Bridge Outdoors

A couple of my friends in Lander started Bridge Outdoors - when life hands you lemons you make lemonade. I am looking forward to your success.

Full Release
January 12, 2009 (Lander, Wyoming) -

Founded by four outdoor industry veterans who helped transform Brunton from a specialty compass manufacturer into a high-end, multi-category outdoor brand, Bridge Outdoors offers the ability to design, develop and source custom outdoor products to retailers and organizations who don't have the resources to do it themselves."Our model is fairly simple," said Principal Brendon Weaver, who explains the process in five steps:

1. We sit down with the retailer or organization to identify what product or product categories they can offer their consumer which they currently don't or do but at a poor margin. The product can be custom branded or branded under the Bridge Outdoors Speedgoat brand.

2. We select one of our partner factories who can build the product in the quantities requested.

3. We work together with the client to design the desired product, or in some cases we simply find an existing product that meets the requirements of the client.

4. We prototype the product for approval.

5. We manufacture and deliver the product to their doorstep."Our model is a bit different however, in that our clients typically don't pay a cent until they place their order.

We build our value into the cost of the product. Our goal is to provide something they can be proud of at a price that makes it appealing to their consumer," said Weaver.

The service appears to coming at an ideal time when retailers are really focusing on getting better margins and consumers are concerned about stretching their dollar. "Often times these retailers are selling non-branded commodity items when they could be getting the same product under their name at a better price," said Mike Lilygren, Principal and head of product development. "With the majority of manufacturers bending over backwards to chase after the big retailers in the industry, the small and mid-sized dealers are left to fend for themselves. We saw an opportunity to lend our expertise to those groups.

We're trying to put them on a level playing field." The group consists of four principals each owning an area of the business.

Mike Lilygren, former Director of New Product Development for Brunton, heads up Product Development. Fabian Lobera, former Chief Sales Officer at Brunton, is responsible for Customer Development and Finance. Cade Maestas, former Manager of Purchasing, Warehousing, Global Sourcing, and Logistics at Brunton, is in charge of Supply Chain and Logistics. Brendon Weaver, former Director of Brand Management and Creative for Brunton and Gerber Legendary Blades, is the Creative and Product Design lead. All together the group brings 30+ years of outdoor industry experience to the table.
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Bridge Outdoors