Claw Warbrick the founder of Rip Curl will be inducted into the Australian Surfing Hall of Fame at the Coolangatta Hotel on Saturday February 20, 2010 according to a story on Goldcoast.com.au.
The surf businessman will become the hall’s 32nd inductee. . . “I feel honoured,” said Warbrick. “I feel humbled to join the list of those who have made such rich contributions to our Australian surfing culture.”
It’s about time.
[Link: Goldcoast.com.au]
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Gary Shoenfeld isn’t messing around with his plans to put Pacific Sunwear back on the up. To help he reportedly hired Christine Lee the former general merchandise manager of women’s apparel and accessories at Urban Outfitters.
Lee will be PacSun’s senior vice president and general merchandise manager of clothes for teen girls, according to a story in the Orange County Business Journal.
[Link: Orange County Business Journal]
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While we heard reports that the annual ispo Trade Show in Munich had a couple busy days, a so-so day and “the fourth day was for the exhibitors to visit each other” show organizer Messe München International claims they had a record year, according to a story on SportsOneSource.
More than 64,000 international visitors from 177 countries came to preview new trends and innovations during the 70th ispo in Munich, Germany. That represents an increase of close to 7% compared to 2009. . . Show organizers said 68 percent of visitors came from abroad, an increase of about 2% compared to last year. . . . “The numbers clearly show how strong this international sports business network is,” said Klaus Dittrich, chairman of the Management of Messe München GmbH: “Even after 4 decades ispo remains the “place to be” for the global sporting goods industry. In the future we will continue to expand our position with innovations and new concepts, like the ispovision and Opinion Leader concept.”
[Link: SportsOneSource]
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Thanks to a year that reportedly saw Burton’s sales drop 13-18 percent the Burton corporation has announced that they will be laying off 15 people in their Burlington offices according to a story in the Burlington Free Press.
In addition to the cuts in Burlington, two staffers in a California office will be laid off, Potdevin said. . . After staff reductions, Burton employs more than 600 people in North America, with its total global headcount topping 950. . . “Our industry has contracted. The layoffs are about scaling the company to the industry’s size,” Potdevin said. . . “This hasn’t been easy for anyone,” said Jake Burton, founder and chairman of Burton. “It’s still a very challenging marketplace, but with the best product, team and marketing in the industry, we will get through this stronger than ever. The reinstatement of salaries and merit increases has been a priority, and fortunately, with our improvement in performance we are able to accomplish that.”
The layoff apparently represents two percent of the global work force. Not bad, really.
[Link: Burlington Free Press]
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Paul Speaker, the president of Time Inc.’s in-house video production unit, has apparently been named to the Quiksilver board of directors according to a press release issued today. Bob McKnight is very pleased.
“We are very pleased to welcome Paul to our Board of Directors and we look forward to the important contributions he will make to the future success of Quiksilver. Paul has a terrific track record as a marketing innovator and he will add a valuable executive perspective to our continued efforts to market our great global brands and our media in new and interesting ways. Paul’s experience in coordinating marketing messages across multiple platforms including online, television, mobile and video-on-demand will help us to evolve our marketing strategies and drive effective use of technology in communicating our messages.”
We’re certain stranger things have happened on the Quik boards, but we just don’t remember them. Follow the jump for the entire release.
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In a conference call at the ungodly time of 8:30 AM ET today VF Corp announced their Q4 numbers and aside from a “$114.4 million after-tax, noncash charge related to the impairment of goodwill and intangible assets” things were looking up even though total 2009 revenues were down 6 percent.
Fourth quarter revenues in our Outdoor & Action Sports coalition grew 8%, with operating income and margins each reaching record levels for the period. Global revenues of The North Face(R) and Vans(R) brands grew 7% and 14%, respectively. Total coalition revenues in our Americas businesses rose 4%, while international revenues were up 9% in constant dollars, led by exceptionally strong growth in Asia. Total direct-to-consumer revenues for our Outdoor & Action Sports coalition rose 21% in the quarter.
Inexpensive, stylish shoes and high-priced technical outwear seem to be growing in popularity. Follow the jump for the press release or the link for all the numbers.
[Link: VFC]
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The Sponsorhouse story is an odd one. They started out trying to get kids to pay them money for the possibility of “getting sponsored”. Then in January of 2008 the company decided to change it’s name to Loop’d saying they were going to be the myspace of action sports. When they did, we made fun of them with a post titled Action Sports Gets Loopy.
Now, only two years later, they have changed their name again. This time to Hookit.com. Apparently, they were forced to change it after they “got caught in a Loop (aka Legal battle).” according to their website.
“We are really excited to finally roll out our new brand name and logo, and want to make sure all of our members and brand partners know that we are still the same company, offering the same products and services,” said Scott Tilton, CEO of Hookit.com. “We’ve had tremendous support during the transition and now we can solely focus on innovating new features for our members and partners again.”
We have to agree. The new name does explain exactly what they’re doing. . . Follow the jump for the complete press release.
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Back on October 29, 2009 we mentioned a rumor on All Things D about News Corp. selling off Fuel TV to finance an approximately $800 million purchase of the Travel Channel from Discovery. Now, it appears that it is more than a rumor according to a story on Sports Business Journal.
Fox Cable Networks is in advanced discussions on a deal that would sell its action sports channel Fuel TV to Viacom, according to several sources with direct knowledge of the talks. . . The sale was expected to close late last year, but the parties are still negotiating an agreement. Talks began last year when the companies discussed entering a joint venture around Fuel TV, but subsequent discussions led the parties to negotiations on a complete sale of the channel. Sources say Viacom will pay a sum in the low to mid-nine figures to secure the channel.
Great. If this goes through maybe MTV will finally add Parkour to the Fuel TV mix.
[Link: Sports Business Journal, Business Insider, Hollywood Reporter, Media Wire Daily, Radio Business Report]
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No shock here, but according to Forbes.com Shaun White is tied with South Korean ice skater Kim Yu-Na as the highest paid Winter Olympians. Forbes says the two made $8 million last year.
Shaun’s money comes from (in no particular order): Burton, Target, Red Bull, Oakley, Ubisoft, and AT&T.
Now that is some serious sign spinning.
[Link: Forbes.com]
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There’s nothing better than a gushing write-up in the nation’s largest daily newspaper and USA Today writer Bruce Horovitz does it up proper with Jake Burton (not to imply that he doesn’t deserve it). It is rare to see newspaper profiles so filled with love. It’s almost like Horovitz works in Burton PR.
This is Jake Burton’s life — a major cool one. . . As the founder, cultural guru and chief prankster of the world’s largest snowboard company — and the guy who almost single-handedly turned snowboarding into a multibillion-dollar sport — he’s got a lot to do. Like snowboard 100 days a year. And surf for another 50, or so.
We all know the rest of the story story, but for a reminder read it all. It almost sounds too good to be true.
[Link: USA Today]
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