Tactics Boardshop (Blog #20)

Tactics is a skate, surf and snowboard shop in Eugene, Oregon. They are a great company that sells over 300 brands in their store and online. The company was started in the late 90’s by some U of O students who just wanted to pay for their lift tickets to go up the mountain and snowboard for free.

I’m currently in a business management class BA 317 and we recently did a case study on the company. It was very interesting to learn about this local skate shop here in Eugene that does international business. Since some countries have high taxes, Tactics does lots of business internationally in places such as Canada, The United Kingdom, Russia, Brazil, Norway and even Switzerland.

They have a cool store in Eugene that offers lots of great gear and a fantastic staff that knows about all the boards and can help outfit you with whatever you need. Check out their Eugene store if you’re ever in town 375 W 4th Ave., Eugene, OR, 97401 Monday-Saturday 11am-7pm or Sunday 12 noon-5pm or give them a call at 541.349.0087. If you aren’t in Eugene enjoy free shipping anywhere in the US at http://www.tactics.com.

 

Here are some pictures I took of their Eugene store. Taken with my iPhone 5s.

 

Tactics has lots of skate shoes.

They added a new area to display snowboards and snowboard apparel.

Tactics has a wide variety of snow goggles.

Illroots & Illamerica (Blog #19)

Illroots.com is my favorite website. It is a blog that is dedicated to keeping followers up to date with the latest news, music, fashion, and important events going on in the world. It was started by Mike Carson and Mike Waxx and the two have created a fantastic website. They are a dynamic duo that has done everything from organizing events in Chicago at the RSVP Gallery, to doing an event at South By Southwest SXSW in Austin, Texas called the Illmore.

They have made awesome music videos for artists such as Mac Miller, Schoolboy Q, Big Sean and many others. Their visuals are very unique and their video for Big Seans song Mula has over 2 million views.

To see more of their site check out Illroots

 

Follow Illroots Mike Carson and Mike Waxx  on Twitter and join the movement before the bandwagon is full.

They have created a great following and have over 32,000 followers on twitter and get thousand of site visits every day. Illroots recently created a clothing line called Illamerica, which has been very successful.

Here is some of the Illamerica Clothing.

Check out the store at illamerica.com

Columbia Sportswear is Oregon (Blog #17)

Oregon has birthed many great brands. Nike, Pendleton, and many other great companies have been founded here in this beautiful state, but no brand is more Oregon than Columbia Sportswear. The brand is perfect for every Oregonian, every situation and for anything you could possibly need. Sure it may not be as flashy as Nike, but Columbia is more rugged and helps prepare you more for the outdoors.

They are leaders and innovators and that is one of the keys for them being leaders in the outdoor gear industry.

Their motto is “Trying Stuff since 1938” and this is very fitting. When you are trying to hike up Mt. Hood you need the Omni-Tech jacket that uses silver dots in the lining of the coat to make sure that you keep in all your body heat.

They also do cool advertisements. One of my personal favorite campaigns focused on Chairwoman Gert Boyle. She is one tough mother, and the campaign showed her off in a great way. It was a great use of using the face of the company in a great way. You never see Phil Knight in Nike ads these days, but Columbia threw Gert into their ads and it worked out great.

Check out Columbia’s latest winter gear here so you can be ready for the cold winter ahead. http://www.columbia.com

Enjoy some more Columbia ads as well.