SGB Executive

While VF Corp.’s decision to shutter travel luggage brand Eagle Creek this fall came as a blow to its employees and its founders for the adventure travel category, it’s hardly a death knell for the category or the adventure travel market. 

“The essence of America — that which really unites us — is not ethnicity, or nationality, or religion. It is an idea — and what an idea it is: that you can come from humble circumstances and do great things. That it doesn’t matter where you came from, but where you are going.” —Condoleezza Rice, former United States Secretary of State, current director of the Hoover Institution at Stanford University.
—From the SGB Family to yours,
we wish you a very Happy and Safe July 4, 2021.

In SIA’s first report of 2021 on the impacts from COVID-19, snowsports enthusiasts were found to overestimate their ability to participate in their favorite winter activities in the recently wrapped up 2020/21 season. However, they made snowsports-related purchases at a higher rate than expected heading into the season and were excited about the 2021/22 season.

In an interview on CNBC unveiling Brooks Running’s new 2030 planet strategy, Jim Weber, CEO, reported sales are up 60 percent year-to-date and projected the overall running opportunity could double over the next ten years coming out of the pandemic.

Xponential Fitness announced plans to go public despite seeing a sharp decline in franchising revenues over the last year due to the pandemic. However, the parent of Pure Barre, Club Pilates and CycleBar predicted boutique fitness would recover by 2022 and again grow faster than the broader fitness club industry.

Nike’s shares catapulted $20.75, or 15.5 percent, to $154.35 on Friday after the sneaker giant reported earnings came in well above Wall Street’s targets for the quarter ended May 31 and issued bullish growth targets over the next four years through FY25. Analysts roundly hiked their price targets with many seeing the strong performance as evidence that Nike’s digital transformation is gaining traction.

Nike delivered a significant fourth-quarter earnings beat with the help of accelerated growth in the North America and EMEA regions. Stronger-than-expected FY22 guidance and a bullish multi-year outlook were also provided as its digitally-driven direct engagement with consumers is accelerating overall growth.

Jordan Brand’s led growth among segments, women’s led genders, and Nike Direct grew at three times the pace of wholesales sales in Nike’s fiscal year ended May 31, 2021.

The Top National stories and the Latest headlines across the Active Lifestyle Market for the week of June 21, 2021 covered in the SGB Updates and delivered to your inbox every business day. This week’s Athlete is Oregon native Ryan Crouser who “obliterated” the shot put World Record at last week’s Olympic Trials.

At Hibbett Sports Investor Day on Thursday, Hibbett’s officials provided a deep dive into its merchandising shift in recent years toward athletically-inspired fashion products that are being guided by five customer personas: Streetwear Hound, Fashion Titan, Basketball Obsessed, Sports-Style Fanatic and Alpha Jock. Officials also elaborated on how the shift has helped Hibbett become a more important distribution point for key vendor partners.

Earlier this year, after more than 40 years as a French-made watersports icon, BIC Sport merged with Tahe Outdoors to become a new brand, TAHE. North American Marketing and Product Manager, Jimmy Blakeney, discussed the merger with SGB Executive.

Winnebago Industries Inc. reported sales grew 138.7 percent in the fiscal third quarter ended May 29 and said backlogs remain at record levels due to “exceptional growth” in consumer demand for pursuing the outdoor lifestyle.

At CNBC’s Evolve Global Summit, Adidas CEO Kasper Rorsted said he expects the fashion industry will be forced to improve its sustainability practices as it faces increasing scrutiny over its poor record. However, he believes many companies still aren’t making enough of a commitment.

At Jefferies 2021 Virtual Consumer Conference, Cliff Sifford, vice chairman and CEO at Shoe Carnival, said the off-pricer’s strong recent performance is partly because it didn’t cancel orders in the early stages of the pandemic and was rewarded with orders as inventory became scarce. However, he said those vendor partnerships have been built over time.

In a retail sales study conducted by the NPD Group from August 2020 to February 2021, the past pandemic year saw growth in specific outdoor categories, with golf and cycling in the lead.