SGB Update

Lauderdale Lakes Leaders Cope with Loss of Sports Authority HQ

This city is dusting itself off again from the loss of another major business, this time the corporate headquarters for Sports Authority. The Lauderdale Lakes-based sporting goods company that began in 1987 announced last week it would merge with Color

GBMI Gets Attitude in New Pony Deal…

Rumors have been flying for weeks about a mysterious “Brand Six” that was about to be added to the stable at GBMI. Speculation ran from GBMI buying an athletic performance brand to acquiring a skate shoe company. A section of their new headquarters in S

Puma Grows U.S. Business 70% in Q4…

Puma shares rose just 1.3% for the week after another extraordinary report on fourth quarter and full-year 2002 sales and profits. The limited rise in price was due no doubt to the fact that the stock rose 91% last year and the benefit this last week was

Nike Renews Monitoring Group Deal…

Nike’s plan to renew its funding for a group that is charged with monitoring its factory policies and conditions raises a number of questions about how independent – and effective – such groups can be in their pursuit of fair treatment for millions of fac

Brown Shoe Sees IMPACT of Initiatives…

Brown Shoe Company announced dramatically higher earnings for fiscal 2002 as a direct result of management’s turnaround initiatives. With the effects of nonrecurring gains and nonrecurring losses factored out, the company's earnings rose 56% for the

Creditor Takes Lead in Cannondale Bid…

Cannondale’s creditors weren’t happy with bankruptcy proceedings on Friday that saw the appointment of one the company’s largest creditors, Pegasus Partners II, as the “stalking horse” in auction proceedings scheduled for March 20, 2003 Company assets…

REI Gains With Multi-Channel Strategy…

While most retailers in our industry gave up on the Internet after its initial hype — and sold out their online brand presence to someone else — we are starting to see investments in the category start to pay off for some key retail nameplates…

Deckers Positions Brands for Growth

DECK shares were off 5.3% for the week to close at $4.60 on Friday even as the company surpassed analyst’s earnings estimates. Net earnings for the quarter nearly tripled to $1.36 million, compared to $506,000 in the previous year's quarter…

Stride Rite Sees FY03 Cap Ex Down 17%

According to its 10-K report filing, Stride Rite Corp. expects to see a 17% decrease in Cap Ex versus fiscal 2002. SRR expects capital expenditures of $10 million for the year ending November 28, 2003. The company posted capital expenditures of $ 12.1

Buffett Walks on Burlington Deal…

Berkshire Hathaway, Inc. has cancelled its $579 million cash offer to acquire Burlington Industries, Inc. out of bankruptcy court. The deal, initially announced February 11, 2003, was terminated by Warren Buffett’s BRK after a Delaware bankruptcy judge b

Honest, Your container Fell Off a Ship…

We have either used the story or heard the story in our careers, but it appears that containers really DO fall off of boats in the Pacific Ocean…

Billabong Shares Hit Undertow…

Shares of the Australian surf lifestyle brand were down 8.9% in heavy trading late last week after the company backed off earlier guidance on fiscal ‘03 earnings. BBG closed at A$5.35 on Friday after three days of trading that saw over 10.4 million share

Exchange Rates Hurt and Benefit Head…

Head N.V. expects 2003 sales and profits to be flat or lower than the results reported in 2002 – results impacted a great deal by currency exchange rates & rules.
Net sales for 2002 declined 1.1% to $387.5 million. HED company saw a net loss of $2.6 mi

Escalade To Buy Back Stock…

Escalade, Inc. will purchase of up to $3 million of its common stock on the open market or through privately negotiated transactions. ESCA’s Board of Directors authorized the buy-back at the company’s quarterly meeting…