ITOCHU : Announces Acquisition of Exclusive Import/Distribution and Master License Rights of US WILD THINGS Brand
January 05, 2016 at 09:31 pm
Share
Here is body contents.
ITOCHU Corporation (headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo; Masahiro Okafuji, President & CEO; hereinafter 'ITOCHU') announced today that it has signed an agreement with WILD THINGS LLC (headquartered in Rhode Island, United States; Edward M. Schmults, CEO; hereinafter 'WILD THINGS') to secure exclusive import/distribution and master license rights for the WILD THINGS brand in the Japanese market. The full-scale release of the brand will commence from the 2016 autumn-winter season.
The WILD THINGS brand was founded in 1981 by Marie Meunier, a noted mountaineer who was the first woman to summit Aconcagua, the highest point of the Andes, and her husband and American mountaineer John Bouchard. The husband and wife team set up shop in New Hampshire, an area surrounded by a challenging natural environment and no shortage of skilled climbers. Leveraging the knowledge and experience they gained as mountaineers, they coined the motto 'Light is right' and designed a large variety of attire and goods for serious mountain climbing, growing WILD THINGS into one of the United States' premier outdoor brands both in name and substance. The brand also actively employs new materials and still garners the support of many professional mountain climbers today thanks to the superior functionality of its products. What's more, the brand's functional attire designed for thermal protection and rugged luggage have been used by the United States military on an ongoing basis.
In the Japanese market, the WILD THINGS brand has expanded through sales channels such as import-centric specialty stores and select shops since 1988. Recently, there was an alignment in the directions pursued by WILD THINGS, which seeks to strengthen branding of WILD THINGS in the Japanese market and ITOCHU, which is looking to introduce brands with high added value and superior quality with future Asian expansion in mind, and this culminated in the signing of the agreement. Looking ahead, in five years' time ITOCHU aims to generate two billion yen on a retail sales basis by targeting 30s and 40s men and women experienced in outdoor activities, leveraging its diverse sales channels through INS Co., Ltd. for apparel and JKV JAPAN CO., LTD. for bags.
Company Profile of WILD THINGS
Company Name
WILD THINGS LLC
Representative
Edward M. Schmults (CEO)
Head Office1
The Green, Bldg2 1272 West Main Road Middletown, RI 02842 USA
Established
1981
Website
www.wildthingsgear.com
WILD THINGS Brand Logo
Item released in the United States
Here is common information of this category.
Itochu Corporation issued this content on 2016-01-05 and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 2016-01-06 02:30:05 UTC
Original Document: http://www.itochu.co.jp/en/news/2016/160105.html
Itochu Corporation is a diversified group organized around 8 areas of activity:
- distribution of food products (34.9% of net sales): frozen food, vegetable oil, sweeteners, sugars, etc.;
- distribution of hydrocarbons (23.3%): hydrocarbons (natural gas, oil products, bioethanol, etc.). The group also develops manufacturing of chemical products activity;
- manufacturing and sale of industrial and construction machines, vehicles and ships (9.7%);
- production of metals and coal (8.5%);
- sale of consumer products (8.4%). The group also develops forest products sale and real estate development activities;
- distribution of computing and telecommunication equipments (7%): data transmission, Internet access, media content broadcasting and mobile telephony equipments. The group also offers financial services;
- sale of textile products (3.6%);
- other (4.6%).
Net sales are distributed geographically as follows: Japan (79.5%), Singapore (5.4%), the United States (4.5%), Australia (3.1%), China (2.8%) and other (4.7%).
ITOCHU CORPORATION 
