Business Interruptus # 1

Given the transition here at Nau and all the associated work, it wasn’t exactly an ideal time to disappear for 2 1/2 weeks. But 2 years ago, almost to the day, I was returning from a whitewater trip on The Dumoine River in Quebec when my longtime paddling buddies and I started to talk about the next river we wanted to paddle. Very quickly the conversation coalesced around The Snake River in the northern part of The Yukon. In that moment we planted a seed that we hoped would bear fruit in two years time.

Little did I know it would actually happen. But often that’s the way it is - you hatch an idea and energies conspire to turn it into reality. So, in spite of the immediate business frenzy, and with the support of my colleagues (and wife), a few weeks back I boarded a plane in Portland, flew to Vancouver and from there on to Whitehorse. Upon arrival I met up with Dave, Ian, Peter, Chuck and Jeff. After spending the night in a slightlly disheveled local hotel we drove six hours north to Mayo, an old mining community with a population of 250 people. The following morning we boarded a seaplane with our gear and provisions for 14 days. We flew north for an hour to Duo Lakes where we were dropped off by Denny, our archetypal northern bush pilot. From there we began a fabulous whitewater river trip in a remarkably pristine, remote wilderness setting.
I’ve included a few photos that Peter took to give you a glimpse of the landscape. Over the next few weeks I’ll add some additional posts with stories and photos, including our connection to, and support of, The Big Wild. Stay tuned.

The Road to Relaunch: Part 2- Back to the Factories

Rebuilding the relationships with our key vendors, contractors and partners for change is now our highest priority. The first order of business will be to identify all the assets that were in various stages of development when we closed our doors. Assets that were built, but not yet paid for. Rather than starting from scratch, we’re hoping to purchase some of that work in progress. Not all of it, because we’re a much smaller nau, but a selection of products that will continue to reflect our design philosophy, like the Modus Jacket above. Starting at the top of the product development food chain, we’re focusing on raw materials and sewn garments. Jamie, Andrew, Jolie and Gordon are heading to Asia over the next two weeks to meet with our factories and fabric suppliers, hoping to get back on their production calendars. While there, they will engage in a series of conversations about where things stand, introducing the new team and determining what support might be available to us at this late date.
Next stop- Creative assets. We’ll be meeting with the partners involved with the images, copy and graphics that comprise our look and feel.

Where are they nau? Mark McCambridge

Mark and Josie were the voice of nau to anyone who happened to call in looking for product, checking sizes, or just interested in shooting the breeze. They were the go-to couple for everything nau, and then some.

While you can still find Josie manning the phones, Mark decided it was time to take off the headset and get outside for awhile. He’s currently working the summer salmon run up in Alaska, and hopes to make enough money to fund his lifelong goal of traveling the entire length of the Americas- From Alaska to the tip of South America, by van. Along the way he’ll be gathering photographs for his new site entitled FACE OF AMERICA so we can all keep in touch as he journeys south, and with any luck, we’ll be featuring some of Mark’s work on future installments of the collective.

The Road to Relaunch: Part 1- The Family Toad

As we transition from Nau 1.0 to Nau 2.0, there are a number of milestone events that are critical to achieving our goal of being back on our feet by October.
The first step in this process was the search for a partner interested in purchasing the remaining assets of the company, and willing to invest in the future of the brand.

Enter Horny Toad. We spoke about them briefly on our homepage, but it bears additional mention here. When we went looking for help in keeping this thing going, we started by looking at companies who understood our business, and were equipped to take on the financial challenges of getting us back up and running. We found so much more than fiscal stability though, when we entered into a partnership with the Toads. They are a great group of like-minded individuals who believe deeply in doing the right thing, and are having a helluva lot of fun doing it.

We’ll keep our separate identities, but will be sharing some back end functions, like finance and HR and that sort of thing. Best of all, we get to play in the same sandbox- the Lizard Lounge here in the Pearl, will be the retail venue for Nau, Horny Toad and several other alternative/outdoor brands.

We’re psyched to be part of the family.

The Nau Story On Treehugger

Our friends at Treehugger have written a very thorough story on our re-birth. Actually, it’s written by Warren McLaren who has been following our story since day one. In spite of the fact that he lives in Australia I think he knows more about us, our products and our aspirations than anyone outside of the immediate family. Thanks Warren and thanks to the larger Treehugger family. You guys rock.

What Nau…

Okay, we’re pretty damned excited we have a second life, but before anything else is said about the nature of this resurrection and the plan for moving forward, we want to recognize the incredible debt of gratitude we owe to those of you who stopped in to The Kitchen and shared your thoughts.

We were humbled by your outpouring of support, but more than that, we were inspired. Reading through your comments and countless emails from customers, friends and family allowed us—no, forced us—to continue to explore any and all avenues for breathing new life into this little enterprise we all care so deeply about. Thank you, each and every one of you, for having faith.

Likewise, Nau wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for the passion poured into this thing by a much larger group of colleagues who worked tirelessly over the past 3 1/2 years to give life to this enterprise. To all of you, a heartfelt thanks for shaping the ideas and spirit that is Nau.

So, now we’re coming back. But as those of you who saw our message on the website know, we’re going to try things a little differently this time.

We’re going to start small. With a tight crew, we’ll focus on product development and what we like to call ‘story development.’ We’ll also focus on our ecommerce business once we re-launch the site for our new Fall/Holiday 2008 line. We will not be operating our own brick-and-mortar stores, but instead we’ll be developing relationships with select retailers who would like to partner with us.

Of course, we’ll also benefit from the support that we’ll get from our new friends at Horny Toad (well, they’re not really new friends, given that a bunch of us use to work with one another at one of our other favorite clothing companies). They’ve also provided us with ‘patient capital.’ That means we don’t have to worry about fundraising in the short-term, although we’ll still have to work our butts off.

There are a lot of things, however, that will NOT change.

Our clothing line will still embody the same innovative design philosophy that gained Nau a following from the streets of New York to the Boulder backcountry—a stylish blend of timeless form and technical function, favoring clean lines over clutter and durability over disposability. And, of course, all garment production will still adhere to the highest standards of environmental and social responsibility.

In other words, ‘Beauty, Performance, Sustainability’ will still be our mantra.

Beyond that, we intend to continue to donate a percentage of every sale to organizations working for the common good, and we’ll invite you, our customers, to do the work of deciding which one. Reflecting the fact that we’re starting off smaller we anticipate some change in scope and scale to the Partners for Change program, but we remain committed to our original goal—to prove that business can be a force for social and environmental good. As soon as we’ve had an opportunity to talk directly with our partners, we’ll let you know the details.
And last but certainly not least, we’ll continue to act as host for the collective community of like-minded individuals who are committed to positive change and are reflecting this in all aspects of their lives.

Between now and the launch of our fall/winter collection, we’ll be working on the re-launch of our website, re-establishing relationships with key business partners and suppliers, rebuilding our systems and structures and keeping you up to date on our progress.

Historically we’ve used the Thought Kitchen as our forum for exploring the broader notions of positive change and have been careful not to use it as a business oriented venue. However, during this rebuilding phase, we’d like to depart slightly and use it to share our progress by involving you in each step between now and the re-launch. That’s not to say you still won’t find an entry or two on why we love Portland, or the 10 worst sports films of all time—those are important to us, too.

So, we invite you to weigh in on the conversation and we’ll do our best to engage with you and respond to any questions you may have.

God, it’s good to be back!

Hal and Josie (not in the picture), Mark, Ian, Jamie, Peter, Andrew, Susan, Jolie, and Gordon

Goodbye for Nau

Dear friends,

Back in August of 2006, we served up The Thought Kitchen as Nau’s first foray into stirring the pot. After nineteen months of collective inquiry, we’re proud of what we’ve mixed up here. We’ve delved into topics as diverse as farmers’ markets and break beats, public bikes and moonwalking bears. And so it is with deep sadness that we announce that Nau, Inc., and with it this blog, will immediately begin the process of winding down our business operations.

We’re grateful to all of the readers who have followed The Thought Kitchen, offered comments on our posts, and joined us in energized exchange. You’ve given us faith that while the party may be wrapping up in our house, the thoughts, ideas and inspiration for these conversations will carry on. Though Nau is winding down, we as individuals will continue to participate with you as part of the larger collective sharing ideas and exchanging dialogue in this movement around positive change.

In the meantime, we have posted the following letter on the homepage of our website:

In the current highly risk-averse capital market, we simply could not raise the necessary funds to continue to move forward. We believe this is not so much a reflection of the viability of our business, but the result of an unfortunate confluence of events. Just as we could not have predicted the sudden groundswell of environmental consciousness that blossomed at the time we launched our business, we did not foresee the current crisis in the capital markets. At this time, investors are loath to invest in anything; especially, it appears, a company like Nau that has the audacity to challenge conventional paradigms of what a business should be.

We are, of course, eternally thankful to a large community of people, including the investors who got us this far—those who saw our potential and gave their support when the risk was greatest. We would also like to express our most sincere gratitude to our customers as well as our partner non-profit organizations, our business associates, our friends in the media as well as the countless others who have cheered us and challenged us along the way. It has been an honor working with and serving all of you. Your unflagging support and enthusiasm has inspired us to work diligently on your behalf and we regret we will not be able to serve you in the future.

In the end, we are proud of what we have accomplished as a company. After less than one year of business, we donated over $223,000 through our customer-directed giving program, Partners for Change. We feel this model, were it widely adopted, could have staggering potential to influence the common good. We are thrilled to have watched the community of individuals who have strongly identified with Nau’s mission and who have shared their thoughts and feelings with us online and in person, in our local markets and around the globe. We also salute the larger community of artists, athletes, and activists whose passions have inspired us to do what we do and who have welcomed us as a part of a much greater movement devoted to positive change.

Nau set out to show the world that business can be a force for positive social and environmental change. Although our current financial obstacles have proven to be insurmountable, it does not mean the ideas associated with Nau are unattainable. Nau was merely one attempt to express a larger idea that was around before us and will survive long after. It remains as urgent as ever for businesses to take the lead in creating a sustainable future for humans and the planet. We, as individuals and as members of a grander collective of the change-minded, look forward to continuing that journey.

The Team At Nau

Biodiesel on Cellulose

For those readers of the kitchen residing in the Portland area, check out Revolution Green, a ‘renewable documentary’ playing tonight, Thursday December 6th, at the Hollywood Theatre. Narrated by Woody Harrelson and featuring Willie Nelson, it traces the history of biodiesel from its origins early in the twentieth century to its current resurgence, including the region’s own SeQuential BioFuel, the Eugene-based biodiesel plant with a real, live service station.

Putting their money where they’re mouth is, they’re also offering $1 off the $6 ticket price for those who ride the bus to the show, so whip out your Tri-Met passes and make the trip! Not in Portland? You can pick up a DVD at RevolutionGreen.com.

Reasons to Love Portland, #XO: Elliott Smith (1969-2003)

The release this week of the late Elliott Smith’s “New Moon” (Kill Rock Stars) — a double album of unpublished tracks, outtakes and demos recorded during the 1994-97 period in which Elliott was living in Portland and creating some of his most influential work, including the Oscar-nominated “Miss Misery,” from fellow Portlander Gus Van Sant’s “Good Will Hunting” — reminds us of what an important voice we lost four years ago. This podcast, with Portland’s Jackpot! Recording Studio owner, Tape Op editor-in-chief and Smith Estate archivist Larry Crane (and corresponding Oregonian feature), provides some of the backstory around the album’s release and points toward the possibility of similar treasure troves that might be unearthed in the future.

Coming up roses,

Fishbowl Collective: Urban Honking

Urban Honking takes everything cool about Portland and compiles it into one big, overflowing cornucopia of blog bliss. Here, you’ll find musings from indie fashion havens like Seaplane, renaissance artists like E*Rock, cultural anthropologists like Kevin Erickson (Holy Moly), and many more. Started in 2001 by Steve Schroeder, Jona Bechtolt and Mike Merrill, UrHo blasted off a few years later with the rising popularity of the almighty weblog. Today, the collective boasts more than 45 individual and group bloggers who regularly bare their creative souls on subjects like art, religion, music, sports, politics, you-name-it. Among the motley crew counted in the site’s family is photographer Daniel Peterson, whose itwon’tfuckingkillyou photolog keeps us coming back for more images like the one here: beautiful, raw, rare snapshots of our city and its dwellers.