Deek Heykamp and Bryan Knudsen, the owners of Next Adventure, announced this week that their stores would be closing this year and the two friends since childhood would be retiring.
Category: Outdoor

EXEC: Canadian Tire to Keep Hudson Bay Company Brand Alive; Acquires Assets
CTC quietly announced Thursday, May 15 that it had entered into a definitive agreement to become the home of iconic Canadian brands and other intellectual property of the Hudson’s Bay Company

EXEC: Lowa’s Peter Sachs Talks Retirement, Outdoor Industry Changes
Peter Sachs, the longtime U.S. general manager at Lowa, sat down with SGB Executive to talk about his 29-year career building the German boot maker’s U.S. business, the current state of the outdoor industry, and semi-retirement plans.

Lazydays RV Cuts Q1 Net Loss as Revenues Shrink
The company completed the strategic divestiture of five dealership locations in the quarter, enabling it to enhance its cost structure and significantly de-lever the balance sheet by repaying approximately $145 million in debt.

EXEC: Boot Barn CEO Expects Little China Tariff Impact on Exclusive Goods
The company will only have 5 percent on order from China in the second half of the year, with China exclusive brand product ~$2.3 million of “tariffable product” for the remainder of fiscal 2026.

Grassroots Outdoor Adds Five New Retailers to Alliance
The five new retailers added in April include Down Wind Sports, Granite Sports, Sherpers, The Trail House and WheelzUp Adventures to bring the Alliance total to 104 independent retailers.

Dick’s SG Expects to Post 4.5 Percent Comp Sales Growth in Q1
The 4.5 percent comparable sales growth expected for the fiscal 2025 first quarter comes on top of a 5.3 percent increase in the prior-year Q1 period.

EXEC: Dick’s SG and Foot Locker Confirm $2.4 Billion Merger Deal
After seeing the global ambitions grow for JD Sports and Sports Direct, now comes the colonists, with Dick’s Sporting Goods fighting the good fight to protect the motherland from the ambitions of the crown while offering a new global vision for the Dick’s Sporting Goods and Foot Locker brands.

Leatt Corp. Continues Double-Digit Growth Across All Protective Gear Categories in Q1
Dealer direct sales in the U.S. at the brick-and-mortar level contracted by 9 percent as U.S. Moto and MTB dealers continue to manage industry-wide stocking dynamics and some turbulence at the dealer level.

Report: U.S. Ski Areas Boast Second-Highest Ever Visitor Rates on Solid Snowfall
The National Ski Areas Association reported preliminary data indicating that the 2024-25 season marked the second-highest visitation on record at U.S. ski areas, with a total of 61.5 million skier visits – a 1.7 percent increase year-over-year.

Report: Canadian Summer Bookings at U.S. Western Resorts Down 45 Percent
The DestiMetrics Market Briefing from May found travelers from Western Europe are also pulling back, with summer bookings down 30.3 percent. Conversely, Mexico’s visitation is running ahead 33 percent year-over-year.

Urban Outfitters Debuts On Rotation In-Store Experience — Starting with Nike
On Rotation will debut in UO stores featuring lounge-style installations in five key cities: New York, Washington D.C., Scottsdale, AZ, San Diego, CA, and Manhattan Beach, CA. The activation starts today, May 14, with its first partner, Nike.

Rakuten Rewards Appoints Chief Marketing Officer
Previously, Wendy Bergh was the general manager of Zoom’s Online business as the company became an AI-first work platform. She also held leadership roles at ServiceNow, Minted and Walmart.

Solo Stove Expands Into Coolers
The Solo Windchill 47 Cooler will launch in two colors in early June and feature the company’s new logo, reflecting its evolution beyond fire and expansion into new categories.

Inflation Rise Falls Short of Estimates; CPI Posts Slowest Annual Rate Since 2021
On an annual basis, CPI came in at 2.3 percent, reportedly the slowest annual rate since early 2021, countering the consensus estimate that it would hold at 2.4 percent.