Columbia Sportswear Company opened the second day of the Outdoor Retailer Summer Market with an announcement that will continue to change the waterproof design of the company's gloves and footwear. Columbia has signed an agreement to acquire OutDry brand and related business from Nextec S.r.l. The acquisition is expected to close during the third quarter of 2010.

OutDry bonds a waterproof, breathable membrane directly to the outer layer of a shoe or glove. The direct application to the outer layer is a different way that waterproof technology has been applied to footwear and gloves by Outdry's competitors. Competing waterproof technologies use a membrane that is minimally attached to the outer layer and is mostly free floating.

Mountain Hardwear, a brand of Columbia, started to use OutDry in 2009 in some of their high-performance gloves. OutDry is also currently being used by several outdoor product companies including Lafuma, Wenger, Kamik, Mont-Bell and Lizard.