SGB Executive

When the news wires started buzzing Thursday afternoon that progress had been made in the ongoing and economically crippling trade war between the U.S. and China, businesses around the country rejoiced. Would Christmas come early this year?

Jack Wolfskin, the German-based outdoor gear and apparel brand that’s owned by Carlsbad, CA-based Callaway Golf Co., this week formally announced plans to build a North America headquarters in Utah and create 50 jobs over the next five years.

Top headlines from across the active lifestyle industry featured in SGB during the week of December 9, 2019.

A new outdoor hardgoods trade show hits the calendar next summer, and its arrival brings more change to the outdoor industry’s already busy show schedule. SGB digs into the latest shuffling of events with reaction from brands and buyers.

Powered by an acceleration in its men’s business and continued robust growth in women’s, Lululemon Athletica reported earnings jumped 33.4 percent in the third quarter as comps climbed 17 percent on a currency-neutral basis. The outlook for the year was raised for the third straight quarter as earnings and sales both handily exceeded guidance.

From market-shifting acquisitions to doubling down on the sales of firearms and ammunition, a lot has been happening at Sportsman’s Warehouse Holdings Inc., the Midvale, UT-based sporting goods retailer. We recently spoke with CEO Jon Barker about these topics and more in our latest executive conversation. Here’s what he shared about the state of the company.

Goldman Sachs boosted its rating on shares of Nike Inc. to “buy” because a “deep dive” analysis shows that the brand is poised for continued sizeable growth in China and should benefit from its resilient popularity among young consumers in North America.

As the 2019/20 ski season gets underway, Vail Resorts Inc. has already unveiled up to $215 million in capital improvements for next year. Here’s what’s on tap for North America’s largest ski resort operator, which this week reported a revenue beat in the fiscal first quarter behind strong pass sales.

Shares of Designer Brands, the parent of DSW, fell $2.80, or 16.4 percent, to $14.23 Tuesday after the company said warm weather and tariff-mitigation efforts drove the company to overreact to a potential slowdown. Roger Rawlins, CEO, said, “We of course now know that the feared consumer pullback did not materialize. But we, unfortunately, were not able to make up the impact of these actions within the quarter.”

Johnson Outdoors leveraged a nice performance from its camping business in the fiscal fourth quarter, which bolstered 14 percent companywide revenue growth in the period to go along with 3 percent companywide revenue growth for the fiscal year. Said Helen Johnson-Leipold, Johnson’s chairman and CEO: “There’s real opportunity for growth in this space long-term.”

Dick’s Sporting Goods reported its strongest quarterly same-store sales gain since 2013 in the third quarter with a 6 percent gain. At Morgan Stanley’s Global Consumer & Retail Conference, Dick’s officials expressed optimism that the healthy growth will continue, particularly due to the revival in growth at its physical locations.

Top headlines from across the active lifestyle industry featured in SGB during the week of December 2, 2019.

James Debney, the CEO of Smith & Wesson parent company American Outdoor Brands Corp., told analysts on this week’s earnings call that while the 2020 presidential election has not yet had an impact on firearms demand, that could change in the run-up to next November.

Boosted by continued strength of Journeys coupled with significant improvement at Schuh, Genesco Inc.’s third-quarter earnings came in well above Wall Street estimates and the company significantly lifted its EPS outlook for the year.

Helped by a hardgoods cycle that continues to boost comps and expense-control efforts, Zumiez Inc. reported net earnings jumped 39.1 percent in the third quarter to easily surpass guidance.