SGB Update Sports & Fitness

NRF Welcomes Agreement To Avoid Fiscal Cliff

The National Retail Federation welcomed an agreement reached between the White House and Congress on a plan to avoid the fiscal cliff. The agreement was approved by the Senate early this morning and could be considered by the House as soon as today…

Nielsen Acquires The Sports Licensing and Tailgate Show

Nielsen Holdings N.V., which owns the Outdoor Retailer and Interbike trade shows, has acquired The Sports Licensing & Tailgate Show and the Tailgating Industry Association. The acquisition is effective immediately…

ICSC: Holiday Retail Sales on Pace to Grow 3.0 Percent

Holiday retail sales are on track to grow 3.0 over last year, according to the latest readings from the ICSC\Goldman Sachs (ICSC\GS) chain store sales index. The index rose by 0.7 percent for the week ending Dec. 22 from the prior week, which continued to

Consumer Confidence Plunges in December

The Conference Board said its consumer-confidence index declined in December, as a sub-gauge on expectations plunged to 66.5 — the lowest reading since November 2011 — from 80.9 a month earlier. Blamed were uncertainties over the fiscal cliff…

FitStudio By Sears Debuts Fit 15 List

Sears announced the 2013 Fit 15 list of must-have fitness gear and trends from a panel of 15 certified fitness professionals with more than 150 years of combined experience. The first-ever list promises the “New Year's hottest fitness apparel, access

Allen Edmonds Gains Equity Investment

Gladstone Capital Corporation has invested $19.5 million in Allen Edmonds Shoe Corporation by purchasing a loan from one of Allen Edmonds' existing lenders…

Bass Pro Announces Georgia and Florida Store Openings

Bass Pro Shops will open a 100,000-square-foot Bass Pro Shops Outpost store in Emerson, GA. as well as a 104,000-square-foot Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World store in St. Johns County, FL to serve the Jacksonville area…

Billabong Agrees To Due Diligence With Naude’s Group

Billabong announced that a consortium led by Paul Naude, a board director and former head of Billabong’s Americas division, and New York-based private equity firm Sycamore Partners, has signed a confidentiality agreement with Billabong to pursue a t

Sierra Trading Post Acquired by The TJX Companies for $200 MM

Sierra Trading Post (STP), which has acted as a primary clearance outlet for outdoor sporting goods, has been acquired by The TJX Companies, Inc. The purchase price of approximately $200 million, or one times STP's annual sales, was paid in cash, fin

U.S. Fuels Nike’s Q2

Nike Inc. saw its second consecutive quarter of sliding backlogs in China and its eight straight quarter of gross margin erosion. But a better-than-expected performance from other parts of the world, led by stellar performance in its North America and Eme

The Conservation Alliance Releases Third worthWILD Video

The Conservation Alliance (CA) released Allegany, the third video in its worthWILD series, that tells the story of the Adirondack Mountain Club’s successful campaign to protect New York’s Alleghany State Park from oil drilling, and related hab