Author: SGB Executive

SGB Executive talked with Erik Burbank, KEEN’s VP KEEN Effect, about how the pandemic has impacted its business, sustainability commitments, outdoor’s surging appeal, the brand’s KEEN.Bellows Flex technology, expanded lifestyle, and kid’s offerings.

At the 23rd Annual ICR Conference, Steven Miller, Big 5’s chairman, president and CEO, provided a rare deep dive into the sporting goods chain on the same day it reported a record year as a wide range of outdoor sports and fitness activities have been embraced during the pandemic. Miller said, “Items were selling out as fast as we could unload the truck.”

At the 2021 ICR Conference, officials at Zumiez Inc. expounded on the rollout of its innovative Zumiez Delivery program, which enables store associates to deliver directly to a customers door in select markets around the U.S. Rick Brooks, Zumiez’s CEO, said “What we’re trying to do is always localize our brand experience.”

At a session held during CES’s first virtual trade show, Lauren Hobart, the president of Dick’s Sporting Goods, (to become President and CEO effective February 1, 2021), discussed her team’s herculean efforts to establish curbside pickup early in the pandemic and how the role of the store has changed. She said, “We went back in March thinking that survival was at risk.”

Genesco Inc. reported same-store sales were down 3 percent in the quarter-to-date period ended December 26, but came in better than expectations due to Journeys’ outperformance. At the 2021 ICR Conference, Mimi Vaughn, Genesco president and CEO, said teen spending continues to hold up well in the face of the pandemic.

Crocs Inc. significantly lifted its 2020 revenue guidance after a robust holiday selling season and predicted growth would sharply accelerate in 2021. At a presentation Monday morning at the 2021 ICR Conference, Andrew Rees, CEO, highlighted sandals, personalization, digital, and China as key growth drivers.

Helen of Troy said sales of Hydro Flask were “challenged” by a soft back-to-school selling season in the third quarter ended November 30 as most U.S. students were learning remotely outside the classroom. Julien Mininberg, Helen of Troy’s CEO, however, on an investor call highlighted a number of growth drivers for Hydro Flask in the years ahead.

The Editors from SGB Executive present the third and final installment of SGB’s Annual Outlook Survey exploring what leaders in the active lifestyle market are projecting for 2021. Comments from Lids, BSN Sports, NSGA, Saucony, Academy Sports, Asics, The North Face, Keen, Vuori, SFIA, OIA, Gazelle Sports, CEP, TRX, Vasque, Houlihan Lokey and more.

The Editors from SGB Executive present the second installment of SGB’s annual outlook survey exploring what the leaders in the active lifestyle market are projecting for 2021. Comments from Rawlings Sporting Goods, Grassroots Outdoor Alliance, Orvis, Big Agnes, OrderMyGear, Robert W. Baird, Elan USA and more.

The broader stock market tumbled early in 2020 as COVID-19 emerged but saw a faster-than-expected recovery in the back half of the year that carried many stocks in the active lifestyle space to greater heights. Triple-digit share gains in 2020 were scored by Peloton, Vista Outdoor, Smith & Wesson, Big 5 Sporting Goods, Sportsman’s Warehouse, and Escalade.

The Editors from SGB Executive present the first installment of SGB’s Annual Survey that gauges what the leaders in the active lifestyle market are projecting for 2021 with comments from K2 Outdoor, Backcountry Access, Polartec, Marquee Brands/Body Glove, Lowa Boots, SIA, and Oberalp.

Ed Stack’s plans to step down after a 37-year run as CEO of Dick’s Sporting Goods headlined the major C-suite moves that transformed leadership across the active lifestyle industry in 2020.

M&A activity in the active lifestyle space screeched to a halt for a few months following the emergence of COVID-19, but it turned out to be a pause as several major and minor deals were completed in 2020.

Modell’s Sporting Goods, J.C. Penney, Neiman Marcus, and Stage Stores were some of the retailers that landed in bankruptcy court in 2020 amid a wave of store closures forced by the spread of COVID-19 infections in the U.S.

Friends who left us in 2020 included Johnny Mac’s John McArthur, W. L. Gore’s Robert Gore and Zappos’ Tony Hsieh.