Meanwhile, down the coast a bit, Pony International will be re-launching an apparel collection starting with the Fall/Winter 2004 season. The line, which will feature both men's and women's contemporary athletic and lifestyle product, will be driven by a Pony apparel team based at parent company GBMI’ s headquarters in Santa Barbara, CA.

In an exclusive interview with SPORTS EXECUTIVE WEEKLY, Killick Datta, CEO of Global Brand Marketing, Inc., stated that Pony's key apparel categories — like footwear — will be divided into three distinct categories: pony.style, pony.move, and pony.archive. Datta said each collection reflects its core principles through authentic style, authentic performance, and authentic history, respectively.

“Pony.style will be aimed at better specialty stores such as Barney’s and Atrium, as well as retailers who have previously carried GBMI’s Diesel brand. Pony.move is aimed at high performance athletic retailers, such as The Finish Line. Pony.archive will be sold to department stores and mall specialists”, said Datta.

A fourth category, pony.fundamental, will cover all the basic categories such as t-shirts, shorts, socks and bags that can be mixed and matched with the other three categories. This line is aimed at both Athletic and department stores. Datta also hinted at a fifth line, called pony.compete, which would enter the white hot performance apparel category.

“We want to build Pony to be the preeminent brand of choice for the sport lifestyle customer,” said Datta. “With its combination of fashion, sport and lifestyle, the collection will represent the core spirit of Pony in that it will be functional as well as stylish. We've commissioned a stellar design and product development team to deliver the most unique and fashionable athletic product in the industry. We will continue our efforts with our global strategy of fully exploiting the potential of this true heritage brand by exploring new fields of business.”

Datta noted that “in its prime in the early 80’s, Pony had a volume of $350 million.  We have the potential to reach that level again.”  Datta continued, “The footwear line has been very well accepted.  We have opened every retailer we wanted to sell.”

>>> How does this guy balance all this stuff? We know too many CEOs that can’t keep one brand message straight…