another Major Move To Save The Earth And Your Wallet". Huffington Post. Retrieved 2017-03-17.
  15. Patagonia, "The Activist Company"
  16. "Companies With Innovative Parent-Friendly Policies". Parents. Retrieved 2019-11-06.
  17. "Environmentalism: Environmental & Social Responsibility". Patagonia. Patagonia. Retrieved 16 October 2017.
  18. Picks, Mara Leighton, Insider. "B Corps are businesses committed to using their profit for good — these 10 are making some truly great products". Business Insider. Retrieved 2018-12-18.
  19. "1% for the Planet". Newf Surfboard Net. 2017-03-29. Retrieved 2017-03-31.
  20. Hemlock, Doreen (27 May 2013). "One Percent for The Planet: Businesses commit to donate 1 percent of sales to environmental nonprofits - tribunedigital-sunsentinel". Sun Sentinel. Retrieved 15 September 2016.
  21. "Annual Benefit Corporation Report" (PDF). 2017. Retrieved 2020-04-14.
  22. Reimers, Frederick (8 February 2017). "Moving Outdoor Retailer Isn't About Politics. It's About Money". Outside Magazine. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
  23. Marcario, Rose (December 6, 2017). "Patagonia CEO: This Is Why We're Suing President Trump". Time. Retrieved December 6, 2017.
  24. David Gelles. "Patagonia v. Trump". The New York Times, May 5, 2018.
  25. Pearl, Diana (November 28, 2018). "Patagonia Will Donate the $10 Million It Saved From Tax Cuts to Environmental Groups". Ad Week. Retrieved June 20, 2019.
  26. "Patagonia gave $10m from 'irresponsible tax cut' to eco causes". TreeHugger. Retrieved 2019-06-20.
  27. "Patagonia joins The North Face in Facebook ad boycott". reuters. 23 June 2020. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
  28. "Outdoor Company Patagonia: Down from brutal force-feeding". Four Paws. Retrieved 24 February 2012.
  29. "The Lowdown on Down: An Update". The Cleanest Line. Retrieved 24 February 2012.
  30. "Patagonia Traceable Down". Patagonia.com. Retrieved 9 April 2019.
  31. "Patagonia's 'Sustainable Wool' Supplier EXPOSED: Lambs Skinned Alive, Throats Slit, Tails Cut Off". PETA Investigations. Retrieved 2016-05-09.
  32. "The Cleanest Line: Patagonia to Cease Purchasing Wool from Ovis 21". www.thecleanestline.com. Retrieved 2016-05-09.
  33. Michelson, Megan (2016-07-29). "Want Ethically Sourced Wool? Buy from Patagonia". Outside Online. Retrieved 2017-01-20.
  34. "Patagonia Wool Standard" (PDF). Patagonia. 2016.

[1] [2] [3] [4] [5]

Further reading
  1. Kortum. "Patagonia's Approach to Environmental Responsibility". Journal Business Today.
  2. "Patagonia Outdoor Clothes". Patagonia.
  3. Kammen. "Patagonia's Path to Carbon Neutrality by 2025". Harvard Business Review.
  4. Rattalino (2018). "Circular Advantage Anyone? Sustainability driven innovation and circularity at Patagonia Inc". Thunderbird International Business Review. 60 (5): 747–755. doi:10.1002/tie.21917.
  5. Achabou (2013). "Luxury and sustainable development: Is there a match?". Journal of Business Research. 66 (10): 1896–1903. doi:10.1016/j.jbusres.2013.02.011.
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