SGB Executive Sports & Fitness
Adidas Hit By Lawsuit By Rick Pitino
The suit claims Adidas has caused the legendary coach “grave damage to his public and private standing and reputation, causing him extreme embarrassment, humiliation, and emotional distress.”
HanesBrands Snaps Up Alternative Apparel
Continuing a string of tuck-in acquisitions in the activewear space, HanesBrands Inc. acquired Alternative Apparel, a marketer of apparel basics under the Alternative brand, for approximately $60 million in cash.
SidelineSwap Looks To Bring Re-Seller Market To Sporting Goods
Brendan Candon, SidelineSwap’s CEO, said, “By building a platform that’s hyper targeted on the sporting goods category, and simplifying the selling process, we’ve been able to attract a ton of athletes who otherwise would have let their gear collect dust in a garage.”
PrimaLoft Finds New Investor To Support Growth
Said Mike Joyce, president and CEO of PrimaLoft, “Our new partnership with Victor Capital will provide the capital, commitment and operating support to drive our technological innovation and market development to new levels.”
Lululemon Not Concerned About Amazon Possibly Entering Activewear
“I think Amazon is mostly around commodity product. That’s not our sandbox,” Laurent Potdevin, Lululemon’s CEO, told CNBC.
IHRSA: Boutiques Continue To Lead Health Club Gains
Membership in U.S. health clubs reached an all-time high in 2016, thanks to 15 percent growth at boutique studios, according to the 2017 IHRSA Health Club Consumer Report. Studio members tend to a decade younger than the overall average for all facilities and are more ethnically-diverse.
Aisle Talk, Week Of October 9
Top headlines from the active lifestyle industry you may have missed this week.
Did The ‘Pay To Play’ System Cause The U.S.’s World Cup Failure?
The failure of the U.S. men’s national soccer team to qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia to some points to a broader problem around youth sports participation.
Adidas Winning, Nike And Under Armour Losing With Teens
According to Piper Jaffray’s Taking Stock With Teens research survey, Adidas, Vans, Birkenstock and Supreme are seeing some of the biggest gains in earning teens’ affection. The losers among the larger bands in the active space include Nike, Ugg and Under Armour.
Russell Looks To Build On Retail Momentum
As detailed in a letter to dealers last week, Russell Athletic has decided to exit the team uniform business. But it’s only because management feels it required more emphasis on bigger opportunities on the consumer retail side of the business, Matt Murphy, Russell’s VP of marketing, said in an interview with SGB.
Hydro Flask Parent Expects H2 Sales Growth To Moderate
On a conference call with analysts, Julien Mininberg, CEO of Helen of Troy, said the industry is seeing “some moderation” in overall demand in the water bottles and hydration space following a period a strong growth overall.
Aisle Talk, Week Of October 2
Top headlines from the active lifestyle industry you may have missed this week.
One-On-One With OrthoLite’s Glenn Barrett
The CEO and chairman of Ortholite discusses the keys to successful collaborations, 3D printing and other emerging technologies, new competitors in the space, and the insole category’s newfound respect.
Merry Holiday Forecasts Arrive
The NRF (National Retailer Federation) became the latest organization predicting robust sales for the holiday season. Gains are expected to be helped by low unemployment, rising stock markets and another year of double-digit online spending gains.
Susquehanna Downgrades Finish Line On Recent Run-Up
Susquehanna Financial Group lowered its rating on The Finish Line to “Neutral” from “Positive” because the stock’s recent spike in price now “fairly reflects the probability of a takeout by Sports Direct.”
