SGB Update

Cramer Expands into Apparel with Stromgren Deal

Cramer Products, Inc. has acquired Stromgren Athletics in a deal that provides the maker of sports medicine and physical education products a pathway into protective apparel product and compression apparel. The deal is expected to increase Cramer revenue

Ryder Taps Mountain Bike Pro Schwartz as Brand Specialist

Ryders Eyewear has hired former pro mountain biker Joe Schwartz as brand specialist. A former brand ambassador for companies like Kona, Smith Optics and Bell, Schwartz has experience in product line development and web content development that will boost

Schutt Acquires Adams USA’s Football Helmet/Faceguard Assets

Schutt Sports has acquired football helmet and faceguard assets from Adams USA. The deal will give Schutt a much larger presence in the youth market, while freeing Adams to pursue its other team sports businesses. Financial terms of the transaction were n

Industry Vendors See Q1 Sales Up Double-Digits

Vendors who bolstered inventories with heavier buys in the 2010 fourth quarter were rewarded by a healthier selling environment in the 2011 first quarter as overall revenues for manufacturers improved a robust 12.0% during the quarter…

Report: Daily Deal Customers Rarely Become Regulars

A week after Groupon filed paperwork for its IPO, a Rice University professor said his latest research shows that while such daily deal sites are very successful at attracting new customers, those customers rarely buy more than the heavily discounted deal

ADT: Store Thefts Up in 2010

Retailers lost more than $37 billion to theft last year, according to an annual survey recently conducted by the University of Florida with a funding grant from ADT Commercial, a major security systems integrator…

Apple’s Retail Chief to Head J. C. Penney

Ron Johnson, who joined Apple more than a decade ago to build the computer company’s retail stores, has been named J.C. Penney’s next chief executive, effective November 1…

New Balance Sees Strong Growth in Franchise Stores

New Balance announced that its U.S. licensed franchise stores have seen increased year-over-year sales for the past nine straight months, but comp store sales growth appears to be slipping since February…

Census Bureau: May Leisure Products Retail Sales Rose

Though retail sales rose for the 11th straight month in May, rising gas prices and a weak labor market took the steam out of consumer spending, with only a few retail sectors reporting growth over April…

Kneissl Liquidation Now Seen Imminent

Creditors are expected to begin liquidating Austrian ski manufacturer Kneissl as soon as this week after its largest shareholder failed to meet a Wednesday deadline for investing $3 million in the bankrupt company, according to a report by Freidlnews.com.

SEW Goes One-on-One with VF Outdoor’s Steve Rendle

VF Corporation last week announced it would acquire The Timberland Company in a deal valued at approximately $2 billion (see BOSS_1124). VF will move Timberland into its VF Outdoor and Action Sports coalition, which already includes the Vans, The North F

Blackstone Eyeing Wolfskin

Blackstone Group LP is in negotiations to acquire the German outdoor gear maker Jack Wolfskin GmbH & Co. KGaA for about $1 billion, according to two separate wire reports…