Footwear brand Sorel reported a 9% increase in revenue for the quarter ended Sept. 30 thanks to earlier wholesale shipments and higher closeout sales, according to parent company Columbia Sportswear.
Sorel revenue for the quarter totaled $122 million.
While Sorel revenue is forecast to grow in the low single digits for the full year, that is lower than the longer term 20% to 22% compound annual growth rate target Columbia had set for the brand.
Columbia CEO Tim Boyle addressed that issue during a conference call with investors Thursday.
“We are still very bullish on the Sorel brand and the opportunity there is clear,” he said. “I would say that the opportunity for us to continue to grow it into a year-round brand has been slightly more challenging than we thought. It’s still dependent heavily on winter product, where it has an incredible reputation. Our plan is to continue to focus on expanding with the seasonal nature of the products to take advantage of the incredible brand that Sorel has. We’re also going to be expanding gender to get more men’s product and children’s product in the offering.”
This fall, Nordstrom opened 20 Sorel pop-ups in its stores to celebrate 50 years of the Sorel Caribou boot, and Boyle said early sell-through has been promising.
Overall, Columbia still believes in the long-term growth potential for the Sorel brand, which it thinks can eventually become a $1 billion business.
In fiscal 2022, Sorel recorded $347.3 million in revenue.
Read more about Columbia Sportswear’s Q3 results here.
