Mountain Equipment Co-op (MEC) is rejuvenating its brand in Ontario to help entice more members in what has grown to become the outdoor retailer’s strongest market.
Vancouver-based MEC said Ontario is outpacing other regions, including its home province of British Columbia, and now represents about 30% of its membership base and about a third of sales.
To cater to this powerful and growing customer base, MEC is opening new stores and launching new programs and campaigns in Canada’s largest and most-populated province.
“Ontario is an important market for us,” said MEC chief marketing officer Anne Donohoe. “It’s about connecting and being where our current and future members are and are going to be.”
She said MEC has reevaluated how it works in Ontario.
“Much has been done to achieve this growth and it reinforces our efforts so far. But, this year really signals a new era in MEC’s Ontario efforts,” Donohoe said.
The biggest changes include the pending relocation of MEC downtown Toronto store, from its current location at 400 King Street West, to a new three-storey building being planned at 302 Queen Street West.
Donohoe said the new downtown store, set to open in 2017, would be roughly the same size as the existing one, but in a more vibrant shopping corridor. MEC is also opening a new store in North York next year.
The retailer is also supporting a number of programs across the province focused around outdoor activities such as biking, running and family camping.
Donohoe said the product mix and marketing strategy is slightly different in Toronto versus its hometown market of Vancouver because the weather is colder and the winters are longer, which puts limitations on various activities. There’s also less access to mountain activity. The result is an emphasis on more urban activities such as running, biking and indoor workouts such as yoga and spinning.
“We look at it from a product side and activity side and how we build out events,” she said.
The changes in Ontario are the latest in a series of moves MEC has been making to engage consumers to the outdoor clothing and equipment brand.
In April, MEC announced it signed Canadian Olympic legend Clara Hughes to be a brand ambassador in Quebec and last fall it partnered with U.S.-based Outdoor Nation to launch the MEC Outdoor Nation event series to inspire young Canadians to lead active outdoor lives.
Two years ago, MEC revamped its logo by removing the mountain image to reflect a growing urban membership base. About two-thirds of its members live in cities across Canada. It was the first time MEC had changed its brand image since being founded in 1971.
Donohoe said the moves are part of the shift the company made starting back in 2012 away from being just a backcountry brand.
“It’s really about reaching out and broadening peoples’ perceptions of MEC,” she said. “People recognize us for the backcountry and we are a lot more.”
MEC has more than four million members across Canada. Its 2014 sales were about $336 million, including at its 18 stores across Canada and online at MEC.ca.
