by The Editors on April 13, 2011
It was only a month ago that Michael Marckx left his position as VP of global marketing at Globe to become VP of marketing at Spy Optic. It appears he’s been chewing up the scenery at the Carlsbad-based company.
Today, the company announced that Marckx has been promoted to president and that CEO Stone Douglass is “stepping down.” Orange 21 board chairman Seth Hamot says this is a turning point for a company (that has had its share over the last decade).
“Today marks an important milestone for Orange 21 and SPY: We have a new management team dedicated to growing our firm through enhancing our brands,” says Seth Hamot, Orange 21 chairman of the board. “Our new CEO, Carol Montgomery, previously helped grow Revo from a small sunglass brand to a much larger firm. Similarly, Michael Marckx was instrumental in resurrecting the Ocean Pacific (Op) brand, and recently has run divisions for Globe International, the action sports lifestyle brand and world’s largest manufacturer of skateboards. Finally, the inclusion of Michael Angel to our senior executive ranks will help us build a stronger company on a solid foundation.
Nice 30 day plan, Marckxy. What’s on the schedule for next month? [click to continue…]
by The Editors on April 12, 2011
Western Australia’s West Suits was forced to “call in administrators” when a rough economy got in the way of continued sales growth according to a story in The West.
The O’Connor-based business, which generated about $6 million in total sales last year, has secured debts owed to National Australia Bank of about $1 million. . . Up to a further $1 million is also owed to several trade creditors, and an unnamed private investor is understood to have advanced the company several million dollars.
According to the story, administrator Dino Travaglini, from Perth firm Moore Stephens says “it would be business as usual while he sourced a buyer for the company.”
Being the little guy has never been easy.
[Link: The West]
by The Editors on April 6, 2011
If everyone got a Jim Phillips graphic as cool as Mob Grip’s new Sales Manager Bud “Mr. Griptape” Smith did when he was hired, we’d be running all kinds of business promotional news bits.
“Mob Grip is first and foremost a great product,” says Bud. “When you add amazing team riders and marketing, consistent quality and an innovative high performance product offering, it truly is a complete package. It’s all backed by a focused skateboard company committed to re-investing in skateboarding. I am very excited to be involved. I have no doubt the future looks bright.”
Sure enough. [click to continue…]
by The Editors on March 31, 2011
Volcom reportedly filed a trademark infringement lawsuit in the Central District of California on March 29, 2011 against Jay-Z’s Roc Nation brand, according to a story on All Hip Hop.
According to the complaint, Roc Nation’s logo is too close to their own, which they have been using in trade since 1991. . . Additionally, Volcom claims the logo could create confusion in the marketplace, since their label Volcom Entertainment, also uses a similar, registered trademark. . . “While Roc Nation appears to have initially used the diamond only in combination with the words ‘Roc Nation’ it is now using the diamond logo on its own, causing a likelihood of confusion among consumers,” Volcom’s complaint reads.
Can you tell the difference?
[Link: New York Daily News and All Hip Hop]
by The Editors on March 30, 2011
GoPro, the compact, HD video camera company that has completely changed the look of action sports footage, has reportedly purchased Solana Beach, California video compression technology company CineForm.
“We’re extremely excited to welcome the CineForm team to GoPro,” exclaims Nicholas Woodman, GoPro’s founder and CEO. “CineForm is an industry leader in video codec technology and is famous in professional circles for their HD and 3D content creation tools. As GoPro is focused on making it easy for consumers to capture professional quality content, we’re eager to incorporate CineForm’s technology and passion into future GoPro products.”
How Woodman took GoPro from a company that marketed crappy, waterproof, plastic, disposable film cameras on a Velcro wrist strap to a brand delivering ubiquitous micro HD video camera companies is worth a book in and off itself. Now, it appears that he’s kicking the whole thing up another notch by owning the compression technology. Smart moves from GoPro. [click to continue…]
by The Editors on March 30, 2011
Core action mall retailer Zumiez management seemed very happy about their reported $0.79 per share net income in 2010, but the earning didn’t come from any increase in business, but rather from some “fishy” accounting tricks, according to a story on Forbes.com.
Zumiez (ZUMZ), a retailer of cool action apparel turned to an old account ing trick to boost its 2010 earnings by 13%. Digging through the foot notes of its 10-K filing, we found that ZUMZ increased the useful life estimate of its lease hold improvements. . . This change in accounting estimates reduces the company’s depreciation expense by $2.7 million after-tax and increases GAAP earnings by 13%.
But that’s apparently not the only trick in Zumiez accounting bag, according to writer David Trainer.
Increasing useful-life estimates is not the only accounting trick in ZUMZ’s bag. Further analysis of the financial footnotes also reveals that the com pany carries over $310 million (nearly 50% of its market cap and over 120% of reported net assets) in off-balance sheet debt. This large, hidden liability means the valuation of the stock is much higher and riskier than it appears.
Apparently, Zumiez is shifting over to the “whatever it takes” program.
[Link: Forbes]
by The Editors on March 25, 2011
Losses at Orange 21, the parent of Spy Optic, increased $1.2 million in 2010 to $4.6 for the Carlsbad, California based eyewear marketer, according to financial repors for the year ended December 31, 2011. But some of those losses were actually investments according to CEO Stone Douglass.
“We are pleased with our results for 2010 even though we had substantial direct and indirect additional operating costs related to our two newest brands, Margaritaville and Melodies by MJB, for which there have been minimal sales during this period,” commented Stone Douglass, the Company’s Chief Executive Officer. “Gross margins increased to 48% for the year ended December 31, 2010 from 40% during the comparable period in 2009, aided by more effective sourcing in Asia, and improved operations and a more favorable Euro to U.S. Dollar exchange rate on purchases from our Italian manufacturer, LEM.”
To get the full story tune in to Orange 21 investor conference call on March 30, 2011 at 1:30 PM PST. Just dial 1-866-711-8198 [click to continue…]
by The Editors on March 24, 2011
Burton Snowboards has announced today that they have signed a licensing agreement with Korea’s “leading fashion company” LG Fashion to not only distribute Burton products but to license the brand to design streetwear in Korea.
To celebrate the new partnership, LG Fashion invited Burton Snowboards’ Co-Owner Donna Carpenter to a ceremony in Seoul this week where executives from the two companies officially signed the agreement. . . “It is a true honor for me to be in Korea to personally sign our new partnership agreement with LG Fashion,” said Donna. “With dozens of winter resorts and a snowy climate, Korea is a very important market for us, and we’ve always wanted to enhance Burton’s presence here. Now that we have such a reputable and established partner as LG Fashion, we can take Burton to a whole new level in the Korean marketplace.”
Not a bad way to go big in Korea quickly, but is this licensing deal the beginning of the end of Burton as we know it? [click to continue…]
by The Editors on March 24, 2011
On Wednesday March 23, 2011 Rick Alden announced that he was stepping down from his position as CEO of Skullcandy, the company he founded, and handing the position over to Skullcandy President Jeremy Andrus.
It is not known whether Alden, who was named 2009 Entrepreneur of The Year by Entrepreneur magazine, will remain in an active role at the company moving forward, according to sources.
[Update March 28, 2011: Rick Alden has officially “resigned” from the company but will remain on the board. Ouch! And right before the IPO. Someone obviously isn’t happy. Follow the jump for the official press release.] [click to continue…]
by The Editors on March 24, 2011
We don’t follow the Dew Tour in general so we’re not really sure what any of these announcements mean, other that to say that it would appear that the courses are getting better with concrete and that there will be a bowl, all to be allegedly built by California Skateparks. And we know they do good work.
Here are the dates:
Dew Tour at Ocean City July 21-24 Ocean City, Md. – Ocean City Pier
Dew Tour at Portland Aug. 11-14 Portland, Ore. – Rose Quarter
Toyota Challenge Sept. 8-11 Salt Lake City, Utah – EnergySolutions Arena
Dew Tour Championships Oct. 13-16 Las Vegas, Nev.
Wonder if it still tickles your innards? [click to continue…]
