Famous Footwear Q3 Sales Hurt by Women’s Casual; Athletic Seen as Bright Spot
An increase in stores and marketing activity failed to counter slower consumer spending at Famous Footwear in the third quarter ended Nov. 1. The family footwear retailer started the quarter with a “solid” back-to-school season, “driven largely by athlet
FGXI Acquires Dioptics Medical Products
FGX International has acquired Dioptics Medical Products, Inc., a privately held company located in San Luis Obispo, CA. Dioptics is engaged in the wholesale and retail sales of sunglasses and optical accessories primarily marketed under the SolarShield a
Traffic Steady as Retailers Turn in Healthy Black Friday Sales Growth
Steady. That seemed to be the most common word used to describe traffic on that holiest of retail days, Black Friday. According to ShopperTrak, Black Friday sales increased 3.0% to $10.6 billion over last year, with steady growth from around the country.
Confluence Names New Execs
Confluence Watersports has appointed Jim Berwick as vice president and chief financial officer and Kelly Hemphill as director of information technology (IT)…
Vietnam Cleared of Dumping Apparel
Two years after it began monitoring Vietnamese apparel imports, the U.S. Department of Commerce ruled Nov. 21 that there is insufficient evidence to warrant self-initiating an antidumping investigation…
Columbia Names Richardson Footwear GM
Columbia Sportswear Company appointed Kirk Richardson as general manager of footwear, effective Dec. 1, 2008. Richardson most recently served as president of Keen Footwear, following a 27 year career with Nike where he held various footwear and apparel le
Karhu On the Rise
Karhu is betting that its running heritage will pave a path through an ever-increasing crowd of new entries in running footwear. The Finland-based legendary running brand is also counting on its air of authenticity and its commitment to running specialty
Black Friday Traffic Steady at Retail; Consumers Look to be Buying into Deals
Steady. That seemed to be the most common word used to describe traffic on that holiest of retail days, Black Friday. According to ShopperTrak, Black Friday sales increased 3.0% to $10.6 billion over last year, with steady growth from around the country..
Terramar Sports Hires Pico Manufacturing
Terramar Sports, a maker of performance base layers, has hired Pico Manufacturing to help it build business with department stores and mass merchandisers nationwide…
Sugoi Names Marketing Manager
Sugoi Performance Apparel named Kara Hurry as its new marketing manager. Previously, Hurry, a native Australian, served as the marketing services manager for Australian Wool Innovation (AWI) in New York…
Industry Execs See Shift to At-Once Orders Transforming Industry
While the shift back toward at-once ordering and just-in-time deliveries has been going on for the last couple of years, it is clearly accelerating due to the tighter credit market and consumer slowdown. And vendors remain clearly concerned about how the
Collective Brands Promotes Boessen to CFO
Collective Brands, Inc. promoted Douglas G. Boessen to division senior vice president, chief financial officer and treasurer. Boessen replaces Ullrich Porzig, who retired this fall, and now reports to Doug Treff, chief administrative officer for the compa
Adidas Signs Deal with IAAF
Adidas and the International Association of Athletics Federations have entered an 11-year partnership agreement granting Adidas the world-wide sponsorship rights for all IAAF World Athletic Series events from 2009 until 2019. Under the agreement, Adidas w
JD Sport’s Sales Dip
JD (John David) Sports Fashions Plc, the U.K.’s third-largest sporting-goods retailer, said same-store sales declined 1% in the last 11 weeks since Sept. 13, reducing the gain for the first 43 weeks of the fiscal year to 4%. JD said the performance wasn’t
Facing the Credit Card Dragon
If you are growing or expect to grow and still use a dial-up terminal to process your credit card payments, keep reading. If your sales are rapidly growing, keep reading. If you are opening a new store, keep reading. If you are considering laying off staf
