A few years ago I was attending my first Inman Connect San Franciso. This was 2015, I believe. During that conference, Climb hosted a networking event at their offices for the conference attendees. At the time, Climb was an up and coming indy brokerage in the bay area that prided itself on its unique culture and offices. As a member of the indy brokerage segment, it was great to see a new, vibrant brokerage and brand thriving in an ultra-competitive market.

Let’s fast forward to the fall of 2016 when Realogy/NRT announced they had acquired Climb for an undisclosed amount in order to add that brand to it’s stable that includes Coldwell Banker, Better Homes and Gardens, and Corcoran. After the acquisition, things fell silent and no big public statements were made about what was going on with Climb. What were the plans, if any, for Climb? Realogy’s stock had been struggling, so was the purchase of Climb a play to make it appear as though Realogy was preparing to make some innovative changes or position a brand to appeal to a younger demographic?

Let’s jump again to the fall of 2018 when Realogy announces that they are going to begin franchising the Climb and Corcoran brands along with their other franchise opportunities, stating that both brands are critical to Realogy’s growth. So, after 2 years of relative silence about the brand, we finally have confirmation of what the plan for Climb is, and this makes perfect sense. Some of the other Realogy brands, like Coldwell Banker, haven’t been seen as a hip, urban, progressive brand. Climb looked like Realogy’s option to tap into not only younger buyers, also younger agents entering the industry. We were all on the same page now.

Let’s move the calendar forward a mere 14 months or so. We haven’t seen any Climb franchises, and all has been quiet. Realogy then makes a surprise announcement that they will be making a 180-degree turn. It will not be franchising Climb, it will actually be shuttering the brand and will be absorbing all Climb’s agents into the local Coldwell Banker offices. Ummmm…..Huh? Furthermore, Ryan Gorman goes on to say that Climb’s DNA is all over the new Realogy. Really? After basically a year Climb’s culture, which is vastly different from Realogy, has been integrated into Realogy’s corporate DNA? Yeah, no. Not buying it.

Climb was a great, urban, progressive brand that had a lot of potential and appealed to a younger agent demographic that Realogy could use. Only time will tell if they can replace that brand with one of their other lines, but I doubt it. Climb was a wonderfully unique option that could’ve been a great asset for Realogy that was abandoned too soon.