SGB Executive

Speaking at the 2020 Stifel Cross Sector Insights Conference, Steve Rendle, VF Corp.’s chairman, president and CEO, said moves beginning in 2017 to reposition the business are serving the company “very, very well to navigate these times.” But he also believes VF is well-positioned to take advantage of four emerging trends accelerated by COVID-19: outdoor appreciation, health and well-being, sustainability and casual lifestyle.

The U.S. Interior Dept. released its annual National Park Service Visitor Spending Effects Report for 2019 and found that over 327.5 million park visitors spent nearly $21.0 billion in local gateway regions in 2019 while visiting National Park Service lands across the country.

The Wisconsin sock maker is facing a lawsuit filed by its former CEO for issues surrounding his termination in April 2020.

On a recent OIA webinar, the owners of three outdoor indies — Angler’s Covey, The Hive and Wild Iris — discussed the opportunities being created as consumers have gone out of their way to support small businesses and local shops as their stores have reopened amid the pandemic. With social-distancing capping other leisure opportunities, chances to land new customers have also expanded significantly as people head outdoors.

24 Hour Fitness on Monday filed for bankruptcy protection as the gym chain deals with the fallout from closures due to the coronavirus. In an affidavit, Daniel Hugo, chief restructuring officer, wrote, “Put simply, the COVID-19 pandemic upended the debtors’ operating model, leaving the debtors without a source of revenue to fund their operations.”

Speaking Monday at the Evercore ISI Virtual Consumer & Retail Summit, Gerald Evans, HanesBrands’ CEO, said he remains confident that Champion will reach its goal of hitting $3 billion in sales in coming years despite the negative impact from COVID-19.

Lululemon Inc. broke down their fiscal first quarter in three phases as COVID-19 cut into its quarter that started strongly across the business and evolved into primarily an e-commerce play by quarter-end on May 2.

Hit by a double-whammy of closures of stores and resorts to slow the spread of the coronavirus, sales across the snowsports industry were down 43 percent in dollars and 45 percent in units in the month of March according to SIA’s U.S. Snow Industry Retail Market Report. The tough month caused the snow industry to show a near mid-single-digit decline for the 19/20 snow season.

On Monday, NYC started to reopen 100 days after the city reported its first case of the coronavirus. As the epicenter of the outbreak here in the U.S., many stores are offering curbside and in-store pickup. More top National Stories and the Latest Headlines across the Active Lifestyle Market during the week of June 8, 2020 follow in this week’s reporting in the SGB Updates.

The coronavirus didn’t stop Sea to Summit from acquiring its North American distribution partner, but it did delay the closing date by more than a month. Founder Roland Tyson and NA General Manager Josh Simpson spoke with SGB Executive about how the brand overcame integration challenges amid the pandemic and what lies ahead.

Last June, The Running Industry Association (RIA) successfully launched the first RIA KickShow with a promise to “create a true working environment that fosters buying efficiency and connects retailers with brands in a new way.” A year later, the show returns with a virtual format but the same mission.

Oppenheimer upgraded its rating for Dick’s SG to “Outperform” from “Perform” due to expected strength in the sporting goods category amid the pandemic. Brian Nagel, Oppenheimer’s lead analyst in the space wrote in a note, “The company’s robust omnichannel business model is positioned well to capitalize upon improving consumer demand for items associated with consumers now spending more time at home and poised to further benefit as shoppers shift back to team sports and licensed products.”

Genesco Inc.’s business was devastated by COVID-19-related store closures, but online sales have accelerated to more than 300 percent growth in May and sales at its flagship Journeys chain that have reopened are comping “nicely positive.”

May was another slow month for M&A in the active-lifestyle marketplace with only a few deals announced and one high-profile acquisition formally abandoned at the finish line. Now that struggling businesses are seeking a lifeline and aggressive buyers are eyeing distressed assets, was this the bottom?

Vail Resorts plans to reopen its North American resorts for summer activities in late June or early July after being forced to close its 34 ski areas on March 14 due to COVID-19. On its Q320 conference call, Robert Katz, CEO, said he expects enthusiasm for outdoor experiences amid the pandemic to help support a recovery.