SGB Executive Sports & Fitness
Callaway Golf Teeing Up Jack Wolfskin Strategy
Solid performance across Callaway Golf Co.’s core golf business led to impressive revenue growth in 2018, and now the company is banking on a new division—Jack Wolfskin, which Callaway just acquired—to become an integral asset. For the full year of 2018, Callaway’s net sales increased $194 million, or 19 percent, to $1.2 billion, reflecting increases in each of the company’s operating segments and in each reporting region.
Champion Soars Again In Q4
HanesBrands Inc. said its Champion business, excluding the C9 line being phased out at Target, catapulted 50 percent in the fourth quarter, reached $1.36 billion in the full year, and is well on track to hit $2 billion in annual sales by 2022.
January M&A Roundup: Media Companies Make News As Landscape Shifts
Consumer and trade publications are accustomed to reporting news, but in January companies in the active lifestyle and action sports media made news through a host of acquisitions that could drastically affect industry coverage moving forward.
Delta Apparel Sees Double-Digit Growth In Q1
Delta Apparel said robust growth for its Salt Life brand and digital print business, DTG2Go, drove a 12.5 percent climb in sales in the first quarter ended December 29, along with a spike in profitability excluding non-recurring items. Improving sales at Soffe and continued strength in fashion basics in its activewear business also supported the gains.
Unifi Lowers FY Guidance On Pricing Pressures
Unifi Inc. reported an operating loss in its second quarter ended December 30 and lowered its guidance for its fiscal year. The fibers specialist placed the blame on a spike in raw material costs, suppressed demand in the Americas and a weaker sales mix.
Ugg Powers Deckers Brands To Blowout Holiday Quarter
Tightened segmentation, success reaching men’s, and early cold weather in the U.S. helped drive robust sales for Ugg to help Deckers Brands handily exceed guidance in its holiday quarter. Hoka One One also remained on fire with sales now expected to reach $220 million in its fiscal year.
Brunswick Sees Fitness Sales Declining Again In 2019, Commits To Separation
Brunswick Corp. said its Fitness segment, which includes Life Fitness, saw continued sluggish results in the fourth quarter and is now expected to show a mid-single digit percent drop in sales in 2019. But Brunswick officials remain committed to spinning off or selling its fitness brands this year.
Fanatics And Nike Increase Domination of Sports Licensing
With deals with Wal-Mart and Major League Baseball (MLB) respectively, Fanatics and Nike continue to take bigger chunks of the fan apparel pie.
Retail Reports Roundup – January 28
Retail studies arrived last week around growing consumer demands for free shipping, Nike and Adidas landing among most admired companies, more brands expecting to start selling on Amazon in the next five years and more.
Active Lifestyle Falls Short On CDP’s Rankings Of Environmental Practices
Johnson & Johnson, Nestle, China Mobile and Microsoft did but no firms in the active lifestyle industry scored top marks in CDP’s prestigious annual rankings of corporate efforts to slow climate change. Hanesbrands, Adidas and Puma scored above-average grades.
Aisle Talk Week Of January 21
Top headlines from the active lifestyle industry you may have missed this week, including, Emerald Expositions saying that after canceling Interbike, it is considering two options that could bring a bike element to either the Outdoor Retailer Winter or Summer Market.
RunnerClick Survey Finds Women, Seniors Pacing Marathon Growth
RunnerClick, the online community dedicated to running, has come out with what it describes as the “largest recreational marathon research study,” spanning 39 countries. Among the findings was that the U.S. has the highest proportion of female runners, making it the most gender equal country (45 percent female), followed by Canada (40 percent female). Greece is the worse in terms of female participation with 90 percent male and 10 percent female.
NRF Big Show: Retail’s Transformation On Display
While the trade show floor was packed with many new retail technologies driven by artificial intelligence, the seminars at the NRF Big Show 2019 explored how those digital advances are working their way to retail’s selling floors.
Nike And Under Armour Both Earn Stock Upgrades
Cowen on Tuesday raised its rating on Nike to “Outperform” in part because the brand’s strong innovation pipeline and quick-turnaround capabilities are expected to drive margins higher. Goldman Sachs lifted its rating on Under Armour to “Buy” due also to signs of margin improvement near-term along with healthier growth in the long term.
Retail Reports Roundup – January 21
A stack of retail surveys and studies arrived just in time for last week’s NRF Big Show in New York City. Research included the arrival of the “Emerging Male ‘Power Shopper” as well as retail developments with artificial intelligence, mobile apps, smart speakers, fulfillment technologies, personalization, card-not-present fraud and more.
