Goose stock on the loose: Canada Goose held its initial public offering last Thursday and, as you might expect, the animal-rights activists who have been protesting constantly outside the costly coat company’s new Soho store were instead down in front of the New York Stock Exchange. Many of them were wearing coyote masks, to highlight the company’s use of real coyote-fur collars, and held up signs saying, “Indecent Public Offering” They also cajoled Canada Goose-wearing passersby who work in the Wall St. area to shed their coyote collars — and, to their delight, a few actually did. There was also an anti-Canada Goose protest the same day at the Toronto Stock Exchange. Lauren Dee, one of the activists, gave us her take on the overpriced-parka company’s I.P.O., noting that People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals apparently is trying to sabotage the company from within. “Animal-rights activism is already a stated risk per their I.P.O. filings, and there will be no cessation of these activities post-I.P.O.,” she declared. “Protesters worldwide are garnering a tremendous amount of public and media attention, and it is growing. Now they face the mega-influence of PETA as a sizeable shareholder. PETA will undoubtedly undermine the corporate brand and message by bringing more public awareness of the cruel methods used by Canada Goose. The majority of their celebrity brand ‘ambassadors’ are not going to risk being associated with animal abuse and torture. Fashion is volatile and unpredictable, and so is Wall St.,” Dee said. “With the company going public, Bain Capital has a clear exit strategy for when things start to slide south and the next must-have fashion trend wipes Canada Goose right off the radar.” A Canada Goose spokesperson said she would have to decline to comment about the I.P.O. protests as a result of the mandated “quiet period” after the stock offering, which is to prevent insider-trading manipulation. However, requesting anonymity, she did mention that, to give “a sense of investor interest and appetite for the stock,” the stock priced above the announced price range and opened above where it priced on their first day of trading.
Gatien comeback? On Saturday night, we enjoyed partying with Downtown scenester photographer par excellence Patrick McMullan at his annual St. Patrick’s party. This year he held it at Jue Lan Club, at 49 W. 20th St., which as a manager told us, is “the back one-quarter of the old Limelight.” What’s up with Peter Gatien, the Limelight’s notorious former impresario? we wondered. Actually, we briefly met Gatien there back in the day, thanks to the late nightlife legend Baird Jones, who hooked us up with Gatien, who was hanging out in some obscure inner sanctum in the old former church. Jones led us through winding hallways and up and down stairs, like in some Gothic film noir, until we finally arrived at a room with the eye patch-wearing club kingpin and his young wife. Anyway, enough with the flashbacks already… . In response to our question about Gatien, the Jue Lan Club manager, to our surprise, responded, “He’s back in New York. He’s looking to open up a place.” Seriously? For real? … Well, we weren’t able to find out more before press time. If only Baird Jones — our old, all-knowing club contact — were still around, he’d confirm it or deny it in a second. We’ll check it out.
