Goodbye for Nau

News & Analysis
In the News Gristmill Blog Muckraker Features

Columns
Ask Umbra Victual Reality Weekly Recipes The Bottom Line From A to Green The Grist List

Support nonprofit, independent environmental journalism.
Donate to Grist.

ADVERTISING POLICY

[Advanced]

Read more about: business | fashion | greenish companies | news | all of these topics

Tools: print | email | write to the editor | subscribe | RSS

Eco-friendly outdoor-clothing company goes under

Posted at 5:20 PM on 05 May 2008

Last year, Eric Brody of outdoor-apparel company Nau excitedly chatted with Grist readers about his new enterprise and its ambitious sustainability plans. This week, the company announced that it's closing its doors: "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 loathe 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." The oh-so-thin silver lining: You can now buy their clothes at 50 percent off.

source: Nau website

ADVERTISING POLICY

< Previous | Next >

Comments: (6 comments)

You are not logged in. Thus, you cannot post a comment. If you have a Gristmill account, log in below. If you don't have a Gristmill account, well, by all means go make one! Meet you back here in five.

Portland Mourns

Nau's closure is intensely heart-rending for many of us here in Portland, Oregon. I think I speak for the business community here in saying this is a psychological blow for a city trying to position itself as an epicenter for sustainability.

Nau, regardless of whether it was well managed or not, emboldened us to believe that the future was Nau...and now.

by nicelynicely at 7:35 PM on 05 May 2008

(Green) Definition of "Sustainable"

In Greenspeak, "sustainable" means:

(1) Not able to make a profit and folding

(2) Needs billions in government stimulus to keep viable.

by jabailo at 9:22 AM on 06 May 2008

Right Nau

As a frequent customer of Nau, I am so very disappointed by this news. I liked everything about Nau--the designs, the fabrics, the employees with whom I had direct dealings--but especially its philosophy (and original name): "Unfuck the world." While "going green" (or at least pretending to) is all the fashion in marketing these days, the bust up of a company that truly lived by the principles of sustainability is dispiriting. I may live in New Jersey, but I, too, am heartbroken.

by VictoriaAnne at 12:16 PM on 06 May 2008

Other options

I had not heard of Nau before the closing, but the after affect of the doors being closed has given me hope to believe that more organic companies can survive. As Texeme stated "Sustainable means: not able to make a profit and folding", green companies have had the large cost burden of being not only product eco-friendly, but also of employee friendly, which includes fair wages, fair working conditions, and energy efficient factories. As companies become more and more willing to take on these costs, it is our job as consumers to aid in their fight by buying these products, and being their marketers through word of mouth.

Following in my own advice, everyone should check out a Madison, WI company Fair Indigo. :)

by kmwilson3 at 12:18 AM on 08 May 2008

That's unsustainable, dummy...

(1) Not able to make a profit and folding

Under business practices, any economist can tell ya that to use resources at an unsustainable rate will never lead to profit over the long term, or over an indefinite period of time.

by Tasermons Partner at 1:14 AM on 08 May 2008

It's a shame, but...

While it's certainly disheartening to see a great company like Nau go under, I take issue with Eric's comment about investors. I work for a socially and environmentally responsible angel investor network called Investors' Circle which has had Nau present. While they did not manage to receive funding from their 2007 presentation, more than 10 companies from the same year have received in excess of $11 million. While some investors are hesitant to make moves in this market, there are plenty more who are willing to make sustainable investments in this or any economy.

by lzagami at 6:27 AM on 13 May 2008

The comments of Grist users reflect the opinions of those individuals only, and do not necessarily reflect the viewpoints of Grist, its staff, its board members, their psychotherapists, or their aestheticians. Got it?