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The Mac Weekly - October 14, 2005 Patagonia Founder Speaks on Campus By Michael Barnes, Associate News Editor
On Monday, Chouinard spoke on campus about Patagonia, the outdoor clothing chain with a corporate ethic of environmental sustainability, and Macalester's newest tenant. He was joined by about fifty Macalester students, faculty, staff, and members of the Twin Cities community. "My company is an experiment to see if we can do something about the problems all those doomsday books talk about," Chouinard said. On Aug. 12, Patagonia opened its doors for business at 1648 Grand Avenue, a space left unoccupied for the better part of the last year, after Macalester ended its long-term relationship with textbook provider and community partner Ruminator Books after debts to the college exceeded $600,000. Chouinard walked into Carnegie 006, where the speech was held, wearing loose-fitting khakis, a comfortable sweater, and a pair of sneakers made from hemp. Chouinard retold the history of the corporation, beginning with his own start selling pitons, small metal stakes used for mountain-climbing, which he forged out of recycled steel after he bought a book and learned to blacksmith. "I was just a craftsman who happened to make a product that people started wanting," Chouinard said. "I never intended to be a businessman, but I guess I just became one." Vice-President for Finance David Wheaton, who was in attendance at Chouinard's speech, and spent a lot of time working with Ruminator founder David Unowsky in the space previously, sees a similarity in the two founders. "Each of them grew something they cared about from scratch, and the way they approached it was different from the usual business model," Wheaton said. Chouinard acknowledged that he is familiar with the struggle Ruminator went through in trying to fend off competition from big-box retailers and other booksellers. "There are ways to compete with big-box stores, with Barnes and Noble, but if you don't they'll certainly drive you out of business," Chouinard said. "We have the same problem." Patagonia recognizes that many customers can find cheaper goods at other retail outlets, he said, but those goods are of lesser quality and don't meet his expectations of environmental sustainability. "If you want to outfit yourself to go to Mt. Everest, just go to Macy's, where you can buy a Ralph-Lauren gortex jacket, and a Timberland down jacket, and everything except your ice ax, your crampons and boots," Chouinard said. "You don't need to go to a Patagonia store." However, Chouinard was quick to point out that for Patagonia, being conscientious about the environment is anything but a burden on the bottom line. "Everytime we've made a decision because it was the right thing to do, it's earned us more and more money," he said. "Doing the right thing," for Patagonia includes committing to give one percent of total sales, or 10 percent of pre-tax profits to small non-profit environmental organizations, Chouinard said. Before the store even opened, that corporate ethic played a role in the renovation of the building, according to Tom Welna, the director of the High Winds Fund, which manages Macalester's off-campus properties. "They put somewhere in the range of one million dollars into that building, using recycled materials," Welna said. "And the old radiators, the former rafters--all those building parts are now back on the market." Despite complaints from some students about the high cost of Patagonia's products, the new store has met its sales targets, and draws a variety of customers from throughout the Twin Cities community, including students, Assistant Manager John Netsch said. But Netsch also made clear that sales targets are not Patagonia's only goals for the Grand Ave. location. In addition to providing financial grants to local environmental groups, Patagonia will host regular events in its store, including a presentation by the International Wolf Center from Ely, Minnesota, on Oct. 20, Netsch said. "We want our store to be a venue where environmental organizations can speak and get their message across," Netsch said. In this way, Patagonia may not be too great a departure from the community space that Ruminator became during its long history with the college, Welna said. "It won't be the same type of community asset as Ruminator was," Welna said. "But it will be its own kind of community asset." |
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