Kitsbow Becomes Employee Owned and Aims for B Corp Status
Kitsbow has revealed that from January 3 it has been bought from previous shareholders by its employees.
Starting 10 years ago, Kitsbow has been increasing its scale of production with a shift to U.S. manufacturing in 2019 with a complete halt to offshore-made clothes in 2021. Employee owned companies give staff a greater say in how the business should operate and in Kitsbow's case it seems that will make for more ethical and responsible practices. In its PR, it listed some of the past initiatives that the current leadership has embraced including:
- Training a workforce with no prior experience making premium apparel
- Helping build trails in Old Fort for access by all
- Making 180,000 hand-sewn masks for first responders and medical professionals, and eventually the general public
- Making apparel in a sustainable way to better protect the planet
- Building and operating a unique retail service with excellent and healthy food made locally, free public restrooms, and free parking while riding/hiking
- Hosting the first bike shop in Old Fort in recent memory
- Using only compostable materials in all shipping and packaging
- And creating generous employee benefits, such as 100% health care insurance paid by the company, on-site yoga, reimbursed footwear, subsidized food, and more
The sale included a commitment to keep the majority of ownership in the hands of the company's employees going forward.
Alongside the employee ownership, Kitsbow has also announced its aim to achieve B Corp status and it has become a Public Benefit Corporation (PBC). In its press release, Kitsbow says being a PBC: "empowers leadership of the organization to embrace 'social and public good' of both customers and employees, while operating in a responsible and sustainable manner, and place the interests of shareholders on equal footing. Diversity and inclusion are also values threaded throughout a PBC’s legal structure and purpose."
Becoming a certified B Corp is not an instant process, looking at a business’s social and environmental performance, accountability and transparency. It can often take a year or longer for certification but with the new ownership, the work has started on receiving a B Corp certification.
 | When the opportunity to buy the brand and all of its assets became available, the employee leadership was unanimous in doing so as a public benefit corporation, and immediately starting the process for certification as a B Corp as well. We have been embracing social and public good since we landed in North Carolina to make clothes, so it was a natural step to make. |
| We are beginning the new year with a bang, not only with employee ownership but also with a pledge to sell apparel only made in the United States. We sold the last of our offshore-made apparel at the end of last year, and from now on, other than gloves and socks, all of our apparel will be made in the U.S. It is truly a very new year. |
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Not sure if they ship to the states though... but they are super high quality and are very comfy.
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Kenetic (Coquitlam)
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Corsa Cycles- Squamish
Kitsbow/NF: We do, here you go.
Everyone: No, not like this!
But seriously, this is out of reach for many and that's ok. But if you've got the means, I think it's cool to support companies that make stuff here and seem to treat their employees well.
That said, I rarely buy cheap riding gear anymore because a cheap $20-$30 USD pair of riding shorts would be falling apart after one season. Where my $70-$100 shorts are going strong after many years.
Not everyone can, but if you have the means, pay more for something that is comfortable and lasts for years vs something that winds up in the landfill after one year.
Weirdly I think its worth it for a brand to do this and for those that can afford, its great - these are local jobs and process that skirts China / Asia altogether, has huge local heart & effect. But sadly, even w/ the gear we use, some of the extras like this just aren't in reach. Maybe Kitsbow can have an affordable clothes program for those of us who aren't - I'm gonna say it - dentists, lawyers or other higher end earners w/ lots of extra cash to play with.
I do get it though - ultimately these probably come from Vietnam / SE Asia and not from my Old Fort brethren / sisten down the hill from me, so that is a sad fact I'm not supporting them. But... I only just recently heard of Kitsbow anyway, and I live here. $380 over the years pants & shorts instead of about $1200 for similar gear at Kitsbow prices (and Kitsbow is not making custom DH pants) is kinda real.
I appreciate what they do and why - it easily makes sense, but if I had to buy Kitsbow I'd have a pair of shorts and maybe 3 shirts or 30% of the gear - nothing else. Seems spartan
I agree with you though, with shorts ranging from $200-270, I'd love to see something around the $130-150 range before I could feasibly splurge on a pair. Perhaps the organizational changes being made may facilitate an opportunity for a price point approachable for more people, fingers crossed.
Not ripping here, just pointing out that its hard to be consistent across the board since we're all buying so much crap constantly from hard-goods to consumables, services, etc. Again - wish I had the bling to score some Kitsbow but I rarely do and even then, the kid or a dog gets sick, car or house repairs, doc bills and spiraling debt - something. It makes $250 on one pair pants seem crazy luxurious.
You can reframe the question to "What are you willing to justify in order to lower the price?"
www.singletracks.com/mtb-gear/kitsbow-is-making-mountain-bike-apparel-in-the-usa-with-lean-manufacturing-podcast-289
many american workplaces don't treat their emploiyees well either
workers should always be shareholders to some degree.
But 6 years later it’s as good as new and I love it. It’s one of my favourite shirts.
Glad to see this. I’ll also be supporting you in the future.
$1.69 for most of their stuff. And you give low skilled labor an opportunity to work. If the "gear" (it's just clothes) falls appart, replace it . $250 buys a lifetime of used clothes there. A win win.
Americans have way too much stuff and freak out over first world problems "I need a riding shirt that doesn't have a hood...and one that does..." "I need AWD to drive to the gravel trailhead on the best highways in the world", etc. Wake up.
It's a comment on the insane healthcare costs in the US and their pricing reflects the reality of doing business the way a lot of people say they want business done.
As for the US Government and healthcare, anyone down voting that clearly has ZERO experience with Medicare, as a Pt or a Provider.
Private insurance claims are 100x quicker and easier to submit and get paid on. On top of that, Medicare payouts are so low that it encourages 1 of 2 things, limiting Medicare Pt's to make sure you can run a viable business OR take in way too many to make up for low payouts with pure volume. Guess what a focus on pure VOLUME gets you in the surgical world...
But I do agree with you. We all know about US healthcare horror stories that, for us Europeans, are mostly impossible to comprehend.
Another part is payment systems in the US healthcare systems. MASSIVE amounts are written off by hospitals and providers every year for various reasons, they make up for it by increasing the base cost of treatment, thus feeding the cycle, why do you think a Tylenol in a hospital cost 50-70x more than at the store?
Part of it is simply the economics of an open market system, if you want to draw top surgical talent, that costs money. You have top surgeons commanding well over a $1 million a year, that has to paid for somehow...
We don't want to forget end of life care. In US we have a MASSIVE cost for keeping people alive as long as they are now. In many other countries elderly live with family and have at home care. The US is basically the only country that has such a massive nursing/elder care network and trust me, it's expensive. We pay it as Americans because god forbid we find room in our significantly larger than average homes (compared to the rest of the world) to keep our parents with us.
The list goes on and on for our sky high costs and Medicare will in no way shape or form fix it. Matter of fact, if they had to take on coverage for the Nation, the fragile and antiquated Medicare system would crumble.
So the nice gold plated plans pay out the ridiculous hospital bills. The folks who can't afford health insurance go without regular checkups or preventative care and only receive healthcare under the most dire (and expensive circumstances) and the rest of the under-65 muddle through with mediocre insurance that fights them at every step of the way (pre-existing conditions babe).
Medicare is the most functional component of it, since at least it is able to control some costs through its purchasing power and has incredibly low administrative costs. If the private insurance industry had to handle the costs of the high need elderly population, the whole thing would collapse upon itself. They don't want it and there is a reason they don't use their considerable lobbying power to do away with it. Just skim off the top with their (publically funded) medicare advantage plans. And this is before even getting into the absurd costs of our pharmaceuticals (and comparing to what other nations pay for the same drugs).
Plus, the rest of your argument about "keeping people alive" is BS. The US is NOT ahead of other countries in life expectancy whatsoever.
And yes, far too many people run to a Dr's office for absolutely no reason in this country. Why do you think high deductible plans were put into place?
However, your assumption that Medicare for all will fix it is simply incorrect. The problems facing our healthcare system are far too numerous and like it or not Medicare is a big part of that problem.
In it's current form it's not anywhere near a solution and asking the US Government to manage the Nation's healthcare is a terrible idea.
Ideally a government should be able to manage it, reality is the US Government is not equipped to manage it, at all.
I prefer Mises & Rothwell.
But it's not just for profit. Even state run facilities can be insanely expensive. NY state as an example, without proper estate planning NY will suck the elderly dry. If someone is put into a state run nursing home they will seize retirement funds, force the sale of real estate and do their best to pocket all of that money with huge monthly fees, typically much higher than private facilities.
That is extremely lazy. _IF_ that is true, what are you doing about it?
I just wish we could get rid of the two party system.
With my money and on a ballot.
When I look at both parties and they both say I don't belong because I can see and understand multiple view points and I think that you can't always win like a spoiled toddler, I'm going to ahead and say that they are both broken.
Moderation went out the window, the extremism on both sides of the isle is just sad to watch.
Whenever I see US healthcare come up I'm reminded of this story. You can buy this same tube of ointment for under £5 in the UK.
If you think the state is robbing you, you need to look at the starts of the American union. Stevenson wrote how the judicial branch of the government was created to keep the common people out of the core decisions. You can become a representative, a senator or even a governor without going to a university, but you can't become a judge or justice without a title. And since the university level education has been kept private in the US, it acts as an income barrier, barring the populace from dictating what laws do actually allow bot the common people and the government can and can't do.
So instead of trying to move everything to the private landscape, empower the government and allow it to actually regulate what a corporation can do, thinking of the common good. Stop electing CEOs.
Misses and his whole "the market self regulates" fallacy is sadly upheld by a bunch of middle class fools who think they have more power/resiliency than they have. Just think of this: what needs to happen for you to become one of the super rich kind, versus what needs to happen for you to be in the streets, begging for money. Now think of the odds of those two events happening. Sooner than later you'll realize you're closer to become homeless than you are to become Jeff Bezos.
Or does it look good because this is obviously surcharging for positive PR while the capitalist holding the highest volume of shares rakes in massive profits?
This is still capitalism at $260. Just because it is "employee owned" doesn't make it non-capitalist.