Adidas CEO Sees U.S. Share Gains Continuing
In an interview Tuesday on CNBC, Adidas CEO Kasper Rorsted admitted that Nike has improved its competitive positioning in the U.S. marketplace but he said the Adidas Brand is still gobbling up share in the region. Said Rorsted, “For the third year in a row, there’s no doubt that we are taking share in America.” Rorstead also discussed tariffs, Kanye West and Colin Kaepernick.
How To Navigate The Trade War
Companies that are subject to new tariffs on Chinese-made products might be able to mitigate some or all of the financial impact, according to David Cohen, a Washington, DC-based international trade lawyer, who spoke at the recent SFIA Industry Leaders Summit. “You’re not sitting ducks. There are ways, there are countermeasures, that companies can take.”
Community Engagement Pays Off
Whether its coaches for BSN Sports, runners for Fleet Feet or the local Latino community for WSS, the benefits of engaging communities was spelled out loudly at a session featuring a number of retailers at the SFIA’s recent Industry Leaders Summit in Denver. The challenges in driving consistent engagement were also heard.
Q&A With Meridith Unger Of SFIA Start-Up Challenge Winner Nix Biosensors
Nix Biosensors was the winner of the Sports & Fitness Industry Association’s third annual Start-Up Challenge, held at last week’s Industry Leaders Summit in Denver, CO. Meridith Unger, founder and CEO of the Boston, MA-based company, spoke with SGB about what this award means for the business moving forward.
Aisle Talk Week of October 1
Top headlines from the active lifestyle industry you may have missed this week, including BSN Sports, a division of Varsity Brands and the nation’s largest direct marketer and distributor of sporting goods to the school and league markets, completing its acquisition of Port Jeff Sporting Goods (pictured).
SGB Executive Q&A: Coast Products CEO David Brands
Coast Products has a rich history. The Portland, OR-based maker of knives, multitools, headlamps, flashlights and other accessories is turning 100 next year and has been family-owned since its founding in 1919. CEO David Brands spoke with SGB about the origins of the company his grandfather created, what’s driving growth and where Coast goes from here.
VF Corp. To Say Bye To Reef
While acquiring Icebreaker and Altra this year amid stepped-up efforts to “reshape” the company’s portfolio, VF Corp. on Thursday reached an agreement to sell Reef, the surf-inspired sandal brand, to The Rockport Group. The divestiture will mark the first sell-off of a brand that had been part of the company’s Outdoor or Active coalitions that has driven the company’s growth for the last two decades.
College Basketball Scandal Spreads
In opening statements in the first trial tied to the FBI’s investigation into corruption throughout college basketball, a lawyer representing James Gatto, Adidas’ former director of global sports marketing, asserted that her client’s payments to the families of top high school basketball recruits were only made to compete with similar payments being made by Nike and Under Armour.
5 Takeaways From SFIA’s Industry Leaders Summit
Executives from leading sports, fitness and active lifestyle companies descended on Denver, CO, last week for the Sports & Fitness Industry Association’s sixth annual Industry Leaders Summit. Here are five takeaways from the event, including how to mitigate tariffs, what’s driving M&A and the growing importance of culture.
September M&A Roundup: Ski Resort Consolidation Ramps Up
Signs of the coming ski season are evident in many North American mountain towns, where fall foliage is peaking, snowmaking has begun at some resorts and a new crop of ski and snowboard films is hitting theaters. Ski area operators are especially active these days, of course, but not only from fine-tuning their chairlifts and hiring seasonal staff. They have been busy expanding their empires.
Relief Over Recast NAFTA Deal
With fears over the arrangement being scrapped entirely, relief arrived after the U.S., and Canada came to a last-minute agreement on a revised trade deal that could replace NAFTA. While the dairy and auto industries will face some changes, the impact on the apparel and footwear sectors appears negligible.
Yeti IPO Shows Revenues Bouncing Back
Yeti is taking the company’s second crack at going public after seeing sales plunge 22 percent in 2017 and witnessing a robust recovery so far this year. The slowdown was caused by over-buying by retailers that led to a glut of inventory in the marketplace as well as a challenging retail marketplace, in part caused by the delay in the merger of Bass Pro and Cabela’s and several retailer bankruptcies.
SGB Executive Q&A: Hibbett Execs Discuss Latest Digital Initiative
The leadership team at Hibbett Sporting Goods Inc. readily acknowledges that the Birmingham, AL-based retailer has been behind the curve on digital capabilities, but Monday’s launch of new online features—Buy Online, Pick Up In Store (BOPIS) and Reserve Online, Pick Up in Store (ROPIS)—is another step in Hibbett’s plan to close the gap on its competitors.
Vail Resorts’ Shares Slip After Q4 Revenue Miss
Shares of Vail Resorts Inc. fell $11.71, or 4.1 percent, to $274.42 at market close Friday after the company reported revenue of $211.6 million for the fiscal fourth quarter ended July 31 missed Wall Street’s revenue target by $1.7 million. The Broomfield, CO-based did beat analysts’ earnings expectations by 18 cents.
Aisle Talk Week of September 24
Top headlines from the active lifestyle industry you may have missed this week, including Amazon opening Amazon 4-star, a new physical store where everything for sale is rated four stars and above, is a top seller or is new and trending on Amazon.com.
