Pivot #25: March & Mill Co.
Brad Marchand tormented the Leafs on Wednesday night with a 2G-1A performance, leading the Bruins into the weekend with a 2-1 series lead. Three weeks before his 36th birthday, Marshy continues to excel on the ice, but whenever he calls it a career, his ex-teammate and business partner, Kevan Miller, will be waiting for him so they can turn all their attention to their outdoor lifestyle brand March & Mill Co.
Teammates with the Bruins for several years, it’s clear Marchand and Miller bonded over their love of the outdoors and hunting. Seeds for the outdoor lifestyle brand, aptly named, March & Mill Co. were planted in 2019 and the business has steadily grown each year since. The brand looks to have three distinct revenue segments. Let's break it down.
Clothing and Apparel
With a cool arrowhead logo and plenty of black-and-gold designs, the M&MCo brand is focused on providing clothing and apparel for people that identify with the outdoor lifestyle. They started out mostly with hats and t-shirts, but the shop has since expanded to an assortment of clothing. The brand moto is:
We love hunting, fishing and connecting with the outdoors. It's more than a way of life for us. It's part of who we are. We are committed to pursue, share and promote a healthy lifestyle that gets people outdoors and engage with nature.
The brand entered Pure Hockey retail stores, and they’re tapping the crossover over of hockey players and outdoorsmen. I’m interested to see if the brand grows from everyday clothing into specialized gear for hunting, fishing, and outdoor adventures. It's clear the clothing company is building sophistication and achieved a solid niche footing.
Media & Content
Shrewdly, March & Mill dove into the YouTube content game, showcasing to fans Brad and Kevan’s off-ice pursuits in the outdoors on their channel. In fact, the content got picked up by NESN, the regional sports network in New England, and is currently on the third season of the show. The brand compliments the YouTube/NESN series with the @march_millco Instagram, as well as active social media accounts from Brad Marchand.
Hunting Outfitters
Marchand and Miller appear to have purchased two hunting outfitters in Eastern Canada where hunters can book week long excursions hunting moose, caribou, black bear, and deer. The first outfitter is Red Indian Lake Outfitting and Tours in Buchans, Newfoundland. For 6 days/5 nights, per person starting prices offer bear hunts for $4,500, moose hunts for $5,900, and caribou hunts for $17,000. Prices include cabin accommodations, meals, 2:1 hunter-to-guide ratio, and taxidermy services. Hunters can opt to helicopter in, add additional guides, add additional guests, and more. The second outfit, located in Deerville, New Brunswick, is called March & Mill Co. Outfitters, and offers all the same types of hunts and services as the Newfoundland location.
Importantly, these hunting outfitters are not de novo operations. Marshy and Millsy teamed up with longstanding local operators and either invested or completely acquired these businesses. For example, in Newfoundland, Fred and Shirley Thorne are the day-to-day operators, who’ve run the business for the past 20 years.
Charity
There seems to be a significant charitable aspect to the brand’s endeavors. For example, part of the motivation for acquiring hunting camps is to host military veterans on guided hunts and donate excursions to military charitable causes. Marchand and Miller clearly both support military causes, but it’s important to note in building a brand and communicating to fans what they stand for.
Putting it Together
After high-leveling the March & Mill business, you can start to see a flywheel effect with all these segments. In other words, these business segments compliment each other nicely, and most importantly, help build a brand and affinity among fans. Fans grow to enjoy Brad and Kevan’s hunting pursuits through its media content, they buy their apparel, and the real die-hards will book hunting excursions through the brand.
Additionally, it seems, especially since the pandemic there is a surge in popularity among, outdoor, rugged, cowboy-chic, related brands, as well as people picking up outdoor activities as hobbies. The duo's brand definitely fits with trends and consumer preferences while staying authentic to their interests.
Again in this mini-case study, we see how important it is for players to team-up with the right people, especially when players are still playing and do not have the time to dedicate to daily business operations. The company found a creative way to enter the hunting market through the outfitters business and can rely on the experts already running those businesses. From a business perspective, I really like that it’s niche, directed at hardcore hunters who choose to spend money on those types of experiences. It’s a high price point service with high barriers to entry. You need land, accommodations, and a whole lot of experience. People are not going to shell out big dough for a rookie hunting guide. It’s an interesting investment idea to continue building up a portfolio of outfitters under the March & Mill Co. brand.
The brand is still a little bootstrapped and you can see areas where more sophistication is needed, but for a nascent business that started as a hobby, it’s impressive what’s been built to date. Kevan Miller has since retired from hockey (due to injury), which amped up the energy and content of the brand, but when Brad retires from hockey that will be another jolt of full-time energy. The business partners will then be able to really devote attention and coordinate scaling the brand.
Lastly, its appealing to fans when hockey players introduce non-hockey aspects of their life to the world. Hockey players have the ability to leverage their success in sport to drive success in other areas of their life, in this case hunting and the outdoors. It’s a great example for all hockey players that you can and should have other interests besides hockey. No one plays harder than Marshy, and Millsy was as tough as they come on the blueline. Yet both were still able to bond and build a small business that is quickly becoming larger.
Game Notes
No true game notes section this week. Instead, I’m going to make sure the audience knows how nails Kevan Miller was on the Bruins blueline. Along with Adam McQuaid, they were silent killers.
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