Entering a crowded space is never easy. But Davis Smith, founder and CEO of outdoor clothing and accessories retailer Cotopaxi, believes he has found a differentiated approach to a competitive market.
“One of the things I talked about [early on] was that we’re not going to win by creating another brand that’s competing for the top of the mountain—the most hard-core people,” Smith told the audience at the Fortune Impact Initiative, a conference for business leaders responsible for ESG issues, which took place in Atlanta this week. “The way we win is by welcoming more people into the industry.”
