// The Mountain Lab. A full service brand strategy and product development company. //

Not many companies can boast a heritage that spans over a century, but Hood Rubber Company is one of those brands. Originally established in 1896 in Watertown, Massachusetts, Hood Rubber Co. was recently revived and The Mountain Lab was brought on board to reinsert the 120-year-old footwear icon into the outdoor and lifestyle channels of today’s retail landscape.

SHOKBLOX is rooted in ball sport protective equipment with innovative shock dispersing technology. Our task is to help take the technology to a broader consumer. The result is discovering new market opportunities and taking the technology from ideation through to procuring sourcing, design and development expertise and brand marketing strategy. Launch: Winter 2014

A new trade show space for the Modern Outdoors in collaboration with Outdoor Retailer.

Partnering in late 2015, The Mountain Lab serves as the sales and marketing arm of the Italian mountaineering, hiking and active footwear company in the US. It was obvious the brand belonged in the traditional outdoor avenues, but given the latest trends, it was also apparent the brand had a place in the boutique and lifestyle retailers in the states.

Ergobag set out to create a better school backpack for kids, enabling an intelligent way of carrying the increasingly heavy load demanded by primary schools. Boasting a huge product assortment, The Mountain Lab took the lead in optimizing, as well as selling this adapted line to US schoolchildren and the corresponding retailers.

Our charge was to bring The North Face to the forefront on technical equipment, specifically in tents, packs and sleeping bags. The results were numerous awards, new sleeping bag technologies and a revolutionary new fit system for large technical packs.

As part of the team that launched the brand, we saw first hand the impact of our method in a fast growing and dynamic environment. The result was industry accolades, broad consumer support, high retail return and competition wondering what just happened to their market share. During this period Keen enjoyed one of the fastest brand growth stories in history.

The challenge was to create a brand, a product, a sourcing strategy and a design, then to sell, promote and market a new idea. The timeline was less than 12 months from concept to launch. The result was a new model of outdoor ethos and function rooted in a modern design.

Atreebutes is a men’s apparel brand that was started in Switzerland, and which aimed to completely track a clean and humane supply and production chain. Add to that the fact that the composition of the lines are primarily 100% organic cotton, and you have clothing that not only looks good, but stands for something bigger. The Mountain Lab fell in love with the brand story and started in the fall of 2015 to bring the brand to US consumers, both in the boardsport, & fashion/boutique/lifestyerealms

The Mountain Lab’s Phase 1 entails an over all business strategy assessment. With Stormr, the focus was on the brand, product and marketing opportunities to create growth in the highly competitive foul weather and outerwear segments.

Patagonia was looking for merchandising solutions for an iconic product. The Mountain Lab was chosen as one a few teams to research and propose concepts to re-imagine the way a consumer would discover, interact and gain knowledge of a classic product.

Klean Kanteen exploded through it's founder day, becoming an icon of sustainable products. With growth came the pain points of missing systems, programs and long term vision for sales and marketing. After 18 months working together the brand had expanded into 13 new countries, saw a return to the double digit growth of their initial success and a rebuild of the team to carry the brand through the next phase of growth.

As a retailer, LA Police Gear has a tremendously loyal clientele, where customers come to find the leading tactical brands. The Mountain Lab is engaged in the design, development and marketing of the LAPG branded items across a broad spectrum of product offerings.

An iconic brand known for moving your precious cargo from point A to point B safely. Thule’s quest was to diversify their product offering while retaining their brand positioning. We joined at the request of design direction to assist in line planning, secure sourcing and develop a network of design resources. Launch: February 2015

Poler has been at the forefront of blending surf, skate, urban and outdoor lifestyle. The Mountain Lab worked with Poler on developing a new line of products (still top secret) to be launched August of 2014 and in retail stores in Spring 2015.