 player, but as growth in DTC slowed, they began moving into traditional wholesale channels. Their business has evolved so much that wholesale has been much healthier than DTC.){kind=link}
Solo Stove started off as a pure direct-to-consumer (DTC) player, but as growth in DTC slowed, they began moving into traditional wholesale channels. Their business has evolved so much that wholesale has been much healthier than DTC.
Not only can you see it in their financials, but their earnings calls sound much more like a traditional manufacturer. Their wholesale footprint has been expanding quite a bit which helps them reach new customers. They’ve picked-up more distribution from Dick’s Sporting Goods and Tractor Supply.
…we also continue to see solid momentum in our retail channel supporting the strategic initiative of creating a balanced omnichannel business. With Dick’s we saw our door count increase in Q1 from 350 stores to 700 stores. We were also able to capitalize on a 100 store test with Tractor Supply which resulted in increasing our door count in Q1 from 100 doors to over 1,500 doors
Chris Metz, CEO of Solo Brands
Tractor Supply has been focused on growing their outdoor lifestyle business, which has included a recent partnership with Weber. Adding Solo Stove to more stores helps them, but also helps Solo Stove reach more rural customers they might have been missing. Likewise, the Dick’s Sporting Goods business is complimentary to the retailers Solo Stove has been working with like Ace Hardware and REI.