Author: Thomas J. Ryan

Nike has been in the news lately over risks the brand may face due to the NBA’s recent controversy in China considering its exposure to the NBA, the basketball category and China. A number of favorable Wall Street notes have arrived over the past week, however, touting the brand’s strong prospects.

Stifel’s second annual Athletic Consumer Survey found Nike solidifying its spot as the primary brand in both athletic footwear and apparel, Adidas retaining its hold on younger consumers and Under Armour demonstrating meaningful year-over-year brand perception improvement.

Illustrating the challenges embracing free speech and avoiding taking a political position, Nike, Vans and the National Basketball Association (NBA) have all found themselves facing potential boycotts this week after getting caught in the middle of the Hong Kong protests.

Having gained some traction in turning around the JackRabbit run specialty business, CriticalPoint Capital is moving deeper into sporting goods with its acquisition of Maine-based Olympia Sports. About half of Olympia Sports more than 150 stores will close but the acquired stores will continue to operate under the Olympia Sports’ banner.

Athletic brands once again commanded the top-spots among fashion preferences for teens, according to Piper Jaffray’s 38th semi-annual Taking Stock With Teens survey. In fact, 75 percent of females and 87 percent of males prefer an athletic brand of footwear – both new peaks. Some brands increasing appeal with teens were Nike, Lululemon, Vans, Crocs and Champion.

At VF Corp’s recent 2019 Investor Day, VF officials said an “intense reset” has positioned Timberland for sequential acceleration in growth after the brand fell short of expectations over the last few years. Martino Scabbia Guerrini, EVP and group president, said, “Men’s footwear has been probably the most challenged category in our business in the last few years.”

At VF Corp’s 2019 Investor Day, Doug Palladini, global brand president, predicted Vans would expand in the range of 12-to-13 percent over the next five years. The “emotional connectivity” Vans drives with fans is expected to continue to be fuel the outsized growth. Other newer drivers include a more diverse product range, improved segmentation, new retail formats, enhanced customization tools and accelerated growth in China.

On Wednesday, Caleres Inc. at its 2019 Investor Day laid out a path for modest sales growth and double-digit earnings growth on average over the next three years. The three-year plan marks a shift from heavy investments in brand acquisitions and infrastructure investment in recent years to a greater focus on driving earnings growth and was applauded by Wall Street analysts.

At VF Corp’s 2019 Investor Day last week, Arne Arens, global brand president, The North Face, predicted The North Face’s revenues would reach $4 billion by fiscal 2024 as the brand capitalizes on untapped opportunities reaching women and in categories such as sportswear and footwear. But a greater emphasis on inclusivity is particularly expected to help draw a wider range of consumers to the brand.

At SFIA’s 7th annual Industry Leaders Summit held in Baltimore last week, technology’s disruptive force was again an overriding theme at the event but developing deeper connections with consumers was at the heart of many discussions.

Powered by outsized growth in China and across digital channels as well as gross margin expansion, Nike Inc. earnings in the first quarter climbed 25.2 percent to easily eclipse Wall Street’s targets. Nike officials also provided an upbeat outlook for its fiscal year.

At Nike’s annual meeting for shareholders held Thursday afternoon in Beaverton, OR, Mark Parker, Nike’s CEO, discussed Nike’s elevated women’s push, the brand’s widespread digital investments, whether China’s outsized growth can be maintained, and Nike’s continuing belief in the “power of sport.” But innovation – including scaling past successes and delivering new platforms – was called out as key to the brand’s continued growth.

Speaking Thursday at CL King’s 17th Annual Best Ideas Conference, Bob Dennis, chairman, president and CEO of Genesco Inc., said the continuing momentum at the Journeys chain in part reflects the fact that today’s digital-savvy teenagers still “actually like to go to the store.”

Surveys from Deloitte and AlixPartners both forecast that holiday spending this year will easily surpass holiday 2018’s results. A strong U.S. job market is expected to offset the threat of an economic slowdown and any fallout from the trade war with China.

In his first conference call since returning as Duluth Trading’s CEO, Steve Schlecht said markdowns required to clear slow-selling inventory led to an earnings shortfall in the second quarter and a lowered outlook for the year. The founder also said new store growth would be slowed in the near-term to focus on profitability while also expecting improvement in the second half.