We all know retail is hell we’re just not quite sure it has ever been so eloquently stated as it is here in this Mollusk Minute.
[Link: Mollusk via The Vans Blog]
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Wall Street
When former Quiksilver retail store employee Lynn Adams filed a wrongful termination suit against her former employer Quiksilver filed a motion claiming that when Adams was hired she signed a electronic arbitration agreement and waived her rights to a jury trial. The court granted the motion, according to an opinion released February 22, 2010 on Leagle.com.
Adams then filed a “petition for extraordinary relief” with the Court of Appeals of California, Fourth Appellate District, Division Three saying she “never agreed to arbitrate claims against Quiksilver and she never signed the electronic document containing the arbitration clause” and the court agreed with her.
Adams contends there is no substantial evidence to support the trial court’s finding that she entered into an agreement to arbitrate her claims against Quiksilver. She argues there is no evidence she typed in the electronic signature and, even if she did, there is no evidence she actually agreed to arbitrate. We agree.
Guess that means Adams can continue on with her legal action and Quik has one more appellate reversal and Adams legal costs to pay.
[Link: Leagle.com]
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Last week Kymsta Corp., announced that they had won the latest and what they hoped would be the final round in their trademark dispute with Quiksilver over their Roxywear line of junior’s clothing. An appelate court overturned a previous judgement that required Kymstra to cease production on Roxywear and allowed Kymstra to begin producing their brand again.
Yesterday, Quiksilver released a press release claiming they had won the most recent round saying that their recently overturned ruling what actually what they were hoping for all along. Bob McKnight explains:
“From the beginning we had proposed a co-existence agreement that offered Kymsta the ability to retain their then-current use of the ‘Roxywear’ name. It’s unfortunate that Kymsta has caused each of us to expend significant time and financial resources to arrive at a conclusion that is more restrictive on Kymsta than the original offer we made to them nearly ten years ago. Nevertheless, we are pleased to have had an opportunity to successfully defend our corporate reputation and principles and to receive the court’s validation of our ‘Roxy’ trademark rights. We also thank the jury and the court for their hard work and feel totally vindicated with an outcome that significantly restricts Kymsta’s use of the ‘Roxywear’ name and thus serves to prevent any future confusion with our ‘Roxy’ trademark, and that appropriately holds Kymsta responsible for our court costs.”
Let’s review: Quik sued Roxywear in 2002 to try to stop them from making Roxywear clothing. Quik was given a judgement. That judgement was overturned when an appeals court said the matter should have been decided by a jury. A trial was held and Kymstra was again found to be infringing on Quik’s trademark and was asked to stop producing Roxywear. Kymstra appealed that decision and it was overturned again allowing them to produce Roxywear in a limited fashion.
If both sides are claiming victory it sounds like a win-win. We’re kind of surprised that the lawyers didn’t send out a press release claiming victory because it would appear they are the real winners.
Follow the jump for the entire release.
[click to continue…]
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Car-Freshner Corp., the company that makes the little trees that hang from people’s review mirrors and soak up that dank weedy smell, has filed a trademark infringement suit against Burton Snowboards according to a story in the Watertown Daily Times.
Car-Freshner claims that the company offers a line of five “Fix” snowboards using the allegedly unauthorized tree design and that it has sold the boards through its Web site and at Sports Authority, Zumiez and Ski Co. stores in the Syracuse area. . . The Watertown company is asking a judge to, among other things, order Burton to recall and stop selling the disputed boards. It also is asking for an unspecified amount of damages.
Hard to believe anyone would mistake a snowboard for an air-freshner. . . but anything is possible.
[Link: Watertown Daily Times]
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A plan to move their distribution warehouse from Everett, Washington to Southern California will have 170 of Zumiez’s Northwest employees looking for new jobs according to a story in The Seattle Times.
The chain of youth-oriented sports apparel stores said in a statement Monday that the majority of its vendors are in California, and the move will cut transportation costs and improve its efficiency. . . The company said its headquarters and e-commerce operation will remain in Everett, next door to the leased warehouse it is closing. . . Zumiez said it expects to hire 180-200 people for its new distribution center in Corona, Calif.
What’s bad for Washington is great for SoCal.
[Link: The Seattle Times]
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Peter Glenn of Vermont, the 16 store medium box East Coast snow sports retailer has announced they are closing their original Berlin, Vermont location after more than 50 years, according to a story in the Time Argus.
“After more than 52 years selling Skis, Snowboards, Skateboards, Accessories and Outerwear clothing in Vermont, 20 years at this location, Peter Glenn of Vermont, will close their doors,” the press release stated. “Peter Glen (sic) operates 15 other stores in the southern United States which will not be closing.”
[Link: Times Argus via Sports One Source]
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Billabong sales in the US dropped by 6 percent but CEO Derek O’Neill says that’s actually not that bad considering the economy and currency fluctuations, according to a story in The Australian.
“There are a lot of other companies in our sector which wouldn’t have minded a drop of only 6 per cent in America,” Billabong chief Derek O’Neill said yesterday. “It got better in November and December, but in the early months — July and August — conditions were very tough in the US.”
But none of this has caused Billabong to cut back on the 5 percent growth they are estimating for the year.
Mr O’Neill said the company did not expect a strong sales burst but it was counting on increased margins for it to meet its profit guidance after cost-cutting in the second half of last year, particularly in the US.
[Link: The Australian and BusinessWeek]
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The battle between Quiksilver’s Roxy and Kymsta Corp’s Roxywear has been rolling on in court for nearly a decade and the back and forth wins in US District courts have kept lawyers for both companies working overtime it seems.
In 2008 the court, ruling in Quiksilver’s favor, decided that Roxywear would have to phase out their line of clothing over an 18 month period. On December 30, 2009 an appeals court decision overturned that ruling and Kymsta has won the right to start making clothes again, according to a story in ApparelNews.
“After all these years, we’re finally done,” said attorney James Nguyen, who represented Kymsta. . . “This is very positive for us,” said Art Pereira, who with his wife, Roxanne Heptner, owned Kymsta. . . “Hopefully this is the end of it,” said Charles Exon, Quiksilver’s chief administrative officer, executive vice president, secretary and general counsel. “From our first meeting, Quiksilver was happy to have Kymsta live within the parameters that were ultimately set forth.”
Apparently, the little guys occasionally win some.
[Link: Apparel News via Sports One Source]
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Whistler-Blackcomb Resort’s uber-owner Fortress Investment Group LLC has been given an extension on the Intrawest asset action that was supposed to take place tomorrow February 19, 2010, according to a story on Bloomberg.com.
Creditors including the estate of collapsed bank Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., who have sought control of Intrawest since it missed a final payment in December on a $1.4 billion loan, agreed to extend the deadline for the auction until Feb. 26, according to the person, who declined to be identified because terms are private.
Nice of them not to dirty up the Olympic proceedings with some financial realities isn’t it?
[Link: Bloomberg]
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In a post on AngrySnowboarder.com (pointed out to us by SouthoftheNorth’s Jonny Burns) the Angry One discovered that all the snowboarders who are currently appearing in the 2010 Olympics have had their names and likenesses removed from the team pages of their sponsor’s websites.
Turns out this is the result of a small by-law of the IOC’s rule 41 (mentioned yesterday in a story on ESPN). It reads:
Except as permitted by the IOC Executive Board, no competitor, coach, trainer or official who participates in the Olympic Games may allow his person, name, picture or sports performances to be used for advertising purposes during the Olympic Games.
Guess that explains the Scott Lago hole in the Flow website (above right) as well as Louie Vito missing on Omatic, Shaun White, Kelly Clark, Hannah Teter et. al. missing from the on the Burton site, etc. etc. etc. . . Now, if you’re an official Olympic sponsor, then it’s a completely different game. Another not-so-subtle reminder that the Olympics really are all about the money.
[Links: AngrySnowboarder via SouthofTheNorth and ESPN]
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