The Wall Street Journal writes that Liz Claiborne, the relatively new owner of the climber favorite Prana, is on a list of companies and brands they’re considering for sale or discontinuation.
The 16 brands that Claiborne will try to sell or license out or possibly discontinue are Sigrid Olsen, Prana, Ellen Tracy, Dana Buchman, Mac & Jac, Kensie, Intuitions, C&C California, Enyce, Laundry, Tint, Stamp10, First Issue, Emma James, Tapemeasure and J.H. Collectibles.
I can’t say this doesn’t surprise me – I wasn’t exactly thrilled when I heard the news the were sold the first time. While climbers like myself are intensely loyal to Prana clothing, there was no evidence Prana was going to be a hit in the mainstream a la North Face. I give credit for Prana’s owners on making a nice exit, but I plan on stocking up on some of my favorite Prana shorts just in case…
Let’s hope Prana gets sold to a climber friendly owner.
6 Comments
Remember Prana is really a yoga clothing company that happens to have branched out into climbing. You just have to look at their homepage to see that, climbing doesn’t get a mention.
I think it’s actually the other way around! And when I look at their new site and roll over the guy climbing, he does this fun scramble up the shell. Plus I can link over to the climbing community section. Pretty cool!
@Ade while yoga is a focus, it was my understanding that the company was founded by climbers. I know they’ve been marketing to climbers for at least 4 or 5 years. I’d probably have to dig into my Climbing / Rock & Ice archives for the exact number of years.
Their website has this to say: http://www.prana.com/ourStory.aspx
So I guess it leaves a lot to interpretation. Either way, let’s hope they keep making great climbing clothing.
I would also add that they do have as much about climbing on the overall website as they do yoga IMO.
Here is their “Climber Community” section – http://www.prana.com/climber_community_landing.aspx
I guess my point really is that I suspect that the real money is in selling yoga gear and not climbing gear.
@Ade – That’s very true. The market for yoga has got to be much bigger than climbing.