New on West 4th Avenue – Arc'”TERREX”?

Hey everyone!

I just came across this article which reminded of something interesting that I saw while walking to the bus stop the other day. If you’ve passed between Vine St. and Yew St. on 4^th Ave lately, you’ve probably seen a bunch of trees lined up in an elaborate marketing campaign for the new Terrex store. Terrex is a line of outdoor activewear and gear by Adidas, and they have just opened a location on West 4^th Avenue. As mentioned in the article linked above, West 4^th Ave is a hub for outdoor clothing with brands like Patagonia, Arc’teryx, and now Terrex, all within a few blocks of each other.

The first time I saw the Terrex store, I chuckled to myself because of how much the name sounded like “Arc’teryx” – especially when you say them out loud. That’s why I was interested to see that the Squamish Chief article directly raised this issue, pointing out that “the store banners sound similar, and the names could be confusing.” It sort of reminded me of when I lived in downtown Toronto and I would see “Balenciaga” shoes like this for sale on Spadina.

Adidas Canada’s vice-president of retail, Lesley Hawkins, was quoted in the article saying “I understand that there is some similarity in the names, but Terrex has existed for a long time.” However, it appears that Terrex used to be sold only as a brand at the regular Adidas stores; the solo-branded Terrex stores are a recent addition to Adidas.

I certainly questioned whether it was just a coincidence that Terrex opened at this specific location with such a similar name. According to Hawkins, when Adidas decided to open at this location in 2021, they did not know that Arc’teryx would move nearby (just a few storefronts down).

In my experience as a consumer, Terrex’s new location certainly benefited from its similarity to the nearby Arc’teryx. The Arc’teryx brand has been very popular in Vancouver, and they just opened a large new storefront on 4^th Avenue; when I saw Terrex, I immediately thought to compare it’s pricing and merchandise to Arc’teryx.

The similarity of the two names made me think of the intellectual property in the Arc’teryx brand, how Terrex may be allowed to benefit from being compared to Arc’teryx, and whether they are doing so intentionally or not.