Filson has brought a veteran of the outdoors industry on board as its new chief.
The Seattle-based outdoor apparel and accessories brand, division of Bedrock Manufacturing Co., has named Tim Bantle president. Bantle served most recently as chief executive officer of Eddie Bauer and has also held leadership roles at The North Face, Timberland and other well-known outdoors brands.
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At Filson, he will be charged with leading the next phase of growth for the 128-year-old heritage brand.
“Tim has an exceptional track record of developing strategic plans that drive long-term, sustainable growth while preserving the unique heritage of each brand he has led,” said Steve Katzman, chief executive officer of Bedrock. “We are thrilled to welcome Tim to the Filson team and look forward to his leadership in guiding this iconic brand into new opportunities for growth and innovation.”
Bantle, whose last day at Eddie Bauer was on Friday and who started at Filson on Monday, said he “had a wonderful time at Eddie Bauer working on the rebrand and the integration into SPARC.” In 2021, Authentic Brands Group and SPARC, its joint venture with Simon Properties, acquired Eddie Bauer from the PSEB Group, an operating group owned by Golden Gate Capital. Just last week, SPARC named Ken Ohashi, the CEO of Brooks Brothers and part of its portfolio, to become brand CEO of both Brooks Brothers and Eddie Bauer as well as part of a new company it created with JCPenney, Brookfield Corp. and Shein named Catalyst Brands.
From Bantle’s perspective, he said when Filson reached out to see if he was interested in coming on board, he was immediately swayed by the brand’s reputation and “product integrity.” It didn’t hurt that it is also based in Seattle where Eddie Bauer is headquartered so he didn’t have to relocate. “Filson is an extremely legendary brand in the Seattle market,” he said. “It’s in a pristine state with deep product roots and great retail stores.”
He believes that the time is right for Filson to break out. “It’s a premium brand with outdoor and workwear heritage which is timely in today’s culture. It’s been growing well and it’s set up for a nice period of growth.” Although it’s still early days, he said he believes there are “two vectors” of growth for the brand: domestic and international wholesale. Filson has a small business outside the U.S. now and Bantle believes its aesthetic will resonate around the world with hunting, fishing and sporting goods retailers as well as department stores.