Aisle Talk Week Of May 31, 2021

June 4, 2021

»Rapala USA Appoints Director, Field Promotions
Effective immediately, Dan Quinn has been promoted to director, Field Promotions, for Rapala USA from Field Promotions manager. Read more

»Nike, H&M, Zara Among Foreign Brands China Accuses Of Selling Unsafe Children’s Products
The Chinese government accused H&M, Nike, Zara, and other brands, of importing unsafe or poor-quality children’s clothes and other goods. The warning comes as global brands have faced criticism in China over their decisions to boycott cotton from Northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region based on “forced labor” lies. Read more

»CRKT Taps Communications Pro For Marketing Manager Role
Columbia River Knife and Tool (CRKT) welcomed Kyle Stuart as the company’s new marketing manager. Read more

»Dunham’s Sports Plans To Open 11 New Stores In Back Half Of 2021
Dunham’s Sports recently announced plans to open 11 new stores in the back half of 2021, bringing the company’s total store count to over 250. Read more

June 3, 2021

»Alterra Mountain Company Names President & COO, CMH Heli-Skiing & Summer Adventures In Western Canada
Alterra Mountain Company announced that Rob Rohn had been named President & COO of CMH Heli-Skiing & Summer Adventures based in Banff, Alberta, Canada, effective immediately. Read more

»Tilly’s Q1 Profits Surpass Wall Street’s Expectations
Tilly’s Inc. reported its best first quarter of any quarter since becoming a public company in May 2012. Sales grew 111.1 percent in the quarter year-over-year and gained 21.9 percent on a two-year basis. Read more

»Zumiez Posts Record Fiscal 2021 First Quarter Results
Zumiez Inc. reported a profit in the first quarter that significantly exceeded Wall Street’s estimates as sales doubled. Read more

»Lululemon’s Q1 Results Handily Tops Wall Street Targets
Lululemon Athletica Inc. reported sales catapulted 88 percent in the first quarter year over year while gaining 25 percent on a two-year basis. Earnings rose sharply against the pandemic-impacted year-ago quarter and were well above Wall Street estimates. Read more

»Chattanooga Shooting Supplies Names Director Of Sales
Chattanooga Shooting Supplies, Inc. welcomed Adam Crews as director of sales. Crews has over 15 years of sales and management experience in the wholesale distribution market. Read more

»Pure Archery Group Names International Sales Manager
Pure Archery Group has promoted Kevin Anderson as international sales manager. Read more

»RV Shipments Projected To Eclipse 575,000 Units in 2021
Strong growth through the remainder of 2021 will push RV wholesale shipments to their highest historical total, according to the Summer 2021 issue of RV RoadSigns, the quarterly forecast prepared by ITR Economics for the RV Industry Association. Read more

»Helen of Troy Appoints Senior VP, Marketing, Housewares Division
The Housewares Division of Helen of Troy Ltd., which includes OXO and Hydro Flask, announced the promotion of Phyllis Grove to the newly created divisional role of senior vice president of marketing. Grove was VP of marketing & e-commerce at Hydro Flask. Read more

»24 Hour Fitness Announces Appointments To Board
24 Hour Fitness announced the appointment of senior business leaders to its board of directors. Read more

»Element Appoints Chief Sales Officer
Element Nutritional Sciences Inc. appointed Dean Pipher, formerly at MuscleTech, as its chief sales officer to lead the company’s North American and international distribution. Read more

»MacNeill Pride Group Appoints CEO
MacNeill Pride Group (MPG) announced the appointment of Keith Bornholtz as CEO and adds four members to its Board. Read more

»Duluth Holdings Sees 24 Percent Q1 Revenue Gain
Duluth Holdings, the parent of Duluth Trading, slightly increased its annual outlook after reporting a profit against a loss in the first quarter. Sales grew 21.4 percent year-over-year. Read more

»The Buckle Announces Planned Retirement Of SVP Of Men’s Merchandising
The Buckle Inc. announced that Robert M. Carlberg, senior vice president of men’s merchandising, would retire from his position with the company at the end of the current fiscal year. Read more

June 2, 2021

»Genome BC Invests In Knee Brace Technology Start-Up
Genome BC, based in Vancouver, has invested Canadian $1.2 million into Stoko Design Inc., a Vancouver-based startup developing next-gen knee-brace technology. Read more

»The Topps Company Reports Strong Q1 Revenue Gains
The Topps Company Inc. announced that total net sales for the first quarter ended April 3 increased 55 percent over the same period a year ago to approximately $166.6 million. Read more

»New FDRA Chairman And Leadership Team Take Office
The Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America (FDRA) announced that Cliff Sifford, vice chairman and CEO at Shoe Carnival, had been selected to serve as its chairman. Read more

»NICS Background Checks Decline In May
NICS Adjusted Background Checks were down 17.0 percent in May to 1.32 million from 1.6 million a year ago. The May 2021 figures were the second strongest for the month on record, surpassed only by May 2020, when 1.6 million background checks for a firearm sale were conducted. Read more

»Ironton High School Signs Partnership With Nike
Ironton High School in Pennsylvania established a new athletic partnership with Nike and BSN Sports, a division of Varsity Brands. Read more

»Authentic Brands Group Completes Acquisition Of Eddie Bauer
Authentic Brands Group (ABG),  and SPARC Group (SPARC) completed the acquisition of Eddie Bauer. Read more

»Bass Pro’s White River Marine Group Buys Boat Manufacturer Hatteras Yachts
White River Marine Group, the fishing boat builder owned by Bass Pro Shops founder Johnny Morris, has acquired Hatteras Yachts and announced a major investment in the brand. Read more

»Hibbett Announces Expansion Of Stock Repurchase Authorization
Hibbett Sports Inc. announced an expansion of its 2015 Stock Repurchase Program. Read more

»Puma To Sponsor Boston 10K For Women
Puma has signed on as the official footwear and apparel partner of the Boston 10K for Women, presented by REI. Read more

»Hoka One One Strengthens Marketing Team With New Hires
Hoka One One hired Norma Delaney as vice president, global brand marketing and Erika Gabrielli as senior director, Hoka global integrated marketing. Read more

»PVH Corp. Announces Leadership Updates
PVH Corp. announced that Mike Shaffer, chief operating and financial officer, will be leaving in September to pursue other opportunities while Abel-Hodges will be stepping down in July as CEO of Calvin Klein. Read more

»Sportsman’s Warehouse’s Q1 Comps Climb 24 Percent
Sportsman’s Warehouse Holdings Inc., which has reached an agreement to merge with Sportsman’s Warehouse, reported same-store sales in the first quarter ended May 1 jumped 24 percent with significant year-over-year profit gains. Said Jon Barker, Sportsman’s Warehouse CEO, “We continue to capitalize on elevated participation in outdoor activities.” Read more

»Amazon’s Prime Day To Be Held June 21-22
Amazon said its Prime Day sales event will be held June 21 and 22. Read more

»Fanatics Partners To Launch NFT Platform
Fanatics chairman Michael Rubin, cryptocurrency investor Michael Novogratz and digital media entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk have partnered to create Candy Digital, a company that will specialize in virtual collectibles and other NFTs. Read more

»Work Wear Safety Shoes Acquires My Boot Store
Work Wear Safety Shoes, based in Forth Worth, TX, announced that the company had acquired Lubbok, TX-based business, My Boot Store, to expand its offering in West Texas. Read more

»York Athletics Makes Hires, Adds Board Members
York Athletics Mfg. named Travis York as executive chairman, and added Curtis Charles, CEO, FFB Collaboration and previously SVP North America, Puma, to its Board of Directors. The D2C footwear brand also hired Greg Segel as VP, eCommerce and Greg Cordeiro as head of footwear design & development. Read more

June 1, 2021

»Mustang Survival Acquires Ocean Rodeo Dry Wear
Mustang Survival announced the acquisition of the Ocean Rodeo Dry Wear business. The dry wear solutions for action watersports and commercial marine will be merged into Mustang Survival’s Recreation and Professional dry wear assortment. Read more

»Anything Possible Brands Appoints CEO
Fishing tackle maker Anything Possible Brands announced the addition of John Weiss as its new chief executive officer. Weiss has held leadership roles in the fishing industry for more than 25 years including executive vice president of global brands for the Jarden Corporation (Pure Fishing) and president of Rhythm Inc. Read more

»Rab Names New Rocky Mountain Sales Reps
Rab named Stephen Nance and Corbin Biehler of the Colorado-based Freestone Sales Group as the company’s new sales reps for the Rocky Mountain Region. Read more

»Moncler Appoints Chief Brand Officer
Moncler announced the appointment of Gino Fisanotti in the newly created position of Moncler chief brand officer, effective June 7. Most recently, he served as Nike’s first brand creative officer. Read more

»Unifi Announces Key Hires
Unifi, Inc. announced that James Cooper Jr. had joined the company as its sustainability manager, and Sara Porter had been named brand sales manager, global business development, nonwovens, films, and rigid packaging. Read more

»Hibbett Sports To Open Stores In Richmond And Tallahassee
Hibbett Sports plans to open a Hibbett Sports location in Richmond, VA and City Gear in Tallahassee, FL. Read more

»Dick’s Sporting Goods Announces Grand Opening Of Seven Stores
Dick’s Sporting Goods announced the grand opening of seven new locations, including its second Dick’s House of Sport in Knoxville, TN on June 4, one relocated Dick’s Sporting Goods, two newly redesigned Golf Galaxy locations and three Warehouse Sale locations. Read more

»Cole Haan Appoints Chief Digital Officer
Cole Haan Inc. appointed Stephen J. Henderson as chief digital officer. He joins the footwear brand from Caleres Inc., where he was senior vice president of marketing and e-commerce. Read more

»Alterra Mountain Company Names President
Alterra Mountain Company announced that Jared Smith had been selected as President effective June 7, 2021. Read more

»Rocky Brands Appoints Chairman And Lead Independent Director
Rocky Brands, Inc. announced that the company’s chief executive officer, Jason Brooks, had been appointed as chairman of the Board of Directors following Mike Brooks’ decision to step down as chairman of the Board. Read more

»Sequential Brands Delays Quarterly Report Filing
Sequential Brands said in a regulatory filing that its ongoing strategic review and related matters have resulted in a delay with finalizing its financial statements. Read more

»Clarus To Acquire Rhino-Rack
Clarus Corporation announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Australia-based Rhino-Rack Pty Ltd, a manufacturer and distributor of automotive roof racks, trays, mounting systems, luggage boxes, carriers, and accessories, for an aggregate purchase price of  U.S.$198 million. Read more

»L. L. Bean Family Honored By Maine Historical Society
Maine Historical Society honored the L. L. Bean Family with its 2021 Maine History Maker Award. Read more

»Activist Shareholder Urges Genesco Board’s To Expand Nomination Slate
Legion Partners Asset Management, the activist shareholder group, issued a statement urging Genesco Inc.’s Board to use a universal proxy card that would let shareholders choose from available candidates rather than pick the incumbent or challenger slates. The move comes after Genesco, on May 23, elected three new board members that included none of the seven candidates Legion Partners had proposed. Read more

May 31, 2021

»Rawlings And Easton Canada Introduce Canadian Sales Force
Rawlings and Easton Canada introduced a new Canadian sales force for Rawlings and Easton for Canada. Sales teams will support Miken and Worth. Kim Sarrazin was appointed team sales manager for all brands. Read more

»Golf Datatech Introduces Online Tracking Platform For Golf Equipment Sales
Golf Datatech, LLC introduced an online tracking platform for golf equipment sales. Read more

»The Pro’s Closet Raises $40M In Series B Funding
The Pro’s Closet, an online seller of pre-owned bikes, closed a $40 million Series B funding round led by The Chernin Group with participation from existing investors Foundry Group, Edison Partners and Ridgeline. Read more

Photos courtesy Merrell, Dan Kosick