Reima is doubling down on growing its footwear business in North America.
The Finland-based kids brand, which provides technical apparel and footwear for kids to enjoy the outdoors in various climates, is expanding its footwear business in North America via new wholesale partnerships and a revamped marketing strategy to educate consumers about the benefits of its footwear products.
“As a parent of three children, I can tell you if I take my family skiing for the day, I want my kids out enjoying the great outdoors and not complaining that they’re cold or wet or miserable,” Marc Cutilletta, Reima‘s head of North America since April of 2023, told FN in an interview. “This brand, to me, has all of those ingredients, and with the proper marketing, the proper wholesale sales force, the proper focus, we can show and actually educate parents into buying smart for their children.”
Overall, North America makes up 17 percent of Reima’s global business. And most of that business is apparel. As footwear sales in the region grow, Cutilletta sees potential for North America to eventually surpass Europe’s share, which is currently 60 percent.
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Reima, which is sold in retailers like Scheels, Backcountry, Evo and Little Burgundy in Canada, added 23 new wholesale accounts in North America in the last couple of months. This feat was accomplished by an expanded wholesale sales team that has connected with retailers across the country. While wholesale is the priority in North America, Reima will still maintain its DTC presence there and plans to open a pop-up store in Boulder, Colo. in fall 2025.
“We would like to be recognized as a footwear brand as much as we are as an apparel brand so that we capture that year-round business,” Cutilletta said, explaining how shoes, unlike apparel, are less likely to be confined to specific buying seasons. “I want Reima’s name in North America to be synonymous with all things kids.”
Cutilletta also recently hired Cotopaxi veteran Drew Eakins as Reima’s wholesale marketing manager for North America, where he will help tell the brand’s story in wholesale partner doors. Cutilletta previously worked with Eakins at Hestra Gloves, where they both helped grow the handwear brand’s U.S. market presence between 2018 and 2022.
“He knows how to build brand awareness and to strategically connect with our target audience. He knows how to lean into where our points of differentiation are in the market with specific products,” Cutilletta said of Eakins. “We’re really digging into what benefits —either health-wise, development-wise, activity-wise or weather-wise — we have over our competition and showcasing that.”
At retail, Cutilletta said Reima plans to emphasis the benefits of its barefoot sneaker range, which launched in 2023 and encourages healthy development of kids‘ feet and toes, as well as its movement-focused “rolling steps” shoes.
In 2023, footwear revenue for Reima was 18 percent of total product revenue across all markets. The share of sales is expected to grow to 20 percent this year. For the first half of 2024, footwear revenue grew 28 percent globally.
“It’s going to take a little bit more time, especially now given the economy and concerns that we have,” Cutilletta said. “But I’m in it for the long haul, and I’m very excited for that day where we really see the acceleration of the brand and the acceptance of the brand fully as the recognized brand for kids apparel and footwear.”
