| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Retail |
| Genre | Clothing |
| Founded | Toronto, Ontario, Canada (1973) |
| Founder(s) | Michael Budman and Don Green |
| Headquarters | Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Number of locations | Over 120 Canadian and American stores; 65 locations in Asia |
| Area served | Canada, United States, Asia |
| Products | Apparel, Leather goods, active athletic wear, yoga wear, accessories, home furnishings |
| Employees | 2,000 in Canada[1] |
| Website | http://www.Roots.com |
Roots Canada Ltd. (commonly called Roots) is a Canadian clothing and lifestyle products retailer. The retail stores sell Roots' own brand of products in Canada, the United States and Asia. The products on offer consist of leather goods, active athletic wear, yoga wear, accessories and home furnishings.
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Roots was founded in 1973 by Michael Budman and Don Green, formerly of Detroit, Michigan. The store concept was based on their experiences at a summer camp called Camp Tamakwa in Ontario’s Algonquin Park during their childhood.
The company originally sold footwear at a single location in Toronto. Its first product was the Roots Negative Heel Shoe (also called the Earth shoe). It has since expanded its line of merchandise to include items such as jackets, bags, watches, luggage, sweatshirts and fashion accessories. Recently, it became the sponsor of Flick off.
The logo was designed by Heather Cooper and Robert Burns.
The brand was noted in Naomi Klein's book No Logo, for its extensive branding: "There is a strong symmetry at work in this branding exercise. The Roots clothing line got its genesis in a place not unlike this one. Company founders Don Green and Michael Budman both went to summer camp in Algonquin Park, Ontario, and were so moved by their experience of active living in the Canadian outdoors that they designed a line of clothing to capture the very best of that feeling: comfortable walking shoes, cozy sweatshirts, Canadian Workman socks, and, of course, the beaver logo..."
And journalist Michael Posner wrote that "Roots is less a company than a summer camp." According to Klein, the company's retail outlets "with the help of wall-mounted canoe paddles and exposed beams, conjure not a chain store but...'summer-camp mess halls and cottages built by caring and callused hands.' Then came the homewear line, featuring blankets and pillows designed to look like oversized workmen's socks."[2]
Larry David can occasionally be seen in a Roots sweatshirt on his show Curb Your Enthusiasm.
Roots Clothing has been seen on many sex symbols across the world including Paris Hilton and Megan Fox.
Roots Canada has also opened up its own Yoga studio in Toronto.[3]
Roots was the official outfitter of clothing for members of the Canadian Olympic team from 1998 to 2004. The same line was sold at Roots stores in Canada.
Roots also clothed the United States (2002, 2004) [4] and British Olympic (2002) teams.
In 2009 A Roots Leather Bag "The Satchel" was famously worn by the character Alan in the 2009 movie The Hangover leading to increased publicity of Roots leather bags. [5]