Cox Outdoors takes minority stake in Tom Beckbe

Tom Beckbe has sold a minority stake to Cox Outdoors, giving the Birmingham, Alabama outdoor apparel maker a backer from one of the largest family-owned companies in the United States as it expands its store network.

Financial terms were not disclosed, and neither was the size of the stake. Founders Radcliff and Mary Menge will continue to run the business with the existing team.

The pair started Tom Beckbe in 2015 around a single hunting jacket, and the brand now carries a full apparel and gear range sold online, through its own stores and through wholesale partners. A new location in Atlanta's Buckhead district opens this month.

"We built Tom Beckbe with a focus on great products, great customer service, and support for conservation. Our new partnership with Cox will allow us to double down on those core values," said Radcliff Menge. "Cox has been doing business the same way for generations, putting people first and thinking in decades instead of quarters. And that's exactly the partner we wanted."

A young division building a portfolio

Cox Enterprises created Cox Outdoors in December 2025, bundling together stakes in fly-fishing equipment maker Loop Tackle and hunting gear brand KUIU. The Atlanta-based group, which also owns Cox Automotive and Cox Communications, described the segment at launch as a route into a market it sized at 37 billion dollars, with conservation as the organising theme.

Tom Beckbe is the division's first announced deal since. The investment is earmarked for additional retail stores, product development and the brand's work with conservation groups including Ducks Unlimited and Bonefish & Tarpon Trust.

Alex Taylor, chairman and chief executive of Cox Enterprises, said: "We're very excited to be in business with Tom Beckbe. Radcliff and Mary have built a great business on family values and a conservation ethic that resonates with Cox's values. I love their stuff and look forward to building something great together."

The structure follows the pattern Cox has used elsewhere. KUIU was bought in late 2025 by an investor group that included Cox, with its existing management staying in place and a stated intention to keep the brand direct-to-consumer while expanding its store count.

Cox Enterprises is privately held and dates back more than 125 years. It has said the James M. Cox Foundation and the company have together given more than 325 million dollars to environmental and conservation causes.

This article was drafted with the assistance of AI and edited by a FashionUnited journalist.