50-year- old Canadian Lifestyle Brand Roots Plans for the Future
The brand has been well known for its jackets, bags, shoes and Olympic-wear over the years, and is reissuing some of its classics.
TORONTO — When Roots cofounders Michael Budman and Don Green started the business, they never imagined their Toronto store would balloon into a business with hundreds of millions in global sales.
But in the 50 years since the duo started Roots, it has established itself as a gamechanging Canadian heritage brand worn by shoppers of all ages, celebrities and athletes.
Cofounders Budman and Green opened their first Roots store in 1973 with $7,500. Now, the business generates between 350 million Canadian dollars and 400 million Canadian dollars in global annual sales.
The line started with just one product called the Roots Negative Heel Shoe. It debuted on Aug. 15, 1973, and sold out in a month. The brand went on to become recognized for Roots signature leather jackets and bags, awards jacket, Beaver Athletic sweatshirt — which became a cultural phenomenon in 1985 — the Tuff Boot, and the Roots leather club chair.
The brand also designed team apparel for Canada's Olympic athletes from 1998 until 2004, and U.S Olympic competitors between 2002 and 2006.
“Michael and Don were two Americans who came to Canada, fell in love with the great outdoors, and wanted to create something that would inspire more Canadians to feel the same way. But they opened Roots with a ‘let's wait and see' attitude,” said the brand's president and CEO Meghan Roach.
The Detroit-born friends who were inspired by their teenage summer camp experiences in Ontario's Algonquin Park considered having one partner man the store for six months, then swapping places so each could each travel for half the year.
“They even thought about selling waterbeds at first,” said Roach. “But they never imagined building a brand before brands were a thing.”
Yet 50 years later, with milestone celebrations commencing on Tuesday — the influential lifestyle brand is embarking on its next chapter.
“We are not reinventing. We are reimagining now as we move Roots into the future,” said Joey Gollish, Roots' creative director in residence as of March. Gollish is also the founder and creative director of fashion label Mr. Saturday.
“For me as a kid, putting on a Roots Olympic sweatshirt was like putting on a Superman cape. So a big priority as we move forward is to tap into a younger audience and build on that Superman feeling with new product they can wear and love. We'll be working with different partners, artists and retailers to expand that retail base,” Gollish said.
That venture into the future will include the launch of Roots' new Oxford tote, a vegan leather staple built to endure every bump and scrape and look better with age.
Roots will also reissue some of its classic sports goods products, including the Re-Issue leather bag collection, which will feature the Net bag. Only 89 were produced, using the original vintage net first produced in 1976 from the brand's archives. It is now included in Roots' anniversary campaign.
With celebratory rollouts lasting throughout the year, Roots will also be reissuing the shoe that made the brand famous.
Working with Detroit-based Pensole Lewis College, Roots will relaunch its footwear line with the Sport Root, a new version of the wellness-driven '70s original that features modern upgrades like customizable insoles and waterproof Italian leather.
There will also be a collection with an exclusive print designed by Canadian artist Heather Cooper, who designed Roots' beloved beaver logo.
International expansion, particularly in Asia, is also on the agenda as is Roots' move toward even more brand sustainability.
“When Roots began in the 1970s sustainability meant a different thing globally than it does today,” said Roach.
“More than 85 percent of Roots products are made with preferred fibers and materials, including organic cotton, recycled fibers and other sustainable materials. We want to work towards 100 percent over the next five to 10 years,” said Roach. Indeed, Roots hopes to meet that goal sooner than expected.
Fans can also expect to see the launch of a new Roots magazine. The first limited edition, “50 Years of Roots,” will be released in-store in September.
The company has also tapped Emily Spivack, the author of “Worn Stories” — now a Netflix series — to create “Roots Stories,” an anthology of stories that honors the role the brand has placed in generations of customers' lives over the last 50 years. That anthology will debut in September.
The 50th anniversary ad campaign, featuring fall fashion, was shot at a heritage farm property, followed by a holiday campaign highlighting Roots' community spirit and sense of giving.
New collaborations will be announced by the brand in the coming weeks.
“Over the last 50 years Roots brought this European collegiate style mixed with Canadian outdoor athleticism to the forefront. They revolutionized what Olympic fashion meant and evolved a sense of community. They also gave up-andcoming Canadian designers opportunities to grow and evolve. And they did this all with no social media — just word of mouth,” said Roach.
“Roots' big work ahead is to create those new iconic products for tomorrow's consumers," Roach said.