PatagoniaDoug

We're looking at expanding the range of fits to include tall and to include (in some cases) double extra-larges. We know that fishermen and responsible hunters even need larger sizes. And at the same time, including more short inseams - basically covering as many outdoors people as possible!

That is often at odds with building the best quality, most durable product we can. We found that the reality of manufacturing the best product involves buying minimum order quantities for textiles, raw materials, and assembled product itself. Further, if we wanted to build a waterproof, breathable shell in California (or the US for that matter), we would be hard-pressed to find a manufacturer that could produce to our quality standards. So that leads us to find that factories around the world, where we can aggregate demand, meet factory minimums, and focus on manufacturing processes that lead to the most durable and highest quality results.

A frugal road bike purchase?

I bought, about 7 years ago, a carbon fiber road bike, paid $1750 bucks for it, a good deal at the time. And compared to some of my colleagues both in and out of the company, I know that road bikes can be between $5,000-$10,000, so I know that is a good purchase. It was a Felt bicycle. I got it used, following the lead of a friend, and that represented frugality to me.

Well, this year we gave 770 environmental groups in 16 different countries $6.6 million dollars total. Since the program began, we've given $61 million dollars away to those same grassroots organizations. Dam removal is a big priority for Patagonia, and a lot of these groups reflect that mission. And 1% of our sales revenue goes to 1% for the Planet. We're a founding member of 1% of the Planet, and we give that money away in years when we're very profitable, and in years when we're not so profitable. So no matter what, that money is given.

We're hiring in Reno. We have all of our customer service departments on there. Our job-site online is a great way to find out about them: http://www.patagonia.com/us/jobs

We recently opened a cafe within the past year at the Reno service center. All of our employees can eat breakfast and lunch at the cafe. Some of the most popular things we've offered up in Reno. And while we don't have dietitians on-staff, we have people on-staff who are passionate about healthy food, and sustainable food.

And Patagonia Provisions is a developing food company that we've started, out of Sausalito, California, and you can see more information about it on http://www.patagoniaprovisions.com