Abstract

Canada-based luxury apparel brand Canada Goose Holdings Inc (Canada Goose), was started as a manufacturer of woolen vests, raincoats, and snowmobile suits, by Sam Tick. David Reiss, Sam’s son-in-law, joined the company and made a parka that was designed for scientists working in the Antarctica. David’s son Dani Reiss (Reiss) joined the company in 1997 and became its CEO in 2001. He popularized the Canada Goose parkas in Canadian night clubs, and among film crews in Canada. The parkas grew popular and were highly valued in Europe, as consumers there believed that parkas made in Canada, which had some of the coldest locations in the world, would be of the highest quality. The Europeans saw these as luxury items and were ready to pay a high price for them. From Europe, the popularity of Canada Goose spread to the USA. As the popularity of the parka grew, Reiss continued to hold on to the tradition of a 13-step production process and hand stitched assembly, and produced all the parkas at the company’s Canadian facilities. With customers opting to wear a parka even in slight winters seeing it as a fashion statement, Reiss expanded the product line to include 200 styles and 2000 products. As the demand grew, Canada Goose opened more production facilities in Toronto, Winnipeg, and in Boisbriand, Quebec. These facilities were supported by subcontractors in Canada and Europe. In 2015, Canada Goose opted to sell directly to consumers through e-commerce and also opened its own outlets in Toronto, New York, London, and Chicago. Slowly, Canada Goose’s popularity grew in one of the most lucrative markets in the world, China. While producing in Canada helped Reiss maintain the quality that Canada Goose was known for, increasing its global footprint and popularity in China meant he needed to decide whether he could move the production to another location closer to the markets where it was getting popular.

Learning Objectives

The case is structured to achieve the following Learning Objectives:

• Understand how luxury brands are built.
• Explore how national factors can drive competitive advantage on an international scale.
• Explore the difference between marketing a luxury product and marketing a mass market product.
• Evaluate the pros and cons of shifting production to developing countries.

Keywords

Luxury goods; Growth strategy; Outsourcing; Competitive strategy; Internationalization strategy; Brand management; Fashion; Canada; Apparel; Entrepreneurship