Hibbett Sports Inc. slightly lowered its full-year earnings guidance after reporting third-quarter earnings came a penny below Wall Street’s targets. Comps in the quarter were basically flat. The sporting goods chain marginally lifted its comp guidance for the year with footwear comps seen improving.
Category: Footwear
Columbia Sportswear Appoints VP And General Manager Of China
Columbia Sportswear Company announced the appointment of John Soh as vice president and general manager of China, effective February 2019. Soh was senior commercial director in the Asia Pacific region for Lego.

Black Friday Weekend Momentum Portends Robust Holiday For Retail
Covering the revenue haul on Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Small Business Saturday on through to Cyber Monday, a number of favorable reports arrived proclaiming a healthy start to the 2018 holiday shopping season for retail. Although online appears to again be seeing over-sized gains with a boost from mobile purchases, brick & mortar traffic also appears to be recovering or at least stabilizing.

Saucony Appoints Chief Marketing Officer
Saucony, a division of Wolverine Worldwide Inc., announced that Don Lane has been named chief marketing officer, effective immediately. Lane joins Saucony from DraftKings, the Boston-based global sports technology and entertainment company.

Active Ride Shop Launches Referral Program
Active Ride Shop, the action sports chain based in Rancho Cucamonga, CA, has launched a new “The Crew” referral program that gives back to anyone 13 and up in cash and/or gear.

Holiday Selling Off To Healthy Start
Black Friday pulled in $6.22 billion in online sales, up 23.6 percent from a year ago and setting a new high, according to Adobe Analytics. Traffic was seen declining again at physical stores but some reports showed the extent of the declines were lower than previous years.
Keen Matches Donations To Support Camp Fire Communities
Keen Inc. said it will match donations up to $15,000 to help California-based first responders and the Northern California communities affected by Camp Fire.
Salomon And Runner’s World Partner To Empower Winter Runners
Runner’s World and Salomon are teaming up to help runners end the year on a high note with the latest edition of the Holiday Run Streak Challenge.
Nike Extends Partnership With Nigeria Football Federation
The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) announced a long-term extension of its partnership with Nike which will run through 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Foot Locker Bullish On Holiday
Foot Locker Inc. reported third-quarter earnings that topped Wall Street’s targets as greater full-price selling boosted margins. The sneaker chain also gave an upbeat outlook on holiday selling on improving comp growth. The footwear category comped positive for the first time in six quarters.

Caleres Touts ‘Exciting’ Acquisition Of Vionic Group
Last month’s $360 million acquisition of Vionic Group so far has checked all the boxes that Caleres Inc. was targeting with the deal, and now the company will look to its newest asset to boost top- and bottom-line growth.
Agenda Long Beach Shifts To Consumer Focus
Reed Exhibitions (RX) announced that it will postpone its Agenda Winter Long Beach trade event scheduled for January 3-4, 2019 at the Long Beach Convention Center. The Southern California edition of Agenda will evolve its platform to have a greater focus on the B2C festival in June 2019.

Foot Locker Partners With Funko On NBA Collection
Funko Inc. announced that it is now selling Pop! NBA figurines at Foot Locker. The Pop! players available include James Harden, Joel Embiid, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kristaps Porzingis, and LeBron James, in an exclusive Los Angeles Lakers gold Icon Edition jersey.
Asics America Partners With Right To Play
Asics America Corporation is teaming up with Right To Play (RTP) this holiday season to help get kids moving, powered by the contributions of consumers at Asics stores across the country this Giving Tuesday.
Payless Pops Up In Times Square
Payless recently opened its first ever holiday pop-up location in New York City. The temporary store concept is located at 136 W 42nd Avenue, between Times Square and Bryant Park.