At Salomon, we live to be outdoors. To be running, skiing, hiking, climbing. Even in “bad” weather, we simply change equipment, pull on warmer clothes and head back out. Now, for the first time in our history, the prudent move in many regions around the world is to stay indoors. Certainly, hitting the pause button on our outdoor sporting lives is a small sacrifice to make for the greater good of our fellow citizens of the world and I encourage all of you to play along…inside.
These are unprecedented times and, as the leader of this company, my first responsibility is to the employees that have helped make Salomon a global leader in the outdoor sports industry since our beginnings more than 70 years ago. To that end, nearly all of our Salomon team members in our headquarters in Annecy, France have been telecommuting from their homes since March 16. For those few people in the building, we have taken measures to ensure that they are in an environment that does not put their health at risk.
For the health of our employees and customers in the communities we serve around the world, we have also closed all of our retail locations across Europe and North America in the last two weeks. We pride ourselves on building connections with local sports communities, and we hope to be back serving those people in person as soon as it is safe to do so.
Our e-commerce sites are operating on a limited basis until further notice, though that area is changing from day-to-day. We continue to try to service those customers who want to place orders with us. We believe we owe it to our employees and partners, who depend on the company’s health, to continue to conduct business where we can do so safely. We have modified how our organization operates to ensure that any teams currently not teleworking are doing so in an environment that does not put them in danger, and constantly monitoring alerts from health authorities in order to adapt our decisions and plans. As always, the health and safety of our employees is our top priority. Anyone who can work remotely is doing so and we are prepared to adapt our organization further should the situation demand it.
Our mission — to inspire people to play outside every day — will take on even more importance in the weeks ahead. As always, the potential to enlighten more people on the joys of the outdoors is one that we welcome. As you may be noticing, our teams have continued to deliver the inspiring content we have become known for in innovative ways. Look for our new Time To Play Inside “magazine” on Instagram, re-airs from our library of award-winning Salomon TV episodes, and podcast interviews and home workout tips with our athletes and even our employees.
I’m proud of the caring and professional manner in which our teams in Annecy and regions around the world have responded in these challenging times. Their flexibility and fortitude in these days will play a vital role in the future success of Salomon as we navigate the weeks and months ahead.
Take care of yourselves and those close to you, and let’s all do our best to ensure the health of everyone around us. I look forward to seeing you enjoying being outdoors again soon.
Michael White
President, Salomon
