Two umbrella companies in the outdoor cooking space have sold off brands to focus their portfolios. W.C. Bradley Co., the owner of brands like Charbroil and Pit Boss, has sold Badlands, a lifestyle brand in the hunting space. Revelyst, the owner of Camp Chef, sold QuietKat, an off-road e-bike brand.
W.C. Bradley Co. Sells Badlands
Badlands is a solid brand in the hunting space. They trace their roots back to the 90s when they focused on backpacks for hunting. Since then, they’ve expanded into other hunting accessories and have become a full outdoor lifestyle brand.
They have a focus on quality, offering an unconditional lifetime warranty. They also have some great styles for outdoor clothes.
They’ll continue their journey with Heritage Outdoor Group, a holding company with other brands such as PSE Archery, Kryptek,
We’re incredibly excited to welcome Badlands to the Heritage family. Badlands is a respected brand in the hunting industry, with a passionate customer base and a reputation for building innovative, dependable gear. We look forward to growing in the brand, supporting the talented Badlands team, and building on that legacy for years to come.
K. Camp Bailey, Chairman of Heritage Outdoor Group
For W.C. Bradley Co., the divestiture makes sense when you look at their portfolio. Ignoring real estate holding, it’s all outdoor cooking brands, and TIKI Brand, which sells live-fire products.
Despite being a good brand, Badlands doesn’t seem to fit from a product offering perspective. I would also guess that there are limited synergies with the outdoor cooking brands, adding to operational and back office complexity.
When we decided that it was time to transition Badlands to a new owner, finding the right home for our team and our legions of committed customers was of paramount importance. Agile and entrepreneurial, Heritage Outdoor Group brings the passion and commitment to shepherd the Badlands team into their next phase of growth and success. We wish our Badlands colleagues and their new owners every continued success and look forward to applauding their future accomplishments.
Christopher M. Ball, Chair and Chief Executive Officer of W. C. Bradley Co.
Revelyst Sells QuietKat
Another holding company that’s focusing their portfolio is Revelyst. The parent of Camp Chef has just sold their off-road e-bike brand QuietKat to Rad Life Mobility. QuietKat was acquired by Revelyst’s former parent company, Vista Outdoor, in 2021 during the boom in outdoor brands.
QuietKat has built a powerful brand with a loyal customer base and a clear identity in the off-road electric bike category. We see a tremendous opportunity to support that legacy with the industry experience, operational knowledge, dealer relationships, and supply chain capabilities we have developed across our broader electric mobility platform. QuietKat strengthens our ecosystem and gives us a deeper connection to outdoor, hunting, land management, and adventure mobility customers.
Jim Brown, CEO / President of Rad Life Mobility
QuietKat was part of the Adventure Sports arm of Revelyst, which includes Bell, Fox, and CamelBak. The e-bike category has some stiff competition and keeps getting more crowded.
QuietKat built an impressive brand and helped shape the off-road e-bike category through innovation and a relentless focus on customer needs. As market dynamics in the e-bike category have evolved, we believe this is the right time for QuietKat to continue its journey with an owner in the e-mobility category that is well-positioned to support the brand’s next chapter. Rad Life Mobility brings deep expertise in this space, and we are confident QuietKat is poised for future success.
Eric Nyman, Chief Executive Officer of Revelyst
Seeing Revelyst refine their portfolio makes me wonder about the future of Camp Chef. I speculated before the Revelyst spin-off and sale was announced that I thought they would move the brand.
Looking at the other brands in Revelyst’s portfolio it appears that Camp Chef doesn’t fit. Their overall strategy with the brand has also seemed to change since the sale process and eventual sale.
The pellet grill offerings on their website are now just the Woodwind and the Woodwind Pro, which was released in 2022. The Pro models are out of stock on their website, which may be deliberate as Camp Chef has been moving more into retail distribution.
They released the Gridiron griddle in the Spring of 2024 with the Pro evolution coming last year that could use their Sidekick system. Like the Woodwind, the full-sized Gridiron griddles are out of stock on their website.
It’s a rough environment to sell a grill company, Middleby showed us that, but the overall brand fit and lack of investment in innovation makes me continue to guess that Camp Chef will be sold.