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34-558: It was founded in 1938 by Paul Lamfrom, the father of Gert Boyle . The company is headquartered in Cedar Mill , an unincorporated area in Washington County, Oregon , in the Portland metropolitan area near Beaverton . Columbia's rapid sales growth was fueled by its jackets, which featured breathable waterproof fabric and interchangeable shells and liners. Columbia Sportswear began as

68-414: A heart attack . Gert and son Tim Boyle, then a University of Oregon senior, took over the operations of Columbia, rescuing it from bankruptcy. Gert Boyle served as company president from 1970 until 1988 and additionally became chairman of its board of directors in 1983. She remained chairman until her death in 2019. Tim Boyle succeeded his mother as Columbia's president and CEO in 1988 and continues to hold

102-696: A concentration camp. When the family arrived, she did not speak English. In 1938, her father borrowed money from a relative and purchased the Rosenfeld Hat Company, changing its name to the Columbia Hat Company (after the river ). She attended Grant High School in Portland, and later graduated with a B.A. in sociology from the University of Arizona . In 1964, Boyle's father died and her husband, Neal Boyle, became president; her husband diversified

136-536: A family-owned hat distributor. Former chairwoman Gert Boyle 's parents, Paul and Marie Lamfrom, fled Nazi Germany in 1937 and immediately purchased a Portland hat distributorship. The company became the Columbia Hat Company, named for the nearby Columbia River . In 1948, Gert married Neal Boyle, who became the head of the company. Frustrations over suppliers influenced the family to start manufacturing their own products, and Columbia Hat Company became Columbia Sportswear Company in 1960. In 1970, Neal Boyle died following

170-407: A general trend away from formal work attire. In 1975, they were the first company to introduce Gore-Tex parkas. In 1983, Boyle became chairwoman of Columbia's board of directors (a position she ultimately retained for 36 years, until her death in 2019). Boyle started starring in commercials for the company in 1984. In the ads she stars as Ma Boyle, who is "One Tough Mother" and uses her son as

204-407: A joint venture with Swire Pacific Limited , reaching a total of 86 Chinese retail stores by 2017. In 2018, Columbia announced it would buy out Swire's remaining 40% stake by 2019. Gert Boyle Gertrude Boyle ( née Lamfrom ; March 6, 1924 – November 3, 2019) was a German-born American businesswoman in the U.S. state of Oregon . After her family fled Nazi Germany , her father founded

238-550: A pioneering molecular biologist who died from a brain tumor in 1984. In 2014, Boyle donated $ 100 million to the Knight Cancer Institute. In 1948, she married Joseph Cornelius "Neal" Boyle, an Irish American from Pennsylvania whom she met in college, at All Saints Church in Portland, Oregon. She converted to her husband's Catholic faith. They had three children: Timothy Boyle (born 1949); Kathy Boyle (born 1952); and Sally Boyle (born 1958). In 2013, her son Tim

272-468: A plan to revitalize downtown Portland. Moses charted a highway loop around the city's central freeways, which would become Interstate 405 as it links with I-5 south of downtown. Additionally the creation of a downtown transit mall in 1977 , a new waterfront park in 1978 (later named after Governor Tom McCall ) in place of a freeway , the creation of the Pioneer Courthouse Square in 1984,

306-526: A test dummy for new products. In 1986, they released the Bugaboo , a jacket with a zip out lining which became quite trendy and further propelled the company's growth. Columbia was unique among specialty clothing manufacturers in that it would sell its products to any retail shop or chain. In 1987, Columbia had $ 18.8 million in sales and by 1997 it had grown to $ 353.5 million. The company went public in 1998. She stepped down as company president in 1988, handing

340-409: Is not expected to have a material effect on the company's 2010 operating results. In March 2015, Bryan Timm was named president of the company, taking over that position from Tim Boyle, who remained CEO. In May 2017 it was announced Timm would step down and the duties of president would revert to Tim Boyle. On November 3, 2019, chairwoman Gert Boyle died at the age of 95. In January 2020, Tim Boyle

374-536: Is publicly traded on NASDAQ with ticker symbol COLM. The clothing business in the US is still largely subject to what remains of the Smoot–Hawley Tariff Act , passed in 1930. Since 2001, Columbia has paired its designers with teams of trade experts in a process the company calls " tariff engineering" in order to reach lower tariffs, taxes , or duties . For example, Columbia applies a very thin layer of fabric to

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408-679: Is the farthest east, while most of the high-rises end by I-405 to the west. Interstate 5 runs on the opposite bank of the river, crossing over on the Marquam Bridge. U.S. Route 26 connects downtown Portland to the Oregon Coast and the Cascade Range . Downtown is also served by several forms of public transportation. TriMet , the regional mass transit agency, operates MAX light rail on two alignments in downtown, one running east–west on Yamhill and Morrison streets and north–south on 1st Avenue,

442-462: The Beaverton city limits. The site on NW Science Park Drive has a Portland mailing address, but is not in Portland. In 2007, City of Portland officials attempted to convince Columbia Sportswear to move back to Portland, but the company ultimately rejected the idea due to the increased corporate tax burden such a move would entail and decided to expand its existing headquarters instead. In 2001, it

476-508: The soles of its shoes since tariffs on fabric soles are lower than those on rubber soles; the fabric wears away within days. For similar reasons, jackets are waterproofed and filled with at least 10% down . Vietnam is Columbia's largest supplier, and 25% of the company's footwear originates in China . Columbia has operated in China since 2014 as Columbia Sportswear Commercial (Shanghai) Company as

510-678: The Omni-Heat thermal reflective insulation technology produced by Columbia Sportswear. Columbia Sportswear distributes its products in more than 72 countries and 13,000 retailers. Columbia also operates its own chain of retail stores, including its flagship store located in downtown Portland , Oregon. As of November 17, 2022, the company's market capitalization is about $ 5.03 billion, with 2021 net revenue of $ 3.13 billion. As of 2018, 40% of Columbia's business came from abroad. In October 2023, Columbia Sportswear reported 3% of revenue growth as sales reached $ 985.7 million. Columbia Sportswear Company

544-630: The Pearl and Northwest Portland districts. The system currently has two routes, measuring 7.2 miles (11.6 km) end to end, and connects in South Waterfront with the Tram (aerial cableway) to Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU). Starting in 1975 and continuing for almost four decades, all transit service in downtown was free , as downtown was entirely within TriMet's Fareless Square , which also covered

578-635: The Willamette to Interstate 405 and south from Burnside Street to just south of the Portland State University campus (also bounded by I-405), except for a part of northeastern portion north of SW Harvey Milk Street and east of SW 3rd Ave that belongs to the Old Town Chinatown neighborhood. High-density business and residential districts near downtown include the Lloyd District , across

612-427: The business that became Columbia Sportswear , where in 1970, she became company president. She remained president until 1988 and additionally, was chairwoman of the company's board of directors from 1983 until her death in 2019. Starting in the 1980s, she appeared in a series of advertisements for Columbia Sportswear with her son, Timothy Boyle , often humorously testing the quality and durability of their products. She

646-560: The city is attempting to reduce in order to promote higher density, create storefronts, and make downtown more vibrant. Some changes are being made slowly, such as the creation of the Smart Park garage system, and conversion of a surface-level parking lot into a park with underground parking at Park Block 5 between the Fox Tower and Park Avenue West Tower . In 2017, Human Access Project partnered with Portland Parks & Recreation to open

680-543: The city's first officially recognized public swimming beach, Poet's Beach . In 2020 and 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic , Downtown Portland faced an increase in homeless camps and a reduction in office workers due to remote work . During and after the Black Lives Matter protests, there was an increase in graffiti, property damage, and windows being boarded up. Portland is sometimes known as "Bridgetown", due to

714-539: The early 1970s, parts of Portland's central city had been in decay for some time. New suburban shopping malls in the neighboring cities of Beaverton , Tigard , and Gresham competed with downtown for people and money. Unlike many downtown revitalization efforts around the United States at this time, Portland's plan did not call for widespread demolition and reconstruction. Robert Moses , the designer of New York City 's gridded freeways, expressways, and bridges, designed

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748-462: The hat business into outerwear for hunters, fishermen, and skiers. In 1960 the name of the company was changed to Columbia Sportswear. In 1970, her husband died unexpectedly at the age of 47 of a heart attack; she became president of the company, then with $ 800,000 in annual sales. The company struggled and teetered on bankruptcy until, in the 1970s, she and her son Timothy refocused the business on outdoor clothing and casual wear which paralleled

782-501: The men's and women's teams, and ended at the end of 2010. On August 4, 2010, Columbia Sportswear Company signed an agreement to acquire OutDry Technologies S.r.l., which owns the intellectual property and other assets comprising the OutDry brand and related business, via a cash purchase from Nextec S.r.l., based near Milan, Italy. The transaction was expected to close during the third quarter of 2010, subject to customary closing conditions, and

816-655: The number of bridges that cross its two rivers. There are nine bridges entering downtown and immediately adjacent areas. The bridges are (north to south): Outside the downtown area there are three other road bridges within Portland limits that cross the Willamette River : the St. Johns Bridge and Sauvie Island Bridge (to the north) and the Sellwood Bridge (to the south). Most streets in downtown Portland are one-way. Naito Parkway (two-way, formerly known as Front Avenue)

850-520: The opening of the Portland–Gresham light rail line in 1986, and the opening of Pioneer Place mall in 1990 successfully drew or retained businesses and lured customers. After 1990, downtown Portland dominated the city's development, with 500,000 square feet (46,000 m ) more development there than on the east side ( Lloyd District , Central Eastside Industrial District, and Lower Albina ). Downtown Portland has many surface parking lots , which

884-636: The other running north–south on 5th and 6th avenues. On the latter two streets, an extensive transit mall —known as the Portland Mall —limits private vehicles and provides connections between more than fifty bus lines, MAX light rail, and the Portland Streetcar . The southern part of downtown and the West End are also served by the Portland Streetcar system, operating from South Waterfront north into

918-529: The position in 2024. Columbia became a publicly traded company in 1998. It acquired footwear maker Sorel in 2000 and Mountain Hardwear in 2003. In 2006, Columbia acquired the Pacific Trail and Montrail brands, and in 2014 they acquired Prana . In 2001, the company moved its headquarters from Portland to a site in an unincorporated part of Washington County , in the Cedar Mill area and just outside

952-875: The reins to her son Tim, but remained chairwoman of the board. In 1995, Boyle outfitted the Special Olympics Team USA for the World Games . She donated the royalties from her autobiography One Tough Mother to the Special Olympics and Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children . In 2010, she endowed the Hildegard Lamfrom Chair in Basic Science in association with the Knight Cancer Institute at Oregon Health and Science University with $ 2.5 million which honors her sister, Hildegard ,

986-856: The river from the northern part of downtown, and the South Waterfront area, just south of downtown in the South Portland neighborhood. Portland's downtown features narrow streets—64 feet (20 m) wide—and square, compact blocks 200 feet (61 m) on a side, to create more corner lots that were expected to be more valuable. The small blocks also made downtown Portland pleasant to walk through. The 264-foot (80 m) long combined blocks divide one mile (1.6 km) of road into exactly 20 separate blocks. By comparison, Seattle 's blocks are 240 by 320 feet (73 m × 98 m), and Manhattan 's east–west streets are divided into blocks that are from 600–800 feet (183–244 m) long. By

1020-566: Was also a philanthropist and memoirist. Born Gertrude Lamfrom to a German Jewish family in Augsburg , Germany, she was the daughter of Marie (née Epstein) and Paul Lamfrom. Her father owned the largest shirt factory in Germany until it was seized. Her mother was a nurse during World War I. In 1937, when she was 13, her family fled Nazi Germany and migrated to Portland, Oregon , in the United States; her grandmother, who had remained in Germany, died in

1054-450: Was named Chairman of the company's board of directors. In October 2020, the company announced that alpaca wool would no longer be a part of their collections, including their other brands Prana, Mountain Hardwear and Sorel. In November 2023, Columbia Sportswear Company announced that Cory Long was appointed as President of its brand Sorel. In February 2024, the Odysseus lunar lander used

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1088-473: Was not disclosed by the company spokesman who announced the news. Downtown Portland Downtown Portland is the central business district of Portland , Oregon , United States . It is on the west bank of the Willamette River in the northeastern corner of the southwest section of the city and where most of the city's high-rise buildings are found. The downtown neighborhood extends west from

1122-603: Was the CEO of Columbia; Kathy is an artist and real estate saleswoman and Sally is the co-owner of Moonstruck Chocolates, an upscale chocolatier . Her husband, Neal, died in 1970, and she never remarried. In 2010, she was tied up at gunpoint by an armed robber in her home in West Linn, Oregon . She was able to trigger a silent alarm which alerted police, and the robber was later captured. Boyle died in an assisted living facility in Portland on November 3, 2019, at age 95. Cause of death

1156-446: Was the largest American retailer of ski apparel based on gross revenue . On June 15, 2008, Columbia Sportswear announced a three-year sponsorship of the cycling team formerly known as Team High Road and before that T-Mobile and Team Telekom . The sponsorship began on July 5, 2008, with the start of the Tour de France . The team's name was " Team Columbia ". The sponsorship included both

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