Columbia sportswear sees growth in Cebu

Capitalizing on Cebu's growing international and domestic foreign markets and its dynamic business and lifestyle environment, an international brand of sportswear apparel recently opened a new branch at the SM City Cebu.

The newest shop of Columbia Sportswear Company at the Northwing is actually the seventh branch in the country and their second provincial branch.

In an interview with Dino de Leon, brand manager of Columbia Sportswear Company, he said that profiles of their client-base are composed mostly of travelers both locals and foreigners.

As a sportswear company catered to individuals with an active lifestyle, Columbia’s product line is composed of a wide variety of outerwear, sportswear, rugged footwear, accessories, jackets, t-shirts, bags with prices ranging from P2,190 to as high as P16,000.

De Leon said that with Cebu's weather, Columbia is perfect especially that Cebuanos are known to be wise buyers.

"Columbia is a brand that provides value for money so it is perfect for the Cebu market specifically Cebuanos who loves to travel and do activities in the outdoors,” said De Leon.

The first provincial branch that Columbia opened was located in Cagayan de Oro as the company saw a big market in the area considering the many diverse outdoor and lifestyle activities that the province offers, said De Leon.

However De Leon explained that now that Columbia has a good location here in Cebu, they are optimistic that they can surpass the sales of their Cagayan de Oro branch which is doing extremely well in terms of sales.

"There is certainly a big market for Columbia in Cebu and we expect to have big business here considering the high tourism arrival in the province. We expect Cebu to do more and earn more," he said.

Although not really affected with competitions from local sportswear brands in the market, De Leon shared that challenges they face today is that most local consumers do not know how to give value to technologies that they offer in their products.

“Columbia is known as a product innovator and has an unparalleled reputation for quality and value. We want the market to understand that Columbia is not a mere luxury product but a product that can translate to the masses and we want them to understand that they pay for the quality and the experience that they get from using our products," he said. —Rhia de Pablo