SGB Update

Bite Sees the Market Swinging Up…

Bite footwear has been posting some strong results, with a 20% increase in sales for the month of April – the company’s highest U.S. sales in a single month to date. March also showed the strongest Canadian sales numbers Bite has ever seen as well…

Apparel a Bright Spot for adidas-Salomon…

adidas-Salomon saw a sizable gain in its gross margin overshadow sales declines across most regions and brand groups to help the company post a 41% increase in net income for the first quarter of 2004. The company pointed to the impact of foreign currency

Reebok First FLA Accredited Company…

The board of directors at the Fair Labor Association have named Reebok as the first FLA company to have a program accredited. Reebok’s footwear factories underwent an extensive review process which examined the company’s independent factory monitoring pr

Guru Apologizes to Cervelo…

Last August Cervélo filed suit against Guru Cycles because of an e-mail correspondence between an unnamed customer and a member of the Guru sales team. Apparently, the Guru employee misrepresented some facts about Cervélo with regards to quality and weig

FX Rate Both Curse and Benefit to THC…

Despite a solid sales increase and gains in the gross margin line, The Hockey Company swung to a loss in the first quarter, due primarily to extraordinary expenses and foreign exchange losses on long-term debt…

Schutt Sports Back on Base with the SEC

Schutt Sports, the Official Base Supplier of Major League Baseball, is partnering with the Southeastern Conference for their 2004 baseball and softball tournaments. Now in its sixth year of involvement with the SEC, Schutt supplies on-field products for

Mission Makes a Statement with ITECH…

The parties involved with Mission Hockey and ITECH Sports Products see their announced merge as a perfect fit for two companies playing in the same space with complimentary product offerings. The deal announced last week will see one merged entity surviv

Accell Acquires a Third Parts Distributor

The Accell Group is becoming rather aggressive in their expansion into the bicycle accessories market with the acquisition of a third distributor, the F. van Buuren & Co. B.V. This acquisition gives Accell two Dutch parts distributors with Junker, and F.

SGMA Board Elects Cove EVP; Will Succeed Riddle

The SGMA board has elected Tom Cove as Executive Vice President for the association, a new post within SGMA management's structure. Cove will subsequently assume the presidency of SGMA International on February 1, 2005. The move is part of a succes

Cramer Jumps into P.E. Business with Both Feet…

Cramer Products had to make the decision to either build or sell when it came to its PE products business, but the company’s decision to pursue the latter actually led to an acquisition that supports the first option. Cramer will definitely grow its PE b

Five Ten Re-Emphasizes EU…

In the month since John Connelly took over the role of International Sales Manager at Five Ten, he has proceeded to restructure the company’s EU management team. Bastiaan Wauters is Five Ten’s new Sales and Sponsorship Coordinator for Europe while Beverl

Eggers Makes Athlete’s Foot EVP/GMM Post Official

Industry veteran Chuck Eggers has been appointed Executive Vice President and General Merchandise Manager of The Athlete's Foot. This follows an announcement in September 2003 that Eggers had joined the organization as interim GMM…

As PE4Life Rallies Feet on the Hill…

In honor of National P.E. day last week, Herschel Walker, Billie Jean King, and a host of other celebrity athletes joined P.E.4Life to release its “Blueprint for Change.” This 10-step action plan is designed to make children healthier through quality, dai