SGB Executive

CODI revenue for the quarter ended December 31 was $474.8 million, up 22.7 percent compared to $387 million for the prior year period. This year-over-year increase primarily reflects acquisitions of Marucci and BOA during 2020.

Puma expects the financial impact from the pandemic lockdowns to linger until near the end of the second quarter due to a recent spike in lockdowns, primarily in Europe. However, global growth in running is seen helping support strong improvement in the third and fourth quarters. Bjørn Gulden, CEO, said on a media call, “I believe we have more of the pandemic behind us than we have ahead of us.”

The ski boot line-up for 2021/22 places walking at the forefoot with new soles and walking mode mechanisms that don’t sacrifice power or performance. The following is a sampling from SGB of the ski boots you will find at retail for the season.

Crocs Inc. recorded its highest revenue and adjusted operating profit of any quarter in the company’s history as sales in the fourth quarter ran up 56.5 percent. The growth was led by the Americas and EMEA regions with digital seeing the fastest growth among channels. Sales growth is projected in the range of 40-to-50 percent for the first quarter and 20-to-25 percent for 2021.

Nautilus Inc. reported that it ended 2020 with a tremendous fourth quarter, executing on all fronts with growth across all brands, channels and products, but saw disruptions in global logistics, notably the shortage of shipping containers.

With 2020/21 marking one of the deadliest avalanche seasons on record, avalanche gear sales are booming. Joining transceivers, probes and shovel sales are those of airbags, a pack that houses an airbag that users can deploy to keep them near the surface.

Planet Fitness reported another quarter of significant quarterly revenue declines and indicated club usage in January was still only about 70 percent of prior-year workouts. On the bright side, January marked the fitness club’s first month of overall net member growth since before the pandemic.

In his first quarterly conference call, Hervé Sedky, the new president and CEO of Emerald Holding, said the trade show operator is seeing “early signs of a comeback” with two shows, including Surf Expo Winter, able to be recently staged. He laid out a vision for the company that includes the ability to deliver 365-day customer engagement with the aid of digital tools rolled out over the pandemic.

The Top National stories and the Latest headlines across the Active Lifestyle Market for the week of February 15, 2021 covered in the SGB Updates and delivered to your inbox every business day.

When Surf Expo staged its winter tradeshow January 6-8, 2021 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, FL, it marked the first in-person outdoor tradeshow in nearly a year since the pandemic began, bringing exhibitors and retailers together facemask to facemask. Did attendees, both vendors and retailers, feel it was a successful event worth attending? For that, SGB Executive canvassed the trenches for input from show attendees.

Canadian Tire Corp said fourth-quarter sales grew double-digits at Helly Hansen and were down slightly at the SportChek segment due to COVID-19 restrictions. The company also announced plans to close all 18 National Sports stores across southern Ontario.

Sturm, Ruger & Company Inc.’s sales surged 61.1 percent in the fourth quarter, lifting 2020’s overall growth to 39.3 percent for its first annual gain since 2016. Ruger’s CEO Chris Killoy said the company has hired 250 more production workers over the back half of the year to overcome widespread inventory shortages facing the firearms industry. He said, “Inventories remain depleted throughout the channel, so inventory replenishment provides further opportunity.”

Americans skateboarded, played tennis, surfed, camped, and played basketball at record highs in 2020, helping reduce inactivity rates to their lowest levels since 2007, according to SFIA’s 2021 Annual Topline Participation Report. While social-distancing requirements decimated team sports participation, recreational or backyard play saw an uptick and strong interest in kids returning to team play.

Garmin Ltd. reported sales in the fourth quarter came in well ahead of Wall Street expectations as sales surged 48 percent in its Marine segment, 40 percent in Outdoor, and 26 percent in Fitness. Continued double-digit growth was forecast for the three segments for 2021. Cliff Pemble, Garmin’s president and CEO, told investors, “Right now we’re believing that the trends that we’ve been seeing in the business over the past year are solid and will continue.”

Run specialty has finally embraced online retailing due to COVID-19 to support a strong sales recovery in the second half of 2020, according to the latest survey from the Running Industry Association (RIA). However, according to the survey, it’s still uncertain how big a driver online will be for the channel, and direct-selling continues to cause tension in supplier relationships. In an interview with SGB Executive, Terry Schalow, RIA’s executive director, explains more.