Black Diamond may be for sale at Walmart now, but don’t expect that to last. The brand today told Walmart to pull its gear off the big-box shelves.
Black Diamond Equipment Ltd., a manufacturer of outdoor equipment and apparel, today sent Walmart a cease and desist notice. The notice came in response to news Monday announcing the launch of a new outdoor website on Walmart.com curated by Moosejaw.
Walmart photo credit: Mike Mozart
The website sells many premium outdoors brands, such as Deuter, First Ascent by Eddie Bauer, Gramicci, Jack Wolfskin, KLYMIT, LEKI, Stonewear, and Tentsile. Black Diamond is also for sale.
As of Tuesday afternoon, Walmart still had dozens of Black Diamond products on sale on its website (see screen grab below).
“We did not see or approve the statement which Walmart released Monday and have never sold to Walmart,” stated John Walbrecht, Black Diamond’s president. “Black Diamond remains committed to our specialty retail partners, and we do not plan on deviating from this strategy.”
Walmart Launches Curated Moosejaw Premium Gear
A little backstory here: On Monday, Walmart announced it would begin selling “premium” outdoor gear through its brand Moosejaw. Walmart purchased Moosejaw, a Michigan-based retailer with 10 stores and online presence, in February of 2017. Black Diamond had worked with Moosejaw for more than 10 years.
But apparently, Black Diamond was not too pleased to be associated with the big-box discounter.
The letter directed Walmart to cease and desist use of the Black Diamond and diamond logo trademarks. It believes the use is “likely to confuse consumers into believing that Walmart is an authorized dealer of Black Diamond.” Black Diamond also asserts it doesn’t sponsor the new outdoor Walmart.com site, according to a press release.
The letter also demanded that Walmart cease its “infringing use” of several hundred copyrighted photographs. Black Diamond says it owns exclusive rights to this material.
