SGB Executive

During a keynote session at the virtual NRF Big Show, Doug Mack, CEO and Director, Fanatics discussed how the agility provided by Fanatics’ vertical-commerce (v-commerce) model helped the company make fast adjustments during the pandemic to deliver record sales and profits in 2020.

Boot Barn Holdings Inc. reported earnings rose 19.5 percent in the third ended December 26 as same-store sales from physical locations returned to positive territory. January comps grew 17 percent to mark the chain’s sixth consecutive month of sequential improvement.

The backcountry skiing market isn’t the only winter outdoors segment seeing a huge boom this year. COVID-19 and resort restrictions have also fueled a surge in demand for snowshoes, affording consumers another way to enjoy Old Man Winter.

Despite explosive online growth in recent years and its acquisition of the Mirror at-home fitness platform, Celeste Burgoyne, Lululemon’s president, Americas, and global guest innovation, at the virtual NRF Big Show stressed how critical physical stores are to driving the customer experience.

Deutsche Bank upgraded its rating on Under Armour to “Buy” from “Hold” on the potential for margins to benefit from numerous cost-containment efforts, “green shoots” found across the brand’s product line and tailwinds for the active apparel category overall coming out of the pandemic.

The Top National stories and the Latest headlines across the Active Lifestyle Market for the week of January 18, 2021, covered in the SGB Updates and delivered to your inbox every business day.’ January 22, 2021 •Brownells, Crow Shooting Supply Hires Chief Customer Officer Brownells and its sister wholesale company, Crow Shooting Supply, has hired […]

During a session at the virtual NRF Big Show, Bill Quinn, SVP digital commerce at Hibbett Sporting Goods, discussed how the small-town sporting goods chain navigated the increase in online orders during the pandemic and in turn elevated its omnichannel offerings. He said, “The biggest thing that the pandemic did for us is to stress test everything that we had.”

According to The NPD Group, sales across the snow industry are down 7 percent in the first four months of the snow season through the end of November due to continued weakness in apparel. However, a wide range of equipment and accessory categories continue to produce strong gains as select outdoor activities find favor during the pandemic.

At CES 2021, executives from the NFL, NHL, WNBA, and WWE discussed how technology has helped their organizations reach sports fans during the pandemic and save their playing seasons. Advancements involve online or mobile engagement with fans that are expected to continue post-COVID-19.

SGB Executive talked with Erik Burbank, KEEN’s VP KEEN Effect, about how the pandemic has impacted its business, sustainability commitments, outdoor’s surging appeal, the brand’s KEEN.Bellows Flex technology, expanded lifestyle, and kid’s offerings.

While turning plastic bottles into performance fibers is a well-practiced and planet-friendly manufacturing process, textile manufacturer, SAYA, is converting scraps, overruns and leftover fabric (deadstock) into recycled fibers to pave the way to a greener planet.

The Top National stories and the Latest headlines across the Active Lifestyle Market for the week of January 11, 2021 covered in the SGB Updates and delivered to your inbox every business day.

At the 23rd Annual ICR Conference, Steven Miller, Big 5’s chairman, president and CEO, provided a rare deep dive into the sporting goods chain on the same day it reported a record year as a wide range of outdoor sports and fitness activities have been embraced during the pandemic. Miller said, “Items were selling out as fast as we could unload the truck.”

At the 2021 ICR Conference, officials at Zumiez Inc. expounded on the rollout of its innovative Zumiez Delivery program, which enables store associates to deliver directly to a customers door in select markets around the U.S. Rick Brooks, Zumiez’s CEO, said “What we’re trying to do is always localize our brand experience.”

The motto for Mad River Glen has always been “Ski it if you can!” It might as well be “Own it if you can” as well. Especially this year, where COVID-19 restrictions have seen its ownership shares sell like hotcakes at its newly refurbished base lodge.