It's been a tough two weeks for sportswear companies. European label Le Coq Sportif announced today that they're shuttering their North American offices, based in Portland, Oregon. Last week Nau, a sustainable clothing company, also closed its Portland doors, citing "risk-averse market conditions." Le Coq's announcement comes only three months after the company relaunched its apparel line here in the U.S.
The company's North American CEO Tim McCool (here comes the spin) says it's not that the brand is failing, it's just that its success has been so tremendous in Europe that they have to refocus efforts closer to home. Read: the U.S. dollar sucks and Americans aren't biting on a line that some retailers say is a too "European-looking." Beyond that, trying to revive a once-hip brand (Le Coq's heyday was in the '70s and '80s) is tricky even for more the most experience marketers. I don't recall seeing a single ad for Le Coq, and if consumers don't know about the product, they won't buy it.
This is the second time the venerable label has tried to re-enter the U.S. market.
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Maybe failure in the american market what it takes for a failing euro-styled company to reinvent itself for a younger market. The same thing will happen to Fubu.
—matteo
17:13, May 15th, 2008
"Here you have a European company that's trying to re-ignite an old classic brand, and they're going to put their focus on Europe rather than the U.S.," said Ross Regis, owner of recruitment firm Search Synergy Inc. in Portland. "You can't argue with that strategy."
Yeah, just like Lacoste -- total flop here. I mean, who was the nutcase who thought today's modern American would want a Euro-looking alligator shirt from the 80s?
Why do I suddenly want rooster gear? Is that their game?
—paige
15:00, May 15th, 2008
The sporting "chicken"? Now I don't speak much russian, but that brand may not make much sense to America's sporting youth. They're better off re-marketing their 70's and 80's apparel designs through Urban Outfitters or some hipster entity.
—Matteo
14:54, May 15th, 2008
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