The Top National stories and the Latest headlines across the Active Lifestyle Market for the week of March 22, 2021 covered in the SGB Updates and delivered to your inbox every business day.
March 26, 2021
JCPenney Adds Swimwear And Activewear BrandsJCPenney said it is introducing three new women’s swimwear brands, Mynah, Decree and Sonnet Shores, and adding “new selections” from Champion and Puma to support its activewear offerings. (Read More)
Report: Nike To Stop Selling To Six Additional Wholesale AccountsWilliams Trading’s analyst, Sam Poser, in a note stated that proprietary checks confirm that Nike will be closing six additional wholesale accounts: DSW, Urban Outfitters, Shoe Show, Dunham’s Sports, Olympia Sports and Big Five. (Read More)
Under Armour Closes Store In Madison, WI
Under Armour has closed its Brand House location in Madison, WI. (Read More)
Asics Selects Four Startups For Accelerator
Asics selected four startups’ collaboration proposals at its demo day, based on vision and feasibility. The theme for applications for the program was “Sound Mind, Sound Body.” (Read More)
March 25, 2021
Upward Trend In Baseball Participation Takes A Hit During COVID-19 Year
The COVID-19 pandemic hit as baseball participation was on the upswing, according to research conducted by the National Sporting Goods Association (NSGA). Initial data to NSGA from 2020 shows overall participation at 11.7 million, which was a 4.5 percent decline from nearly 12.3 million in 2019. (Read More)
Scheels To Open In Colorado Springs On Saturday
Scheels Sporting Goods will be opening its second store in Colorado in Colorado Springs on Saturday, March 27. (Read More)
Burley Expands Distribution In Nordic Region
Burley has expanded distribution to Nordic countries through a new partnership with Cycle Service Nordic. (Read More)
Cascade Designs Appoints President For North America And Pacific Rim
Cascade Designs, the parent company of Therm-a-Rest, MSR, Platypus, SealLine, PackTowl and Varilite, has appointed Jim Osgood as the company’s newest president of North America and the Pacific Rim. (Read More)
Quality Bike Parts To Distribute Pirelli Cycling Tires In North America
Pirelli announced that the U.S.-based company Quality Bike Parts will be a new distributor of the Pirelli Cycling tire range for the North American market. (Read More)
RYU Apparel Partners With NFL Alumni Academy
RYU Apparel Inc. signed a two-year agreement to become the official tailored urban athletic apparel of the NFL Alumni Academy. (Read More)
Tommy Hilfiger Appoints Global Chief Marketing Officer
Tommy Hilfiger, which is owned by PVH Corp., appointed Alegra O’Hare as chief marketing officer. Her previous experience includes Gap and Adidas Originals. (Read More)
SFIA: Consumer Fitness Category Drives Overall Industry Market Growth In 2020
Despite an economic recession in 2020, the U.S. sports and fitness market, including footwear, apparel and equipment, grew by 0.6 percent in 2020, according to the SFIA 2021 Manufacturers Sales By Category Report. (Read More)
Nike And H&M Face China Backlash Over Xinjiang Stance
Nike and H&M are facing a backlash from Chinese state media and e-commerce platforms over historic statements of concern about forced labor in Xinjiang. The backlash comes days after a round of sanctions stoked tensions between Beijing and western governments. (Read More)
Foot Locker Appoints CFO
Foot Locker Inc. announced the appointment of Andrew E. Page as executive vice president and chief financial officer. Page joins Foot Locker from Advance Auto Parts. (Read More)
China’s Anta Sports Posts Strong Growth In 2020 Despite COVID-19
China’s Anta Sports posted a strong performance in 2020 despite the sluggish market caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. (Read More)
RECALL: Birdie Belay Devices
About 1,400 Beal Birdie Belay Devices from Liberty Mountain of Sandy, UT are being recalled. (Read More)
March 24, 2021
Rhone Opens Third New York Store
Rhone opened its third location in New York City in the Flatiron District and announced plans to expand to Boston. (Read More)
Camping World Announces Opening Of Oregon SuperCenter
Camping World Holdings Inc. announced the opening of its newest SuperCenter in Medford, OR. (Read More)
Shoe Carnival’s Q4 Earnings More Than Double
Shoe Carnival Inc. reported earnings vaulted 114 percent as margins improved and same-store sales ran up 6.4 percent. (Read More)
Kathmandu’s First-Half Results Boosted By Rip Curl
Kathmandu Holdings Limited reported sales were up 12.9 percent in the first half to NZ$410.7 million, including a full six-month contribution from Rip Curl. Oboz delivered sales growth of 3.8 percent. (Read More)
Imperial Headwear Appoints Rep For Tennessee And Kentucky
Imperial Headwear announced Andrew Lamie’s hire as the company’s sales rep in its Tennessee and Kentucky territory. (Read More)
Swag Golf Acquires Ecktron Performance
Swag Golf announced it has acquired Ecktron Performance (EP Headcovers), the maker of golf headcover manufacturing and embroidery. (Read More)
NPD Makes Hires To Global Technology Team
The NPD Group announced several additions to its Next Generation Platform Development Team, part of its Global Technology organization. (Read More)
Shaun White Joins Krave As Investor And Brand Ambassador
Krave announced that Shaun White, the action sports icon, is joining the company as an investor, advisor and global brand ambassador. (Read More)
361 Degrees’ Sales Fall 9 Percent In 2020
361 Degrees reported total revenue in 2020 dropped by 9.0 percent to ¥5,127.0 million in 2020 from ¥5,631.9 million a year ago. (Read More)
Yue Yuen’s Sales Fall 16 Percent In 2020
Yue Yuen Industrial (Holdings) Limited reported revenue of US$8,444.9 million in 2020, representing a decrease of 16.4 percent compared with the previous year. The fall in revenue was mostly attributed to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. (Read More)
BSN Sports Acquires Dillard’s Sporting Goods
BSN Sports announced that it has acquired Dillard’s Sporting Goods based in Anderson, SC. (Read More)
Champion Athleticwear Partners With Premier Lacrosse League
The Premier Lacrosse League (PLL) named Champion Athleticwear as the official sideline apparel partner for their 2021 season. (Read More)
Fanatics Raises $320M At $12.8B Valuation
Fanatics raised $320 million in a funding round, which more than doubles the company’s valuation to $12.8 billion. Fanatics will use the funds to continue expanding its vertical commerce division and explore more mergers and acquisitions. (Read More)
Texon Appoints New Group Sales Director
Texon has appointed Bryan Whitfield as its new group sales director. Whitfield has previously lead sales and business development for international companies including Avery Dennison, Velcro and Bemis. (Read More)
Negrini Names Director, Sales & Marketing
Negrini welcomed Scott Ashton as their new director of sales and marketing. Ashton will lead the sales and marketing efforts for their premium line of gun cases as well as their new Sea Run line of luxury fly rod cases. (Read More)
Adidas Appoints New Head Of Outdoor Division
Adidas has hired Carla Murphy, former VP, global brand & product, Icebreaker, as general manager of its outdoor segment that’s being targeted for accelerated growth, according to a report in the Financial Times. (Read More)
Winnebago’s Q2 Revenues Jump 24 Percent
Winnebago Industries doubled its earnings in the second quarter ended February 27 as revenues rose 34.0 percent. The maker of motorhomes said interest in the outdoors remains high as evidenced by elevated order backlogs and retail sales growth. (Read More)
Nike And BSN Sports Partner With Hawaii Pacific University
The Hawai’i Pacific University Athletics Department announced a new five-year apparel partnership with Nike and BSN Sports that begins on July 1, 2021. The school had partnered with Adidas. (Read More)
March 23, 2021
CODI Provides Update On Refinancing And Strengthened Capital Structure
Compass Diversified provided an update on its recent refinancing and strengthened capital structure. (Read More)
RYU Apparel Appoints New COO
RYU Apparel said it has appointed Rob Blair as COO as it ramps up its new growth strategy. His previous experience includes Red Bull, Lululemon, Gap Body, and Nike. (Read More)
RunSignup Finds Some Improvement In Race Registration Market
Internal data from RunSignup shows an improving outlook for the race registration market, with YOY transactions exceeding 2019 numbers for the first time since March 2020 and increases in both the number of events renewing for 2021 and the number of new events on the platform. (Read More)
Pison Technology Closes $7M Series A Round
Pison Technology Inc. has closed a $7 million Series A round of funding. The funding round was led by Lavrock Ventures, with participation by Bose Venture Capital, In-Q-Te and Decisive Point. (Read More)
KT Tape Partners With USA Diving
KT Tape announced a new partnership with USA Diving, making KT Tape the Official Kinesiology Tape sponsor of USA Diving’s athletes and programs, and supporting divers in the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. (Read More)
Slinger Bag Generates $4.1 Million In Q2 Sales
Slinger Bag generated $4.1 million in total revenues in the second quarter from November 2020 to January 2021, an increase of 24.2 percent from sales of $3.3 million a year ago. (Read More)
BRS Confirms Sale Of DTLR Villa To JD Sports
BRS & Co. said it completed the sale of DTLR Villa LLC to JD Sports Fashion Plc for $495 million. BRS said it expects DTLR “to enjoy great success under JD ownership and to continue on its path to become one of the most successful specialty retailers in the U.S.” (Read More)
Mountain Hardwear Partners With College Outside
College Outside, the primary collegiate sales channel for the outdoor industry, has partnered with Mountain Hardwear. (Read More)
Kahunaverse Sports Group Becomes ONETeam Sports Group
ONETeam Sports Group, formerly Kahunaverse Sports Group, is consolidating all of its banners (Home Run Sports, SoccerX, and Kahunaverse Sports) operating under one brand. Kahunaverse Sports Group, which was acquired by Greyrock Capital last November, is one of Canada’s largest providers of institutional and team sporting equipment. (Read More)
The Buckle Hikes Dividend, Promotes General Counsel
The Buckle Inc. announced a 10 percent increase in its quarterly dividend and the appointment of a new vice president, general counsel, and corporate secretary. (Read More)
Buck Knives Welcomes New President
Buck Knives has appointed Lane Tobiassen as president. Most recently, Tobiassen was president of Smith & Wesson the Firearms Division of American Outdoor Brands. (Read More)
Report: Peloton Acquires Three Tech Start-Ups
Peloton has acquired three start-ups that will now give it expertise in wearable devices, artificial intelligence (AI), digital voice assistants, and interactive workout mats, according to a report from Bloomberg. (Read More)
March 22, 2021
Fila USA’s Sales Improve 25 Percent In Q4
Fila Holdings Corp., based in Korea, reported sales at Fila USA were up 25.2 percent in the fourth quarter but down 19.5 percent for the year. (Read More)
Gap’s Debt Ratings Outlook Revised To Positive
S&P Global Ratings revised its debt outlook to positive on its belief that its operating performance will recover at a faster pace than previously anticipated, driven by strength at Old Navy and Athleta. (Read More)
Herff Jones Hires Chief Technology Officer
Herff Jones, a subsidiary of Varsity Brands, appointed Ken Moore as chief technology officer. Moore was formerly at Advance Auto Parts and Staples. (Read More)
Pure Fishing’s Debt Outlook Revised To Stable From Negative
S&P Global Ratings revised its debt outlook on Pure Fishing to stable from negative as the fishing gear manufacturer outperformed S&P’S 2020 base case for revenue, EBITDA, cash flow, and leverage. The rating agency also revised its 2021 revenue and EBITDA expectations upwards because of high expected demand for fishing products at least through the first half of 2021. (Read More)
Sportradar Acquires Synergy Sports
Sportradar, a provider of sports data intelligence and sport entertainment solutions, entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Synergy Sports, the provider of data and video analytics in the U.S. college and professional sports space. (Read More)
FitFlop Appoints CEO
FitFlop appointed Gianni Georgiades as CEO. He had been footwear CEO at Lacoste since 2018. (Read More)
Youngone Outdoor Corporation Secures Deal With Korean Olympic Team
The Korean Sport and Olympic Committee entered into a new agreement with Youngone Outdoor Corporation, which will see Youngone provide the team with sports apparel until the end of 2024. YOC will provide apparel from The North Face. (Read More)
Keen Creates Open-Source Process For PFC-Free Footwear
Keen Inc. said it had established an open-sourced model for how it creates PFC-free footwear. To support this initiative, Keen issued a challenge to the outdoor footwear industry to be PFC free by 2025. (Read More)
SFIA Applauds Reintroduction Of PHIT Act
Senators Chris Murphy (D-CT) and John Thune (R-SD) reintroduced the Personal Health Investment Today (PHIT) Act in Congress. In a statement, SFIA said the PHIT Act will make sports and fitness more affordable to Americans, as the country recognizes the value of physical activity in promoting good health. (Read More)
L.L. Bean Registers Record-Breaking Revenue
L.L.Bean announced the close to its 2020 fiscal year, with annual net revenue totaling $1.59 billion, a 5 percent increase over 2019. The company also paid a performance bonus of 10 percent of annual pay to employees. (Read More)
Li Ning’s Revenues Climb 4 Percent In 2020
Li Ning reported profits on an adjusted basis improved 34 percent in the year ended December 31 as revenues gained 4.2 percent. (Read More)
Photo courtesy WTop News/Korin Hudson
