Aisle Talk Week Of June 7, 2021

June 11, 2021

»Yue Yuen’s Sales Gain 6 Percent In May
Yue Yuen’s consolidated operating revenue reached $737.0 million in May, up 6.4 percent against $692.6 million a year ago. Read more

»Accell Group’s Chief Supply Chain Officer Steps DownAccell Group N.V. announced that by mutual consent Jeroen Both has stepped down as chief supply chain officer and member of its Board of Management. Both will leave Accell Group at the end of December 2021. Read more

June 10, 2021

»Renfro Brands Acquired By The Renco Group
Renfro Brands, the sock manufacturer, announced new ownership with the private holding company, The Renco Group, Inc. Renfro’s brand portfolio includes Fruit of the Loom, Dr. Scholl’s, Merrell, Copper Defense, Smartwool, Hot Sox, and K. Bell. Read more

»Adidas Invests In Finnish Sustainable Fiber Firm Spinnova
Adidas is investing €3 million ($3.65m) in Spinnova, a Finnish brand that makes textile fiber out of agricultural waste. Read more

»Fanatics Partners With University Of Tennessee
Fanatics and the University of Tennessee announced an exclusive retail partnership where Fanatics will be a primary retail partner of the University with a comprehensive set of vertical and wholesale fan apparel rights. Read more

»Jack Wolfskin Appoints New Footwear President
Jack Wolfskin appointed Selim Say, former director of product and merchandising EMEA at Keen, to the newly-created position of vice president footwear. Read more

»Craft Sportswear Partners With Spartan Trail And Tough Mudder
Swedish-based Craft Sportswear has expanded its relationship with Spartan by adding its designation of official “performance apparel and footwear” partner of the brand’s Obstacle Course Racing (OCR) entity to Spartan Trail and Tough Mudder. Read more

»Crocs Appoints Former J.Crew President To Board
Crocs Inc. announced that Tracy Gardner, former president of J.Crew, has been appointed to its Board of Directors effective June 9. Read more

»OBIT: Kimber’s Chip McCormick
Chip McCormick, creator of 1911 pistols and triggers through his company, Chip McCormick Custom, has passed away. Read more

»Amazon And HanesBrands File Joint Lawsuits Against Infringers Of Champion Trademarks
Amazon.com Inc., together with HanesBrands Inc., jointly filed 13 lawsuits against 17 defendants for selling silicone protective earbud case covers that illegally bear HanesBrands registered Champion trademark. Read more

»Back-To-School Sales Expected To Climb 5.5 Percent
According to Mastercard SpendingPulse, U.S. retail sales are expected to grow 5.5 percent during the critical July 15 through September 6 back-to-school period compared to 2020. Compared to 2019, sales are expected to grow 6.7 percent. The biggest year-over-year gains are expected from apparel, up 78.2 percent; and department stores, up 25.3 percent. Read more

»Report: Sequential Brands Exploring Bankruptcy Protection To Sell Assets
Sequential Brands Group Inc. is close to reaching a deal with lenders to file for bankruptcy protection in order to divest its portfolio of brands or sell the company, according to a report from Bloomberg. The company’s brands include AND1, Gaiam, SPRI and Avia. Read more

»Burlington Stores’ Debt Upgraded By S&P
S&P Global Ratings raised its issuer credit rating on Burlington Stores to ‘BB+’ from ‘BB’ as the off-price retailer’s sales continue to recover strongly as the U.S. emerges from the pandemic. Read more

June 9, 2021

»TJX’s Debt Ratings Upgraded
Moody’s Investors Service affirmed TJX Companies, Inc.’s senior unsecured rating at A2 and commercial paper rating at Prime-1. The rating outlook was changed to stable from negative. Read more

»Rusty Surfboards Names Director Of Operations
Rusty Surfboards appointed Matt Jones as the new director of operations. Read more

»Former Emerald Expositions CEO Joins Berkery Noyes
Berkery Noyes, a mid-market investment bank, announced that David Loechner had joined the firm as managing director. He was formerly president of Nielsen Expositions. Read more

»Tilly’s Declares Special Dividend
Tilly’s Inc. announced today that its Board of Directors has declared a special cash dividend of $1.00 per share, or up to approximately $31 million in the aggregate, on the company’s outstanding Class A and Class B common stock. Read more

»Former Tapestry CEO Invests In Moose Knuckles
Moose Knuckles, the Canadian luxury outerwear and sportswear brand, announced that Victor Luis, formerly Tapestry Inc. CEO, has become an investor and executive chairman. Read more

»National Retail Federation Boosts Annual Forecast
The National Retail Federation raised its outlook for the retail industry for the year as the economy accelerates its pace of recovery. Retail sales are expected to grow between 10.5 percent and 13.5 percent to an estimated total of $4.44 trillion to $4.56 trillion in 2021. Read more

»Liteboxer Raises $20 Million In Series A Funding
Liteboxer, the at-home fitness company, announced $20 million in Series A funding led by Nimble Ventures, with participation from B. Riley Venture Capital and returning investments from Raptor Group and Will Ventures. Read more

»Thor Industries Sees Q3 Sales Double
Thor Industries Inc. reported sales rose 105.7 percent for the third fiscal quarter ended April 30 as consumer and dealer demand for RVs remains strong. Read more

»Mountainsmith Appoints Marketing And Events Manager
Mountainsmith announced that it had named Cameron Bumsted as its new marketing and events manager timed with two product launches for the company over the next nine months. Read more

»Cotopaxi x Nemo Partner With Trove And REI Offering Gently Used Outdoor Gear
Cotopaxi and Nemo announced the launch of a new trade-in recommerce program with Trove and REI to give customers more used gear options. Read more

»Danner Opens New Store In Denver
Danner ventured East from its headquarters in Oregon to open its latest retail location in Denver, CO located at Basecamp at Market Station. Read more

»Surf Technicians Hires VP Of Sales
Surftech announced the hiring of action sports industry veteran, Todd Stanley as VP of sales. Stanley has worked for Vans, DaKine and Reef. Read more

»Planet Fitness Appoints Chief Digital Officer
Planet Fitness Inc. announced that Sherrill Kaplan has been appointed chief digital officer. She previously worked for Advent International, Zipcar and Dunkin’ Brands. Read more

»RECALL: CamelBak Podium And Peak Fitness Water Bottles
About 46,000 CamelBak Podium and Peak Fitness water bottles are being recalled. Read more

»Rally House Opens Thirteenth Store In Texas
Rally House is expanding into the Lone Star state with the second location in the Frisco area. Read more

»Anything Possible Brands Names VP Of Sales
Anything Possible Brands has named Terry Pederson as vice president of sales. Pederson has more than 35 years of fishing tackle manufacturing industry experience. Read more

June 8, 2021

»Delta Apparel Acquires Autoscale.ai
Delta Apparel Inc. announced it has acquired Dallas-based technology company, Autoscale.ai, to further leverage its existing proprietary automated product workflow from design to fulfillment. Read more

»NSAA Study: Ski Season Sees Strong Recovery
The National Ski Areas Association (NSAA) announced that skier visit numbers to U.S. areas totaled 59 million for the 2020/21 ski season, the fifth-best season on record and a strong recovery from the pandemic-shortened 2019/20 season. Read more

»Helen of Troy Announces Divestiture Of Mass Market Personal Care Business
Helen of Troy Limited announced it has sold its mass-market Personal Care business, not including the Latin America and Caribbean regions, to HRB Brands LLC. Read more

»HEAD’s CEO Steps Down
Johan Eliasch was elected president of the International Ski Federation (ISF) on June 4, 2021, and is stepping down as CEO of HEAD effective immediately. Read more

»Selk’bag Adds Member To Advisory Board
Selk’bag added outdoor industry veteran Paul Fish to its Advisory Board. Fish’s four decades of leadership experience aligns with the brand’s corporate responsibility efforts, sustainable growth plans and general business operations. Read more

»Seirus Brings New Sales Representation To The Northwest And Tahoe
Seirus announced it had added new sales representation in the Northwest And Tahoe. Read more

»NSGA Appoints New Board Members
The National Sporting Goods Association (NSGA) appointed Bob Fawley, Capital Varsity Sports and Gordon Geiger, Geiger’s, to its Board of Directors. Read more

»SportsEngine Forms Partnership With Online Sporting Goods Marketplace, SidelineSwap
SportsEngine, Inc., an NBC Sports company, has formed a partnership with SidelineSwap, the online direct-to-consumer marketplace for new and used sporting goods. Read more

»Rally House Opens First Store In Iowa
Rally House is expanding to Iowa and opening its first store in West Des Moines. Read more

»Crocs Files Complaint Over Trademark-Infringing Products
Crocs Inc. has filed a complaint with the United States International Trade Commission (ITC) seeking an investigation of unlawfully imported shoes into the United States in violation of its registered trademarks. Read more

»Self Esteem Brands Acquires Digital Nutrition Coaching Brand
Self Esteem Brands (SEB), the parent company of Anytime Fitness, The Bar Method, Basecamp Fitness, and Waxing the City, has acquired Stronger U Nutrition, a digital, personalized nutrition-based health coaching service brand, for an undisclosed amount. Read more

»Skechers Signs Second Soccer Endorsee
Skechers signed Michael Ballack, one of Germany’s top-scoring midfielders, to an endorsement deal. Read more

»Weyco Acquires Forsake Brand
Weyco Group Inc. announced that it had acquired substantially all of the operating assets and certain liabilities of Forsake, Inc., a distributor of outdoor footwear. Forsake will join Bogs in forming Weyco Group’s outdoor division, headquartered in Portland, OR. Read more

»Academy Sports’ Q1 Blows Past Wall Street Targets
Academy Sports + Outdoors raised its guidance for the year after reporting first-quarter earnings that came in well above Wall Street estimates. The 38.9 percent same-store gain was driven by continued double-digit consumer demand across all product categories, notably in Apparel, Footwear and Team Sports. Read more

June 7, 2021

»Maven Acquires The Spun And Raises $20 Million In Equity
Maven announced that it had acquired The Spun, a digital and social sports brand. The addition of the company to Maven’s lineup of sports properties, anchored by Sports Illustrated, operated under a license from Authentic Brands Group (ABG), boosts its vertical readership to more than 50 million per month, according to Google Analytics. Read more

»Decathlon U.S.A. Announces New CEO
Decathlon announced the appointment of Christian Ollier as CEO of Decathlon U.S.A., allowing prior CEO, Michel D’Humières, to move on to other projects within the company. Read more

»Balega’s Founders To Step Down
Implus LLC announced that Balega International founders Tanya and Bert Pictor will be stepping away from the day-to-day business. As part of the succession plan currently in process, Jenna Campbell has been tapped to lead the performance hosiery category and the Balega brand as VP category and brand development for performance hosiery. Read more

»CCM Hockey Appoints CEO
CCM Hockey appointed Marrouane Nabih as chief executive officer. Since joining the company in 2019 as CFO, Nabih has contributed to all aspects of its business and played a critical role in shepherding CCM through the pandemic. Read more

»Wolverine Worldwide Expects Second Quarter 2021 Revenue To Exceed Second Quarter 2019
Wolverine World Wide Inc. said it expects second-quarter 2021 revenue to exceed 2019 levels due to better-than-expected trends across nearly all brands in the portfolio, led by Merrell, Saucony and Sperry. Read more

»Vail Resorts Reports Healthy Pass Sales Results For Upcoming Ski Season
Vail Resorts Inc. reported improved results in its third quarter ended April 1 as the year ago was impacted by widespread resort closures. The company reported favorable trends in season pass sales to date driven, in part, by its reducing all pass prices for the upcoming season by 20 percent. Read more

»Caleres Appoints Chief Marketing Officer
Caleres has appointed Jennifer Olsen as chief marketing officer. Olsen was most recently the CMO of UNTUCKit. Read more

»Etsy To Acquire Fashion Resale Marketplace Depop
Etsy Inc. has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Depop, a privately-held marketplace for fashion for $1.625 billion. Following the closing of the transaction, currently anticipated to occur during the third quarter of 2021, Depop will continue to be headquartered in London and operate as a standalone marketplace run by its existing leadership team. Read more

»IHRSA, ChinaFit Reveal Strategic Membership Licensing Agreement
Following an 11-year partnership, IHRSA and ChinaFit announced a strategic membership licensing agreement to expand IHRSA’s services through China. Read more

»Topgolf To Open Location In North Charleston
Topgolf Entertainment Group announced it has officially kicked off the development of its latest venue in North Charleston. This will be the company’s third site in South Carolina. Read more

»Genesco Issues Letter To Shareholders Ahead Of Annual Meeting
Genesco Inc. filed its proxy materials with the Securities and Exchange Commission in connection with the company’s Annual Meeting of Shareholders that included a letter urging shareholders to vote for its Board’s nominated slate of directors. The move comes as the retailer faces a proxy fight against an activist investor. Read more

»G-III Apparel’s Q1 Exceeds Expectations
G-III Apparel Group reported earnings in the first quarter that topped internal targets as sales grew 28.3 percent. Morris Goldfarb, CEO, said, “With each passing week, sales for broader lifestyle apparel, such as sportswear, wear-to-work attire and dresses, are accelerating.” Read more

Photo courtesy Rocky Brands/Durango, Kelsie Chace