Just a few months after Vermont-based apparel maker聽Ibex announced it would shut down, New York investment group Flourfund has purchased the intellectual property and assets.
David Hazan, who heads up the Flourfund, is a marketing specialist. His investment group has bought and re-branded several other companies鈥擝obcar, Solifornia, Quirky.com, and Peerform.
Hazan Snews that he plans to focus on building Ibex鈥檚 direct-to-consumer sales, as well as exploring聽the possibility of licensing the Ibex brand to other 鈥渃ategory experts鈥 who can 鈥渆xpand the Ibex product offering.鈥 This essentially means that Flourfund could contract with聽other manufacturers to make apparel and gear to be sold聽under the Ibex brand name.聽国产吃瓜黑料 reached out to Hazan, but he couldn't provide any information other than聽confirming that his firm was, in fact, the new owner of Ibex. Ibex founder Ted Manning did not respond to 国产吃瓜黑料鈥檚 request for comment.
The idea that Ibex鈥攁 brand loved by many in the outdoors community鈥攎ight make a comeback is exciting. Founded in Vermont in 1997, Ibex was one of the first companies to import merino to the U.S. Back in December, in an elegy to the recently shuttered brand, Gear Guy Joe Jackson called Ibex 鈥渁 merino wool pioneer鈥 and opined over the brand鈥檚 honest, quality-driven approach to business. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 recall the company using superlative product pitches or gimmicky proprietary space-age technologies,鈥 he wrote. 鈥淓very Ibex product I鈥檝e tested鈥攁bout a dozen, likely more鈥攚as soft on the skin and stylishly cut and came with all the moisture-wicking and odor-quashing bonuses of high-end merino wool.鈥
The brand drew a loyal following for creating聽no-frills, capable apparel and driving innovation聽while maintaining its authenticity and small-town roots.聽
So, should you be optimistic about the revival of one of the country鈥檚 original merino apparel brands? Cautiously, perhaps. Details are still vague. Flourfund聽has little experience and no current holdings in the outdoor space. Besides, the track record for small brands getting bought by investment groups doesn't inspire confidence.聽Apparel brand Cloudveil, which was founded by two skiers in Jackson, Wyoming, faded from the outdoor industry after it was sold to an investment group in 2010. 鈥淐loudveil still exists, but a mass-market strategy and a symbolic move from Jackson to New Jersey have taken a toll on its prestige,鈥 editor Chris Keyes wrote in 2015.
It's too soon to tell where Ibex is headed, but we'll update the story as more details emerge.聽