Tim
you ask me where my “facts” come from about Howies and i am afraid i dont have any facts only opinions, i had and still do in many ways, a great respect for Howies but have felt that since the Timberland takeover some of the essance of what made Howies unique and great has been lost and a somewhat more corporate ethos has emerged. I just got this feeling through the catalogues and to a lesser extent the website. Many of my thoughts echo that of bomberman, the packaging and catalogues seem to conflict with Howies save the world imagery as you say
“The howies® spring 2009 catalogue is done.
It’s all about footprints. “
I think it has just gone a bit too far in the live of the land, beautiful people doing something exciting in San Francisco south africa sort of thing. Many of the people i see wearing Howies nowadays get out their audi/ bmw they have just driven 1 mile down the road to buy there organic veg.
Why base much of your production in Thailand , China etc. I have no knowledge of your factory standards. Do you release such infomation as i have never found it readily available?
I also find other contradictions ,
Why do you transport merino half the way across the world are there no other more enviromentally suitable materials that could be used? How about a study of the Carbon footprints of merino vs synthetic base layers over there lifetimes.
What was the reason for reducing the number of independant retail outlets nationwide?
Do you deny that you pride yourself on marketing prowess?
But i admit my first post was reactionary, ill thought out and did not really accurately get across my true feelings. I am well aware that all companies need to market their products, the commitments that were made during the early days of howies and the need to sell to a larger parent company. I never thought it would generate such a response. If anything i hope this thread has given both Howies and Charge the chance to take a step back and look at the direction you are travelling in, If your heading the way you want, all is well.
I dont want to come across as a miserable bastard or an eco warrior , i am neither, just someone who is fed up with the ardent consumerism of the enviromently friendly.
One final thing please justify to me privatley at least the cost of your “Hand me Down Products”
I am now going to hide under a rock and never post anything on this bloody forum again.
Mike