While in previous years Hill has issued bullish assessments of the outlook only to have them fail to materialise, he’s now playing it safe. He talks only of stabilising revenues and growing through market share expansion. . . “We have some positive signs in the business at the moment but markets are also erratic, so we’re being cautious both on the outlook and how we manage the business,” he tells The Australian.
Blackbook Magazine interviews Tony Hawk on the business side of skateboarding and discovers that like for most of us hardest part of Tony’s job is managing his time.
Prioritizing my time is definitely the hardest. Just in terms of how much time I need to devote to a project, or traveling, or promoting and trying to maintain a stable family life as well.
Transworld Snowboarding video stylist Joe Carlino (and Gary Milton and Hayden Rensch) have reportedly left the magazine to join the Videograss team, according to news released yesterday.
“Adding the entire crew that delivered my favorite video of 2010, In Color which was made by Joe Carlino, Gary Milton, and Hayden Rensch, is a huge step for Videograss,” LeBlanc says. “We feel Videograss makes one of the top 5 snowboarding videos in the world yearly, but adding this new title to our business really brings in a huge element to Videograss. We have now added a big mountain and backcountry element to our video offering. More importantly we have added a production crew that is deep in experience, with all the filmers being highly motivated and talented individuals that previously owned and or started their own video in past seasons. We feel as a company we can now deliver 2 of the top 5 videos for Winter 2011.”
It seems this news comes at an almost oddly perfect time as we’re getting continued reports that the Bonnier Corporation is “losing interest” in continuing Transworld Media video projects. Follow the jump for the entire Videograss release. [click to continue…]
Danny Kass and The Dingo doing a little promo for Aaron Levant’s snowboarding Agenda January 6 & 7, 2011 in Anaheim. Apparently, there will be no skiing allowed (which is always nice).
Concrete Wave’s Michael Brooke sent us this little clip this morning. Apparently, the longboard skateboard community is feeling a little heat from the major labels.
Following some less the impressive Q4 forecasts Volcom shares dipped below their 50-day moving average this morning with a 15 percent drop, according to Market Intellisearch.
Technical analysts and investors may interpret today’s trading activity as a sign that the shares will continue to head lower in the foreseeable future assuming the moving average has downward slope. . . The stock’s 52 week low is $14.7 and the high is $24.79. The technical momentum Relative Strength Index indicator shows oversold conditions.
In among the other news reported today during Volcom’s third quarter results report was the announcement that the Board of Directors has approved a special $1 a share dividend for shareholders (and those holding unvested shares of restricted common stock).
The payout will be made on November 19, 2010 to stockholders of record on November 8, 2010. “The aggregate amount of payments to be made in connection with the special dividend will be approximately $24.4 million.”
This is the kind of stuff companies do just to jack with us. Sure, all the big shareholders (Wooly has 2.7 million or so) and the employees who have unvested shares will get a nice little payout. But here’s what we’re thinking: if we get a dollar a share for all the Volcom stock we own (which is, of course, zero). We could buy some shares on November 3 (the ex-dividend date is November 4), hold it until November 8 to qualify for the dividend, and then sell it back on Tuesday. If the share price goes up during the time, even better. The downside, as always, is if the share price goes down during that week then the dividend won’t even pay for itself. Oh, the way they toy with us.
Those interested in all the financial nitty gritty (things were up a bit over last year) from the rest of VeeCo’s announcement today can follow the jump. [click to continue…]
According to a report released by the Magazine Publishers of America magazine advertising pages during the third quarter (July to September 2010) were up 3.6 percent over the same period last year. The biggest gains were in the retail category where pages were up 7.2 percent and revenue was up 13.1 percent. As we do most quarters we’ve checked in with the only action sports magazines followed in the Publisher Information Bureau (Bonnier Corporation’sTransworld Media) and see that things are mostly looking up. In fact Q3 looked great for all the titles aside from Skateboarding and Wakeboarding:
We’ve always been intrigued by Zumiez founder Tom Campion; not because of the company’s size, or its total sales, or strong stock. What we find amazing about Campion is his ability to communicate the Zumiez brand message to all of his employees. The skill with which Zumiez takes seemingly lost kids off the street and turns them into retail selling machines is legendary, as anyone who has attended the annual Zumiez 100k will tell you.
What is most shocking on meeting Campion is how such a quiet, thoughtful man can engender such enthusiasm in his employees. Transworld Business‘ Mike Lewis interviews Campion. Here’s a little of what Tom said:
I always have had a little problem with authority—authority that’s not justified—“You do this because I’m the founder and I’m going to go out and play golf,” or some bullshit like that. Doesn’t that translate into problems throughout business or society? If you’re going to have vision and you’re going to lead, you got to lead by example not just by words. . . . You can’t do one thing one year, and a new one the next. There has to be consistency over time so [employees] know what’s coming. You have to believe it yourself and you have to be honorable about it. You’ve got to appreciate the fact that they’re working to make the sale. They are the face to your customer all the time. What you tell them has to be consistent.
Much easier said than done. Click the link for the rest of the interview.
The Term Facility is subject to interim amortization of $1,500,000, payable on June 30 and December 31 of each year, beginning on June 30, 2011, until the principal balance under the Term Facility is reduced to $14 million. The Term Facility bears interest, at the Borrower’s option, at either (x) an adjusted London Inter-Bank Offer rate plus 5.0% per annum, payable quarterly in arrears, or (y) the U.S. prime rate plus 4.0% per annum, payable quarterly in arrears. The Borrower must make prepayments in connection with certain corporate transactions and other circumstances, and may repay the loans under the Term Facility at any time without premium or penalty.
One thing is certain: Joe Scirocco earns his paycheck.
For the first time in four years Globe International (parent of Dwindle Distribution) has turned a profit. And, according to a story in The Australian, it is due to a “balanced approach.”
