Wall Street

West 49 Gives The Coats Off Their Racks

by The Editors on November 17, 2010

Coats4KidsBillabong’s Canadian core mall retailer West 49 is wrapping up its 8th Annual Coats For Kids program on November 28, 2010. Anyone who donates a used coat or jacket can get $25 off a new coat or snowboard jacket in the store, according to a story on Baytoday.com. And so far the program has given away a lot of jackets to the needy.

For seven years West 49 customers have consistently delivered strong community support by donating coats for kids who don’t have adequate winter clothing. To date more than 60,000 kids have received winter coats as a result of this initiative. . . “Our customers are aware of the important role they play in helping us meet our target for coats. In partnering with local charitable organizations we have an excellent opportunity to be proactive in helping less fortunate families,” said Cindy Mielke, Director of Marketing for West 49. “We surpassed our goal last year by almost 5,000 coats, we are sure we can collect and distribute even more coats to help kids stay warm this winter and are challenging our customers with a goal of 15,000 coats nationally for 2010.”

Yes. Action mall retailers can make a difference.

[Link: Baytoday]

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Do Energy Drinks Fuel Alcohol Dependency?

by The Editors on November 17, 2010

According to a recent study published in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research and reported in Time Magazine college students who drink more than 52 energy drinks “like Red Bull and Monster” each year are more likely to have problems with alcohol than students who don’t drink any of the caffeinated sugar water drinks:

These high-frequency energy drink consumers were also more likely to meet the criteria for alcohol dependence, as defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Compared with students who abstained from using energy drinks, the high-frequency users were 2.4 times more likely to be considered alcohol dependent; compared with the low-frequency group, they were 86% more likely.

Researchers weren’t sure if the data went the other way, however, as students may use the energy drinks to “overcome the affects of hangovers.” Either way, it reminds us of something a skate team manager said when we accidentally kicked over a can of Monster at a recent skate contest: “No worries,” he said. “You just saved some kid’s life.”

[Link: Time.com]

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K2 Licenses Planet Earth To W.L. Activewear

by The Editors on November 15, 2010

Planet EarthSince selling the Planet Earth brand to K2 Sports in 1997 the Chris Miller founded brand has done nothing but bounce around from concept to concept. In the most recent move K2 Sports has ditched the brand entirely and licensed it to a Quebec based W.L. Activewear. Owned by Phil Dixon, the Whiteland distributes AlpineStars, Bern helmets, and Aerial7 headphones in Canada as well as owning the Liquid Boardwear brand, according to a story on Sports One Source.

“This is a rare opportunity to take an established brand that is highly credible in the action sports market and deeply tied into the movement toward eco-conscious design and grow it on a global scale,” Dixon said. “It’s an ideal fit for the program that we have in place.”

All we can say is good luck with that. At least they’ve got Dave Seoane going for them.

[Link: Sports One Source]

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Orange 21 Sales Drop Six Percent

by The Editors on November 15, 2010

Orange21Logo-1One of the coldest Southern California summers on record apparently took it’s toll on Spy Eyewear parent Orange 21. The company said sales were down six percent to $8.2 million in the quarter ended September 30, 2010.

“We experienced a challenging quarter given the lack of sun in Southern California this summer, which negatively affected our net sales,” commented Stone Douglass, the Company’s Chief Executive Officer. “Gross margins increased to 47% for the three months ended September 30, 2010 from 33% during the comparable period in 2009, aided by more effective sourcing in Asia as well as improved operations and a more favorable Euro to U.S. Dollar exchange rate on purchases from LEM, our manufacturing subsidiary in Italy.

Follow the jump for the rest all the details.
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Slater’s Quik Stock Not A Reward For #10

by The Editors on November 12, 2010

Crw 6042It seems nearly everyone from Sports Business to the Sydney Mourning Herald has been caught up in the story that Kelly Slater is being rewarded for his 10th ASP World Championship Title with a three percent stake in Quiksilver.

While the whole “champ turns down $10 million bonus for large chunk of Quik” story has a wonderfully compelling arc, nothing could be further from the truth.

As we mentioned on January 28, 2010, Quiksilver announced that one of the reasons for their March 26, 2010 shareholders meeting was “To consider and vote upon a proposal to approve the grant of 3,000,000 shares of our restricted common stock to Kelly Slater as part of his sponsorship agreement.”

That proposal was approved by shareholders at the March meeting well ahead of Kelly’s title win. While Kelly will reportedly get a sizable bonus (seven figures) for his 10th title, the well-deserved stock grant is for his nearly lifetime dedication to brand, and not for his winning another title. Though, we can’t say it won’t help his negotiations down the road.

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Merchant Bails Out Bio-Plastics Company

by The Editors on November 9, 2010

Plantic LogoBillabong founder Gordon Merchant has decided to pay $8 million dollars to help save a business that makes biodegradable plastics. Plantic Technologies is a Melbourne, Australia-based company that creates “green” plastics made from corn starch, according to as story on Goldcoast,com.au.

Since Plantic’s shares listed at 64 pence ($1.02) each in 2005, they have fallen to ‘penny dreadful’ status, trading around 4 pence for most of the year and creating a sizeable hole in the value of Mr Merchant’s original investment. . . The businessman, who is currently in the US attending the funeral of surfer Andy Irons, has proposed a scheme of arrangement where he would acquire the remaining capital of Plantic that he does not already own. . . Mr Merchant made the offer of 8 pence a share on July 24, and this has since boosted the Plantic share price to around the offer level over the past three months. . . The Plantic board has recommended shareholders accept the offer, in the absence of a superior bid.

Hopefully, it will all work out. The world could use better plastic.

[Link: Goldcoast.com.au]

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686’s Big Giveaway Weekend

by The Editors on November 9, 2010

686 Day Banner

686 has come up with a a pretty simple way to increase their social media reach—free stuff. Each fall they use their email list, facebook and twitter accounts to give products to the kids. They call it 686 Day. This year the day has been extended to three days (November 12-14, 2010).

To follow along be sure to check in on 686’s facebook, twitter, or email newsletter to see how it’s done. Follow the jump for more details and a list of the participating retailers.
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Zumiez Stock Jumps 12 Percent After Hours

by The Editors on November 3, 2010

Zumiez-NotaglineWhen core mall retailer Zumiez announced today (November 3, 2010) that their October revenue in stores open a least a year rose 21.5 percent there wasn’t an after hours trader who didn’t feel like jumping in apparently. The stock rocked up to $28.34 a share, according to a story on Canadian Business.

Analysts expected a rise of 7.8 percent, according to Thomson Reuters. . . Total revenue for the four-week period ending Oct. 30 rose 27.3 percent to $31.4 million.

Zumiez stockholders should be jumping for joy. Speaking of jumps, follow this one for the entire press release.

[Link: Canadian Business]
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ASRn’t: Here Ends A 29-Year Tradition

by The Editors on November 2, 2010

Asr+LogoBack in December of last year (2009) when we heard that several trade shows were flying retailers in and putting them up for a couple nights just so they could walk the isles of a convention for two days we asked a rather obvious question in a post titled Skate Trade Show Overload:

We have to wonder what happens to the entire trade show business model when they have to pay retailers to attend. Lord knows retailers need to be treated well these days, but it still seems to bring us back to the question that’s been plaguing the boardsports business for several years: are trade shows even relevant anymore?

It would appear that today ASR’s parent the Nielsen Company answered a little late with a resounding “No” according to a post on Shop-eat-surf.com. According to what Tiffany Montgomery described as “multiple people briefed on the matter” ASR has cancelled all of their upcoming trade shows. She says:

The demise of the industry’s largest trade show on the West Coast, with 700 brands, 450 manufacturers and attended by 18,000 people from over 60 countries, has the potential to dramatically alter the trade show landscape in the action sports industry.

Nielsen VP of Operations Lori Jenks is quoted in the the San Diego Union-Tribune:

“Unfortunately due to the difficult economic environment and the consolidation in the action sports industry, Nielsen Expositions have decided to suspend the production of both ASR events in San Diego indefinitely,” wrote Lori Jenks, vice president of operations for Nielsen Expositions.

As we all know, the only companies who stand to be hurt by ASR going away are the small and the new. But then they’re the ones who get in the way of the big corporate labels anyway. The major labels can afford to do their own sales work, and if the barrier to entry on the little guys gets a little higher through all this, who really cares, right?

It should be even better news for Agenda’s Aaron Levant. His show has always specialized in the small guys. If ASR leaving the trade show game is good news, Levant didn’t want to talk about this afternoon. The only response we got from him was, “No comment on the ASR situation.”

[Link: Shop-Eat-Surf and San Diego Union-Tribune]

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Whistler Discounts IPO Offering Again

by The Editors on November 2, 2010

Whistler LogoWhistler Blackcomb Resort’s planned IPO doesn’t seem to be offering up much help lately. Fortress Investment Group LLC cut the offered share price for a second time in one week, according to a story on Bloomberg.

Whistler Blackcomb aims to sell shares for C$12 each, with a dividend yield of 8.12 percent, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the plans aren’t public. The company previously cut its price range from C$14 to C$15 a share down to C$12.50 and C$13 apiece.

Not really sure lowering the price on buying into a debt-ridden resort will make it look any more attractive, but what else can they do?

[Link: Bloomberg]

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