Another One Bites The Dust... So long Kuiu

[Jules Winnfield]

None of these moves are inherently fatal, but together it is the same old PE playbook: widen the customer base, grow revenue, and eventually exit at a higher multiple. The risk isn't that KUIU's hunting gear will suddenly become garbage, I think it is less obvious than that.
It's that R&D, brand, and marketing money gradually shifts toward the larger market of general workwear and lifestyle consumers, while the hardcore backcountry hunter who made KUIU what it is gets treated as a "remember those guys?" rather than the core of the brand. Look at the launch of the Carhartt-styled stuff. That is a larger audience money grab.
At that point, competitors are happy to fill the void.

 

[Carnage2011]

I don’t believe this is a typical PE situation. My understand is that this is a bunch of hunters that banded together and bought the previous PE group out. The previous group was taking things down a path that some people within the company didn’t like and felt they were degrading the product. They were able to purchase the company back from them. I don’t know how it will play out but I don’t think it’s similar to the SG buyout or any other others recently.