SGB Executive

After five years of surveying North American campers, the 2019 North American Camping Report from Kampgrounds of America (KOA) shows the camping landscape is strong – new and life-long campers are committed to the outdoor camping lifestyle, as demonstrated by their diversity, camping more frequently and enthusiasm for using camping as a conduit to active outdoor lifestyles.

Evo, the Seattle-based retailer of ski and snowboard gear and apparel, is doubling-down on its community-building vision with the planned development of Campus SLC, a 100,000 square foot retail operation planning for Salt Lake City. Bryce Phillips, Evo’s founder and CEO, talks to SGB Executive about his vision for Campus SLC, why Salt Lake City was chosen, and what the investment means for Evo.

Top headlines from the active lifestyle industry you may have missed this week, including retail sales rising 0.5 percent in May seasonally adjusted from April and up 3.2 percent unadjusted year over year, the National Retail Federation said Friday.

The big news out of Walmart this week that the retail behemoth is wrapping its Jet.com operations into Walmart.com raised questions about the impact on e-commerce at its outdoor outfitter, Moosejaw. But everything will be business as usual at the outdoor retailer that Walmart bought in 2017 for $51 million, a company PR rep told SGB Executive on Thursday.

Stephanie Pugliese understands that Duluth Holdings Inc. isn’t immune from the challenging and evolving retail landscape that threatens any company unwilling to adapt. That’s why Duluth (dba, Duluth Trading Co.), where Pugliese is CEO, has “identified four areas of opportunity that the entire Duluth team is focused on for the remainder of this year” to withstand all looming retail pitfalls, she told analysts on Thursday morning’s earnings call.

Recreational running event participation was down in 2018 from the previous two years, led by declines in Europe and the U.S. and slightly offset by growth in Asia. That was among the chief conclusions of The State of Running 2019, a new report on global running participation produced by RunRepeat.com and the IAAF.

Firearms distributor United Sporting Cos. expected Hillary Clinton to win the 2016 presidential election, so it boosted inventories in preparation for the certain rush of gun purchases. But that miscalculation led USC to become the latest victim of the “Trump Slump”—a term used to describe how the current firearms-friendly presidency has quelled concerns over gun rights and stunted sales.

At Stifel’s 2019 Cross Sector Insight Conference on Tuesday in Boston, Crocs Inc’s officials elaborated on the company’s decision to significantly reduce its exposure to sourcing from China but spent most of the time discussing its growth resurgence in recent quarters, driven in large part by a focus on digital.

Speaking Monday at Stifel’s Cross Sector Insight Conference, Barry Hytinen, HanesBrands’ CFO, said product segmentation remains “very critical” in helping the Champion brand continue its healthy growth streak and avoid any inventory imbalances.

“It was just the right thing to do.” Outdoor Retailer’s Marisa Nicholson and Nalgene Outdoor’s Elissa McGee take SGB behind their companies’ initiative to eliminate the sale of single-use plastic bottles at Outdoor Retailer Summer Market and distribute 25,000 reusable bottles to attendees.

Vail Resorts reported a strong finish to the 2019 North American ski season, helping recover from a shortfall in destination visitation in the pre-holiday period. More encouragingly, season pass sales through May 28 are off to a healthy start.

Zumiez Inc. reported first-quarter earnings that handily topped expectations in large part due to a surprising comeback in skate hardgoods sales. Said Richard Brooks, CEO, on a conference call with analysts, “The speed that skate changed, that skate hardgoods became a driver, was pretty remarkable.”

The Running Industry Association’s inaugural Kick Show in Denver, CO, drew acclaim from exhibiting brands and attending retailers alike. The event gave them an opportunity to showcase not only their products or their stores, but the importance of the run specialty channel for the industry.