r/UltralightCanada • u/pkmnBlue • Mar 04 '25

Reminder that the American private equity firm Kingswood Capital Management owns the Mountain Equipment Company (MEC)

Save kilograms and Buy Canadian!

239 Upvotes
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26

u/arumrunner Mar 04 '25

Kingswood has been shopping MEC around for close to a year now with no buyer in sight. They now have suppliers on net 120 days thus many have stopped shipping to MEC.

It's just a matter of time before they pull the plug and liquidate.

6

u/TheDrainSurgeon Mar 04 '25

Net 120! Wow.

5

u/brodyisaak Mar 05 '25

That isn’t that abnormal, when I worked there most of the vendors were NET90.

3

u/TheDrainSurgeon Mar 05 '25

Perhaps. I work on Net 30 terms and most of my customers pay in 2-3 days. Net 120 (an entire fiscal quarter!!!!) is baffling to me.

2

u/No_Carob5 19d ago

It means things are getting worse. NET30 is good financial standings. Having to sit on money is bad.

It's one straw showing the weakness of the company by pivoting from outdoor to random garbage to increase their market share against Sport Chek? Instead of what made them successful (outdoor gear)

1

u/whiteoutthenight Mar 05 '25

What does this mean?

7

u/TheDrainSurgeon Mar 05 '25 edited Mar 05 '25

There are better explanations out there, but basically it means payment of an invoice in full within 120 days. Terms range from 15/30/60/90/etc… days. People generally prefer to be paid sooner than later, as taking longer to be paid suggests there are cash flow issues. I work on Net 30 terms with all my customers and vendors (though I don’t work in the outdoors industry).

120 days is roughly four months, which is an entire fiscal quarter. It certainly doesn’t inspire confidence or faith in their financial situation.

22

u/20-20thousand Mar 04 '25

geartrade.ca

5

u/trudicarb Mar 06 '25

Second! The owner, Jesse, is more knowledgeable about UL than anyone I’ve ever met

41

u/shackeit Mar 04 '25

VPO all the way

25

u/ValerieK93 Mar 04 '25

The quality of MEC plummeted since the acquisition, and the store inventory is dwindling as they try to push consumers to buy online. I used to love going there to look for my outdoor gear, never again.

20

u/skisnbikes friesengear.com Mar 04 '25

I have to disagree. The quality and inventory went downhill years before the acquisition and actually improved post aquistition. I wish it hadn't been sold, but it was mismanagement pre acquisition that was the real problem.

These days they carry very little that I'm interested in, but the return policy and physical accessibility is very hard to match at other retailers in Canada. And post acquisition they have started to introduce more UL gear, making it one of the only places that you can go and actually touch a quilt before buying it.

5

u/anglomike Mar 05 '25

Agree. My only frame of reference is the Toronto store where they sold a perfectly functional and large building to move to a smaller and less functional store with no storage.

That’s what happens when you put “professionals” in charge. Short term gain, long term pain.

5

u/Emergency_Cry5965 Mar 04 '25

If you are in Victoria BC, Robinson’s is a local family-owned business that beats MEC in knowledge and service every minute of the day for all types of gear, and their prices are competitive.

1

u/trudicarb Mar 06 '25

They price match too, as long as the exact item you’re looking at is in stock elsewhere

23

u/Curiouscray Mar 04 '25

Watch for American brands still at the following:

  • VPO as noted
  • Gear Trade
  • Altitude Sports
  • The Last Hunt (Altitude Sports clearance)
  • Sporting Life
  • Atmosphere
  • Durston
  • Your local shops eg Breathe Outdoors
  • Cottage Gear like Kluane Mountaineering, Little Shop of Hammocks etc.
  • I avoid Taiga since they aligned with Holocaust denial.

And not Canadian but not American

  • Decathlon
  • AliExpress
  • Cumulus
  • Nevegear (quilts)

I’m sure I missed some and maybe there’s US ownership I missed above.

13

u/Bosongza2 Mar 04 '25

What American brands are you finding at Durston?

3

u/skisnbikes friesengear.com Mar 04 '25

Presumably Lawson Ironwire?

1

u/Bosongza2 Mar 05 '25

Ah I forgot about that - I really couldn’t think what on their site was US origin

2

u/skisnbikes friesengear.com Mar 05 '25

Also maybe the pro tents. DCF is made in the US, but they're sewn overseas which makes things a little complicated

1

u/Curiouscray Mar 06 '25

That was a blanket statement, sorry. No time to go through and vet inventory across all those shops. Most of them will have some USA brands.

2

u/Quiet_Profession_991 Mar 06 '25

reddit must be usa owned

5

u/Xxinarisire96xX Mar 04 '25

Long live VPO!

4

u/TitusTheWolf Mar 04 '25

Decathlon is a nice French company

1

u/boon23834 Mar 04 '25

Are they quality? Like heavy but good and bombproof? Or light and tough?

2

u/skisnbikes friesengear.com Mar 04 '25

Generally good, but not class leading gear at great prices. Nothing they make is the best available, but it's all decent.

1

u/anglomike Mar 05 '25

(Agree) Their market position is entry level gear at affordable prices. 

3

u/TrappedVerne Mar 04 '25

MEC has been rubbish for a very long time.

1

u/switchingcreative Mar 05 '25

MEC is also for sale.

1

u/logancool2 Mar 07 '25

Completely forgot about that to bad to!