Fayetteville Flyer Profiles IA Client Acumen Brands

April 24, 2014

By Mark Carter

Acumen Brands is no longer the typical early-stage startup that partners with Innovate Arkansas to help it find resources and get its footing.

Acumen gained its footing a while ago.

But the e-commerce giant (and its founder, former INOV8 contributor John James, the Doctorpreneur) remains a part of the IA family, and it certainly is on the cusp of big things. Huge things, really, 'cause it's likely surpassed big.

The Fayetteville Flyer this week has a good piece on Acumen and its quiet "empire building."

A sample:  

In an unassuming set of warehouses just west of Interstate 49 (formerly I-540), a team of extremely intelligent people are quietly building an e-commerce empire in Fayetteville.

Built on boots, it is not your typical temple of technology. It’s more of a leather-smelling empire, served with a side of southern sweet tea and a gentle country twang.

In just under three years, Country Outfitter has grown from an upstart online seller of cowboy boots into a full-scale southern lifestyle magazine-come-to-life, with millions of fans (over 10 million across a handful of Facebook pages, actually), partnerships with some of the most established country music stars in Nashville, and a nine-figure sales goal in 2014 (a goal that they fully expect to meet and exceed, by the way.)

“We’re trying to be the fourth largest company in northwest Arkansas,” James said. “There’s Tyson, Walmart and JB Hunt, and we want to be next.”

Good stuff. So, do we have a fourth horseman of NWA commerce? Walmart, Tyson, J.B. Hunt and now Acumen? 

Here's recent coverage of Acumen in Arkansas Business, including the story of its $83 million funding round last year:

Read the full thing from the Flyer here.

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