Abstract
In 1999, the company was acquired by VF Corporation, and was renamed as The Force in 2005, but reverted to the original brand name in 2010. In 2021, the Horace Small brand was sold to Redwood Capital Investments, LLC; and later became part of Workwear Outfitters. VF Corporation (VFC), an international footwear and apparel company founded in 1899 and headquartered in Denver, Colorado owns 19 brands including Altra, Bulwark, Dickies, Eagle Creek, Eastpak, Horace Small, Jansport, Kipling, Kodiak, Napapijri, Red Kap, Smartwool, Terra, The North Face, Timberland, VF Solutions, Vans, Walls, and Icebreaker.
Keywords: VF Corporation; Sustainability, Case study.
Introduction
VF Corporation (formerly Vanity Fair Mills until 1969) is an American global apparel and footwear company founded in 1899 and headquartered in Denver, Colorado. The company’s 13 brands are systematized into three categories: Outdoor, Active, and Work. The company controls 55% of the U.S. backpack market with the JanSport, Eastpak, Timberland, and North Face brands. VFC has grown significantly from its opening creation and has pushed through adversities including the current Covid-19 pandemic. They continue to grow and advance in the modern world of business acclimatizing to the fast-paced environment. VFC adapted quickly with the start of Covid-19 and created a great online presence for themselves. They are one of the many companies in apparel accessories and outdoor equipment. They are not a well-known brand, but I trust they can become established in the industry. VF Corporation used more than 300 factories worldwide to make these apparel items and related textile raw materials.
The VFC in its recent years
VF Corporation (VFC), an international footwear and apparel company founded in 1899 and headquartered in Denver, Colorado owns 19 brands including Altra, Bulwark, Dickies, Eagle Creek, Eastpak, Horace Small, Jansport, Kipling, Kodiak, Napapijri, Red Kap, Smartwool, Terra, The North Face, Timberland, VF Solutions, Vans, Walls, and Icebreaker. With the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, VFC’s closed all stores through North America and Europe from March 16th until April 5th and closed all corporate and branch offices, and allowed employees to work remotely. Primary merchandise in these segments, geared toward the outdoorsy and sporty customer, includes high-performance outdoor apparel, sports footwear, backpacks, work-inspired apparel, and denim casual apparel. Through the first 10 months of the 2020 fiscal year, VFC had results that were above their long-term growth objectives, but during the fourth quarter, the revenue fell 10% due to Covid- 19. The fiscal year-end has been moved from the Saturday closest to December 31st to the Saturday closest to March 31st. Throughout this time, it continued to pay all its retail employees full pay and benefits and kept facilities open around the world to help support online sales. VFC’s results are typically higher and stronger in the second half of their monetary calendar year.
VF Brands
VF Brands are Workwear, Dickies, Outdoor, and action sports. Date of acquisition or merger mentioned in parenthesis. They are Eastpak wallet, Altra (2018), Eastpak (2000), Icebreaker (2018), And1 Lab (1999), JanSport (1986), Kipling (2004), The North Face (2000), Napapijri (2004), SmartWool (2011), Supreme (2020), Timberland (2011) and Vans (2004).
Divested brands
They are Vanity Fair lingerie (sold in 2007 to Fruit of the Loom), 7 for All Mankind (sold in 2016 to Delta Galil Industries), Splendid (sold in 2016 to Delta Galil Industries), Eagle Creek (sold in 2021 to the former president of emerging brands of VF Corp. Travis Campbell); Ella Moss (sold in 2016 to Delta Galil Industries); Majestic Athletic (sold in 2017 to Fanatics); Nautica (sold in 2018 to Authentic Brands Group); Bulwark Protective Apparel (sold in 2021 to Redwood Capital Investments, LLC; became part of Workwear Outfitters); Chef Designs (sold in 2021 to Redwood Capital Investments, LLC; became part of Workwear Outfitters); Horace Small (a clothing company—founded in 1937 and based in Nashville, Tennessee—that produced uniforms for law enforcement, fire, EMS, security, and land management services. In 1999, the company was acquired by VF Corporation, and was renamed as The Force in 2005, but reverted to the original brand name in 2010.) In 2021, the Horace Small brand was sold to Redwood Capital Investments, LLC; and later became part of Workwear Outfitters. Kodiak (sold in 2021 to Redwood Capital Investments, LLC; became part of Workwear Outfitters); Liberty (sold in 2021 to Redwood Capital Investments, LLC; became part of Workwear Outfitters); Red Kap (sold in 2021 to Redwood Capital Investments, LLC; became part of Workwear Outfitters); Terra (sold in 2021 to Redwood Capital Investments, LLC; became part of Workwear Outfitters); VF Solutions (sold in 2021 to Redwood Capital Investments, LLC; became part of Workwear Outfitters and renamed Image Authority); Walls (sold in 2021 to Redwood Capital Investments, LLC; became part of Workwear Outfitters); Work Authority (sold in 2021 to Redwood Capital Investments, LLC; became part of Workwear Outfitters); Workrite Fire Service (sold in 2021 to Redwood Capital Investments, LLC; became part of Workwear Outfitters).
VF sustainability and responsibility standards
From VF-owned offices to their partner factories around the world, they exercise their scale and resources to take actions that advance meaningful and measurable progress. Their sustainability and responsibility reports and outlines support three primary focus areas: People, Planet, and Product, which include worker development, gender parity, carbon emissions, waste and plastic reduction, responsible sourcing of materials, recycled and regenerative supply chains, and chemicals. Collectively, VF work to be a leading global citizen, setting a high bar for corporate sustainability and responsibility, which highlights its achievements to date, including development toward science-based targets according to Sean Cady, VP, Global Sustainability, Responsibility and Trade, VF Corporation. VF is proud of our work to date and knows there is more work to do in this space independently and collaboratively with the global apparel industry and beyond.
People, Planet, Product
By sourcing renewable energy and implementing energy efficiency initiatives VF said in the report it achieved a 17 percent reduction toward its commitment of an absolute reduction of Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of 55 percent by 2030 from a 2017 baseline. And despite experiencing significant growth in business between 2017 and 2020, VF saw no corresponding increase in Scope 3 emissions, supporting its commitment to a reduction of Scope 3 GHG emissions of 30 percent by 2030 from a 2017 baseline. Through its Worker and Community Development (WCD) programs, the company provided support to 290,000 people through FY2020 and, since inception, nearly 550,000 workers in total toward its goal of improving the lives of one million workers and their communities by 2025 and two million by 2030. By 2025, its goal is to source 100 percent renewable energy across all owned and operated facilities. VF is has made progress toward eliminating single-use plastic packaging by its goal of 2025.
Conclusion
To improve the financial returns of the company VFC needs to generate more sales or raise its prices. They need to do this in a way where they are keeping their costs the same or increasing their costs enough that they still can receive a net gain in profits. Their supply chain sustainability goals are also required to attain as customers want to see them as well.
References
1. Coleman, Kerin.(2021).“VF Corporation”.https://scholarworks.Merrimack.Edu/honors_capstones.Merrimack College. Honors Senior Capstone Projects.
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Lu, Sheng.(2021). “The State of Apparel Supply Chain Transparency: A Case Study on VF Corporation”. https://shenglufashion.com/2021/06/04/the-state-of-apparel-supply-chain-transparency-a-case-study-on-vf-corporation/
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“VF on the Forbes Global 2000 List”. Retrieved 18 December 2014.
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https://sgbonline.com/vf-corporation-publishes-sustainability-responsibility-report/
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https://web.archive.org/web/20161025011912/http://www.panoramio.com/photo/77536225
