SGB Executive Sports & Fitness
EXEC: New Era on Growth Path as Annual Sales Surpass $2 Billion
At the company’s ICR presentation last week in Orlando, Florida, company Co-President Jim Patterson and CFO Kevin Wilson also revealed the Buffalo, New York-based brand is generating solid profitability with EBITDA margins running above 20 percent.
Report: Fabletics Surpasses $1 Billion in Revenue, Focuses on Growth of VIP Membership
The athleisure apparel line co-founded by entrepreneurs Adam Goldenberg, Don Ressler, and Ginger Ressler, with actress Kate Hudson joining as a co-founder in 2015, recently presented at the 2026 ICR Investor Conference.
EXEC: JD Sports Sees North America Comp Positive for Holiday While UK and Europe Fade
The parent of the DTLR, Finish Line, Hibbett, and Shoe Palace banners in the U.S., and the Blacks outdoor banner, among others, in the UK, Europe and Asia, reported comp sales for the nine-week holiday period were down 1.8 percent year-over-year. North America comps were up 1.5 percent.
EXEC: Lululemon Pulls Online Sales of New “Get Low” Leggings Range After Customer Complaints
Lululemon Athletica reportedly paused online sales of its recently launched “Get Low” leggings collection on Tuesday, January 20, after receiving customer complaints. Customers also wrote on Reddit, the social media platform, that the leggings are “see-through” when bending or squatting.
EXEC: Xtep Int’l Names New Malaysian Distributor
The China-based running brand formed a joint venture with Bonia, a distributor with over 50 years of market expertise in Malaysia, to jointly develop the Malaysian market.
EXEC: Tacoma’s HatStop Files for Bankruptcy Protection
HatStop, a family-owned fanwear chain based in Tacoma, WA, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection to reorganize its business and continue operating. The company blamed the filing on over-expansion and a rapid slowdown in sales as the COVID pandemic subsided.
EXEC: Stella International Q2 Footwear Shipment Volume Flat In Q4
The manufacturer of footwear for Nike, Saucony, Under Armour, Merrell, Timberland and Ugg said Footwear Manufacturing shipment volumes were flat year-over-year in the fourth quarter and increased 3.8 percent in the full year. The gains in the year were led by the Sports segment.
EXEC: Li Ning Posts LSD Decline in China Retail Sales in Fourth Quarter
Li Ning Company, Ltd. reported that retail sell-through for the fourth quarter at Li-Ning POS, excluding Li-Ning Young, declined by low-single digits year-over-year.
EXEC: Fanatics Still Finding Sizable Growth Opportunities in Fan Gear
During a keynote session at the National Retail Federation: Retail’s Big Show, Fanatics’ founder and CEO, Michael Rubin, said the company now controls about one-third of the global market for sports fan merchandise, with significant opportunities to gain a greater share, particularly internationally.
EXEC: Is Varsity Brands Setting Up for a Big Deal?
Varsity Brands, Inc., the parent of BSN Sports and Varsity Spirit, announced a proposed $400 million fungible add-on to its first-lien term loan facility to partly finance a potential undisclosed acquisition of a complementary business to BSN Sports with a heavy presence in soccer. The potential deal was noted in Moody’s and S&P’s debt issuance reports.
EXEC: Adidas and Nike Fight for Top Spot in UBS Global Survey
In the athletic footwear category, Nike was the top brand global consumers planned to purchase within the next 12 months, at 49 percent; followed by Adidas, 41 percent; New Balance, 17 percent; Puma, 14 percent; Air Jordan, 13 percent; Asics, 12 percent; Anta and Skechers, both 10 percent; Li-Ning, 9 percent, and Converse, 8 percent.
EXEC: JD Sports Looks to Elevate Curation at U.S. Athletic Specialty
JD Sports’ North America business generates about $6 billion in annual sales following the add-on acquisitions of Shoe Palace, DTLR and Hibbett. Régis Schultz said that with the follow-up acquisitions, JD has “nice coverage” nationwide, and he said the North American operation has become a “very profitable business.”
EXEC: On Delivers Robust Holiday Selling on Premium Proposition
Speaking at the ICR Conference 2026, Martin Hoffmann, CEO and CFO at On Holding AG, said the Swiss footwear brand delivered a strong holiday performance, attributing it to efforts to establish a premium positioning and avoid discounting.
EXEC: Dick’s SG’s Ed Stack Eyes Big Opportunity in “Fixer Upper” Foot Locker
On Sunday, January 11, during a session at the National Retail Federation (NRF) 2026 venue, Ed Stack, executive chairman of Dick’s Sporting Goods, took a deep dive into the company’s leadership strategies which have paved the way for its success while also indicating that he remained bullish on Dick’s recently-acquired Foot Locker business which he described as a “fixer upper.”
EXEC: Needham Downgrades Nike, Replaces Deckers Brands with VF Corp. on Conviction List
Needham & Co. downgraded Nike’s shares due to sluggish progress on its turnaround while adding VF Corp. to its conviction list on expectations over a strong holiday quarter for The North Face and Timberland. Deckers was removed from Needham’s conviction list due to projected continued slowing growth at Hoka and Ugg.
