MULO Brands With Soul June Pick: Patagonia
Small but mighty, this MULO (multi-location) brand has about 100 stores globally. However, their heart is far bigger than their physical footprint. We’re talking about Patagonia, a brand founded in 1953 and has a long and rich history, proving that soul and scale can go together.
Founder Yvon Choinard was so passionate about his environmental mission that he gave the company to the Patagonia Purpose Trust and the Holdfast Collective (non-profits) so that all earnings fund only climate and nature protection efforts. Time Magazine named him one of the most influential people in the world in 2023.
The company is recognized for its strong commitment to sustainability activism and has also made a concerted effort to make its workplace more inclusive and welcoming to its talent, which comprises approximately 3,000 employees. Long before the focus on “culture” in corporate life, Choinard was focused on hiring people with a passion for the environment and rewarding them with a great internal environment, including healthy cafeteria food. The “People” page of the Patagonia website declares:
“If you care about having a company where employees treat work as play and regard themselves as ultimate customers for the products they produce, then you have to be careful whom you hire, treat them right, and train them to treat other people right. Otherwise you may come to work one day and find it isn’t a place you want to be anymore.”
Patagonia’s “Don’t Buy This Jacket” marketing campaign was a clever wink to consumerism.
Although Patagonia sells its branded products through other retailers, they screen those sellers carefully and forbid their products from being sold on Amazon and other sites. They are committed to ensuring that the Patagonia brand name stands for sustainability and quality and they do whatever they can to limit the distribution of knock-off products.
The company also has a program called Worn Wear that enables consumers to upcycle their used Patagonia purchases or to get beloved items repaired.
Just because the company is committed to the environment, that doesn’t mean their technology is comprised of just a compass and an outdoor stove. Patagonia has invested in a wide range of automated solutions to help source and evaluate materials for manufacturing, and offer personalized recommendations to, and educate its loyal customer base.
The company generates about $100M in annual profits. That’s a whole lot of soul!
Need more soul? Join us at Street Fight LIVE 2025 on September 30th, where we’ll have a fireside chat to discuss how MULO brands can have both heart and profits.
