by The Editors on January 30, 2009
Nokia Corp. and Skullcandy have apparently agreed to settle their differences outside of the courtroom according to a post on Law360.
A judge has signed off on a request to drop Nokia Corp. without prejudice from an infringement suit brought by Skullcandy Inc. over two patents for an integrator that allows a user to use a music player and a mobile telephone through one set of headphones after the two sides agreed to resolve the dispute out of court.
So that’s where Skullcandy’s next big funding round is coming from. It’s beginning to make sense.
[Link: Law360]
by The Editors on January 30, 2009
While we were at the SIA Show it seemed that no one in the snowboard business was being effected by the economy. But it appears that Mammoth Mountain is not floating blissfully along. The LA Times is reporting that the mountain has laid off 101 employees.
CEO Rusty Gregory, in an interview with KSRW radio, or Sierra Wave, confirmed that 101 employees have been fired and other cost-cutting measures were enacted to make up for a sharp drop in skier-visits. . . . Revenue at the Eastern Sierra resort, which offers some of the world’s finest skiing and snowboarding, is down 21% from preseason projections. And the projected number of skier visits for this season has been reduced from 1.4 million to 1.1 million. . . . Gregory said 10 senior managers received 5% pay cuts. Vacation time has been shortened and gas allowances have been eliminated. Gregory, however, assured that none of the cuts will jeopardize the safety of visitors.
And to think we always figured if things ever got really bad we could always get a job as a lift op. Guess not.
[Link: LA Times]
by The Editors on January 30, 2009
The Alliance of Action Sports has just announced a three-year deal with Eurosport 2 giving the European sports broadcaster exclusive live coverage of the Winter Dew Tour. And of course, Alli President Wade Martin is excited.
“We are thrilled to offer a live telecast of the Winter Dew Tour in Europe through Eurosport 2,” said Wade Martin, President of Alli, the Alliance of Action Sports. “This is a terrific opportunity for fans throughout Europe to see live coverage of the best action sports athletes in the world.”
Are people still watching TV in Europe?
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by The Editors on January 30, 2009
Fortress Investment Group LLC, the investment group that owns Whistler Blackcomb has had its stock slide 96 percent since it went public in February of 2007, according to a story on Bloomberg.com, and now things are looking even worse.
“The more I’ve learned about Fortress, the less comfortable I’ve become,” says Jackson Turner, who follows the company at New York-based Argus Research Co. “There’s just this drip, drip, drip of bad news.” He recommends selling the shares. Only one of nine Fortress analysts tracked by Bloomberg rates them a buy. . . . Fortress is a prime example of what happens when the secretive world of hedge funds collides with the public disclosure required of listed companies. Two years after its initial public offering, Fortress remains a tangled web of subsidiaries and partnerships that analyst Turner says is anything but transparent.
Good luck with the coming Winter Olympics, huh?
[Link: Bloomberg.com]
by The Editors on January 30, 2009
Our favorite Euro snowboard blog Snowbroader has all the great ISPO parties lined up for anyone who is staying on the trade show party train. And for those not lucky enough to make the trip to Munich they’re kicking down complete coverage from the floor starting Sunday February 1, 2009. We’ll be checking it out.
[Link: Snowbroader]
by The Editors on January 30, 2009
We’re kind of glad to be done with the show, but we’ve got one more batch of photos. Follow the jump for 53 more from the floor.
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by The Editors on January 28, 2009
Pacific Sunwear has cut 11 percent of its headquarters and management staff by laying off 47 people, according to a story on Forbes.com.
The actions announced today are aimed at putting our company in a stronger position to weather the continuing challenges in the macroeconomic environment while enabling us to continue moving forward with the key strategic initiatives we have under way,” said Sally Frame Kasaks, chairman and chief executive.
Rough times for mall fashions, huh?
[Link: Forbes]
by The Editors on January 27, 2009
With all the rumor mongering going on about Quiksilver selling this or being bought by that, it is interesting to see that there is at least one analyst out there who is still rating Quiksilver a buy thanks to the company eliminating 200 jobs and a possible debt restructuring in February.
However, KeyBanc Capital Markets analyst Brandon J. Ferro said the news means “an outright sale of Quiksilver or one of its brands is much less likely now than it was when we initiated coverage in early December 2008, as it helps to indicate the Company has made significant progress in resolving near-term liquidity issues.”
We really don’t know who to believe at this point.
[Link: MSNBC]
by The Editors on January 26, 2009
Last night when we said that Tuesday January 27, 2009 was “bring a box to work day” at Quiksilver we had no idea that so many boxes would be required.
Now that we’ve seen the press release on the Quiksilver site we better understand what was meant when we were told “the list is so long Bob doesn’t even want to look at the names.”
The company will eliminate 200 positions as part of the plan, including a reduction-in-force of approximately 150 employees which is expected to account for roughly one-third of the annual cost reductions. Quiksilver expects to record a charge of approximately $5 million in its first fiscal quarter as a result of these actions. . . Robert B. McKnight, Jr., commented, “All levels of our organization are affected by these actions as nearly 20 percent of the employees involved in the reduction hold manager-level titles or higher.
Now it sounds more like “bring a box to work week.” The worst part of all of this is that most of the people going to work tomorrow at Quiksilver have no idea if or when they will be called into HR, laid off, and given an exit interview.
Follow the jump for the entire press release and Bob McKnight’s memo to Quiksilver employees.
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by The Editors on January 26, 2009
We’re guilty. Like many others we spent most of Friday standing around in the isles of the ASR Show talking about how bad things are, how much worse they’re going to get, and whether buying or selling Quiksilver stock is a good idea. The opinions on the later were mixed, regardless of what personalized license plates may have been telling us.
Mixed in with all the gloom, however, were some words of encouragement. Ocean Minded CEO Gary Ward was walking the isles with his lovely daughter Shannon and when we hit him with the “how bad is it” question he set us straight directly.
“Let’s put it this way,” he said. “It’s ten times better than we thought it would be. This industry is a family and no one is stopping this family.”
We wondered if the “family members” who committed to the January ASR show might be benefiting a little from the fact that many of their larger competitors weren’t showing. “Are you kidding? Nauds is laughing right now,” he said of Billabong’s Paul Naude. “He’s had a great year and look at their booths; they are packed. For sure, the people who stuck it out are reaping the benefits.”
Follow the jump for the rest of the story.
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Nokia Corp. and Skullcandy have apparently agreed to settle their differences outside of the courtroom according to a post on Law360.
