Sea to Summit, the Australian company of outdoor equipment and accessories, has taken on the distribution of Smartwool, the Timberland-affiliated brand of merino socks and garments, for China. At Asia Outdoor, it was said that its former distributor Hill Rock, a major retailer and distributor from Hong Kong, wanted to concentrate on that city, where it will continue to sell the specialty brand. Smartwool fits into Sea to Summit's portfolio in China because the Australian parent distributes the same brand “down under.” Sea to Summit also handles Camelbak and Jetboil both in China and Australia. At this point, no Smartwool-branded stores are planned for China. That may change by 2016, when Smartwool is likely to add apparel to the socks for the Chinese market.

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