The Swedish outdoor brand Klättermusen is expanding its retail presence. It has just opened its first store in Munich, and the company is already announcing the next opening. The first store in Berlin will follow in June.
Klättermusen CEO Gonz Ferrero revealed that more locations are in the pipeline, but is reluctant to be more specific. “We plan to make Klättermusen accessible and available to our current and potential customers in Europe, but also worldwide.”
Klättermusen’s retail network has grown steadily in recent years. For example, while Klättermusen has had its own stores in China for nine years, the retail expansion in countries such as Germany, the UK and the US is just beginning. With the Munich store, Klättermusen now has seven brand stores in Europe and 14 in China, Korea and Japan.
Ferrero sees great potential for the brand. “We have very good indications that the response to our brand and our values is very positive,” he said, stressing that it is, however, important to remain true to one’s own philosophy. “With our brand stores, we want to challenge the conventional retail experience,” he explained. The Klättermusen stores are intended to be more than just retail spaces; they are to become meeting places for the local outdoor and creative community, where events take place and different people and perspectives come together. Almost symbolically, and certainly atypically for a clothing store, a large table with several stools stands in the middle of the Munich store.
Pioneer in sustainability
Klättermusen has always seen itself as an outdoor brand with a specific idiosyncrasy. This starts with the products, which over the years have maintained their own design language and have not succumbed to the outdoor mainstream. Diagonal zippers and asymmetrical lines are still among the brand’s trademarks. But Klättermusen has also made a conscious decision to use its own, often more sustainable materials. The brand has been a pioneer in sustainability, switching to 100 percent organic cotton in 2006 and using recycled nylon from old fishing nets for its backpack collection since 2008. Klättermusen was also one of the first brands to launch PFAS-free collections. The revolutionary waterproof outdoor jackets made from certified organic cotton were also unforgettable. Technical jackets made from organic cotton are still part of the range today. “Sustainability is a consideration in everything we do, every day of the year, and we are constantly striving to do as much as possible while delivering on our brand promise of maximum safety and high-quality technical products,” said Ferrero. Sustainable innovations in the current collection include a new range of gloves made from an environmentally friendly alternative to leather that is said to be more durable and abrasion-resistant.
Technical products for a demanding target group
Ferrero also acknowledges a certain idiosyncrasy in his own target group. “We are not a brand for everyone, not for every activity, and not even for every version of every activity. Our customers are very detail-oriented, very conscious and very selective about what they like, dislike or want to like,” he explained. However, he makes no distinction between urban outdoor and performance outdoor. “We don’t make non-technical or lifestyle products. We inspire people who are comfortable with the outdoors and mountain sports to varying degrees, but we do it with very technical products – that hasn’t changed in 50 years.”
Expansion of the business to include travel services
To emphasize its preference for authentic outdoor adventures and to further promote the community idea, Klättermusen has just launched its own travel agency, Klättermusen Experiences with its own website. Klättermusen aims to organize environmentally conscious and responsibly curated trips and mountain experiences in Scandinavia for outdoor enthusiasts. Activities include ski touring, mountain biking, kayaking and wild camping.
Ferrero, a Peruvian with Spanish roots who grew up in Argentina, has been the CEO of Klättermusen for almost ten years. According to the website, Klättermusen was officially founded in 1975 by Peter Askulv in Åre, while other sources date the brand’s origin to the 1980s. In September 2013, Swedish private equity firm Scope acquired a majority stake in the company, with the original owners remaining shareholders.
