An Inside Look at The North Face with Former CEO Hap Klopp | 7

Business Wars

Wondery

History, Business, David Brown, Management

4.6 • 13.2K Ratings

🗓️ 15 April 2020

⏱️ 26 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

One of the key players in the story of The North Face is Hap Klopp, who in 1968, bought the then-burgeoning outdoor sports equipment store. He bought the company for the bargain price of $60,000.

Klopp was CEO of The North Face for the next 20 years, and turned the small chain of Bay Area stores into a multi-million dollar business. Today, The North Face is a global brand that can be found in 5,000 locations across 50 countries.

We’ll hear from Klopp on what the journey was like to become one of the biggest outdoor apparel brands.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, Prime members, you can listen to Business Wars Add Free on Amazon Music. Download the app today.
0:13.0	I'm David Brown and this is Business Wars.
0:31.0	Today we conclude our series, The North Base vs. Patagonia.
0:40.0	What started out is two self-described dirt bags trying to turn a love of the outdoors into their own respective business ventures,
0:47.0	ended up taking a surprising turn into the mainstream world of apparel.
0:51.0	One of the key players in this story is Hap Club, who in 1968 purchased a then-burgeoning outdoor sports equipment store,
0:59.0	called The North Face. The company was sold for the bargain basement price of $60,000.
1:06.0	Club was CEO of The North Face for the next 20 years and turned the small chain of bay area stores into a multi-million dollar business.
1:14.0	Today The North Face is a global brand that can be found in 5,000 stores across 50 countries.
1:21.0	Part of Club's success was brought on by Innovation. He helped develop the first geodesic dome tent,
1:28.0	which took the nation by storm. He also had a huge role in boosting the popularity of cross-country skiing,
1:34.0	a tactic to encourage people to buy outdoor gear in the hiking off season. Not a bad idea.
1:40.0	As someone who was there in the early days of both Patagonia and The North Face,
1:44.0	Club can personally attest to the challenges of bringing a niche brand into the spotlight of the mainstream consumer.
1:50.0	Perhaps one of the biggest challenges of any brand, especially one that celebrates the outdoors,
1:55.0	is to make products that don't harm the environment. These days The North Face has stated that it's committed to sustainability using fabrics
2:03.0	that are meant to save water and reduce the use of chemicals.
2:06.0	So what was the journey like to become one of the biggest outdoor apparel brands
2:11.0	and in this cutthroat business world? What were the advantages of Club's friendly relationship with Patagonia founder Ivan Schunard?
2:18.0	We'll hear some answers and a whole lot more when we chat with our next guest,
2:22.0	Businessman and Adventurer, HappClop. It's coming up next.
2:36.0	Hello, I'm Hannah and I'm Seru team. And we are the hosts of a Redhanded, a weekly True Crime Podcast.
	...

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