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..
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
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
Under Armour’s Running
While Under Armour has the potential to become a big player in the running footwear category, the compression apparel king faces almost marathon-like challenges around its spring 2009 entry…
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
Winter Footwear Slowly Gaining Speed
Now that the winter months are upon us, runners face dropping temperatures, harsh winds and slushy running conditions. Yet, for the dedicated runner, these conditions will not hinder the daily jog…
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)…
An Icy Challenge
Most states in the U.S. snow belt have already had a smattering of inclement winter weather, but running retailers in cold-weather regions know that the worst is yet to come. Snow, wind, ice and cold temperatures provide a certain challenge to runners…
Black Friday Bargains Draw Shoppers in Big Way
Retailers breathed a collective sigh of relief this weekend as Americans hit the malls in a big way in search of bargains. The National Retail Federation's 2008 Black Friday Weekend survey released Sunday afternoon projected that more than 172 millio
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
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
Americans Flock to Malls for Black Friday Bargains
The National Retail Federation's 2008 Black Friday Weekend survey released Sunday afternoon projected that more than 172 million shoppers will have visited stores and websites from Thursday through Sunday, up from 147 million shoppers last year. The
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…
Ride Snowboards Names Reps for California
Ride Snowboards tapped Bill Markham, formerly Ride’s Rocky Mountain rep, to handle sales in SoCal starting Dec. 17 and Jim Linnberg to canvas the northern reaches of the state…
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
