American outdoor clothing brand company Patagonia store seen in Hong Kong.
Budrul Chukrut—SOPA/Getty Images

Outdoors retailer Patagonia has doubled down on its long-standing political activism in recent months, donating $1 million to fight restrictive voting-rights laws in Georgia, for example, and ceasing sales at a Wyoming ski resort after the owners sponsored a conservative fundraiser. At the same time, CEO Ryan Gellert criticized counterparts who he feels aren’t doing enough to combat climate change. That Patagonia’s sales exceed $1 billion demonstrates such corporate activism can be very good for business.

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Write to Simmone Shah at simmone.shah@time.com.

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