Canada Goose plunked along for decades selling what arguably the world’s best cold-weather jackets to a small, “in the know” customer base until all of a sudden a few celebs wore it and the brand exploded in popularity around the globe.
When did Canada Goose become so popular?
The first spurt of growth occurred in 2008. In 2009 the brand experienced a lot more growth. Then in 2010 the brand exploded in popularity.
Source: Google Trends
Since then the brand has enjoyed star-studded popularity globally for outerwear. No matter how much they charge, anyone with a few extra bucks wants a Canada Goose jacket or coat. Those with even more bucks in their pockets, buy all kinds of Goose wear including a rain jacket, hoodies, knits, puffers and more.
Interestingly, Canada Goose seems to be waning. It peaked in 2014 but was still popular. Then it dropped after 2018. While still wildly popular, it’s trend line is dropping year-over-year since 2014.
Despite waning, Canada Goose’s trendlines reign supreme
Check out the trend lines comparing Canada Goose, North Face, Moncler, Helly Hansen and Patagonia. In this instance I added “jackets” to compare apples to apples in an effort to filter out for Canada Goose’s publicity for other issues and perhaps to filter out for people searching for the bird.
It’s still the most searched jacket online
Trend lines can be misleading because when you look at the chart above, it appears to be dropping in popularity and perhaps it is but one must remember that the brand was in the spotlight during those years for its use of fur. All that media coverage and interest wasn’t necessarily good and certainly didn’t mean more sales.
Now that the brand isn’t suffering so much negative publicity, it’s safe to say that it’s popularity is more in line with epic sales.
When compared to other leading brands, Canada Goose is searched the most. Here’s the approximate search volume for each brand in the US (data for November 2021).
- Canada Goose: 189,000 searches
- Patagonia: 169,000 searches
- Arc’teryx: 154,000 searches
- North Face: 125,000 searches
- The North Face: 69,000 searches
- Helly Hansen: 69,000
- Moncler: 44,000
- Descente: 1,700
If you add up both “North Face” and “The North Face” that totals more than Canada Goose coming in at 194,000.
Canada Goose is making a lot of money
A very good source to assess whether Canada Goose is still popular is to look at historical sales revenue 2017 to 2021.
*Estimated to be above $1 billion.
As you can see, Canada Goose revenue continues to grow fast. 2021 is expected to top $1 billion.
Is the Canada Goose brand too “ubiquitous”?
Not long ago, Canada Goose launched it’s “Black Label” line which offers clothing touted as outdoor urban wear. I’m not entirely sure what that means and I struggle to identify design differences from its regular line but one notable difference is a more muted Canada Goose badge. The Black Label line has a gray and black badge which is less noticeable compared to the traditional red, blue and white badge.
I find the whole Black Label line odd but what do I know. I own some Black Label items just because I liked the design but I do prefer the traditional badge.
Whether it’s too ubiquitous or not, one thing is for certain and that is Canada Goose is still wildly popular and in demand. It’s very possible its popularity will wane in coming years but I expect it will remain a stalwart in the high-end outdoor wear market because at the end of the day, Canada Goose apparel is of the highest quality. I was completely and utterly sold on the brand after buying one jacket. Since then, the only outdoor wear I’ll buy will be Canada Goose.
This is what I hope Canada Goose does NOT do
Many high-end brands, as they grow in popularity, tarnish the brand with lower-cost lines in an effort to grow sales. Mercedes, BMW, Polo and many designers have done this. I guess it’s a successful strategy because sales grow but it diminishes the brand IMO. I hope Canada Goose sticks to selling only premium outerwear apparel instead of going for the cash grab.
Is Canada Goose still popular?
Based on the numbers, it’s as popular as ever. Not only are its sales growing but it remains more popular than many other well-known brands in the market. Will it hit a plateau? That depends on many factors. IMO, a plateau isn’t necessarily bad. At some point there are only so many people who will buy Canada Goose apparel. However, Canada Goose is constantly expanding its product lines including adding footwear, accessories and the Black Label line to the mix. More product options is obviously done in an effort to grow sales.
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