Mountain Equipment Company, or MEC, is a chain of Canadian retail stores that sell outdoor recreation gear, formed from the assets of the defunct retail co-operative Mountain Equipment Co-op. It was formed by the American private equity firm Kingswood Capital Management, which acquired these assets in October 2020.[1][2] In 2025, it was sold to a "group of Canadian investors",[3] with Kingswood retaining a minority stake in the company.[4]
History
Kingswood, via a newly-formed subsidiary initially named MEC Canada Inc., assumed 21 stores from Mountain Equipment Co-op in late 2020. The business continued to operate under the brand MEC; the new company also assumed ownership of other trademarks such as the "Mountain Equipment Co-op" name, but could no longer accurately call the operation a co-op.