by The Editors on January 8, 2009
Lately there are simply too many doom and gloom retail stories hitting to even try to keep up, so here is this morning’s round up:
And the New Year’s joy continues to roll in.
by The Editors on January 7, 2009
We received reports yesterday that Reef dropped the axe on 42 employees as the savage retail economy continues to take its toll. Reef is one of 25 brands owned by VF Corp. Some of the company’s other brands include Vans, The North Face, 7 For All Mankind, Eastpack, Jansport, Wrangler, and Eagle Creek.
In a late December 2008 interview with TransWorld Business VF Corp’s President Americas Coalition Dave Gatto said:
We all know there can be a huge up-swing when the market recovers; it’s just a matter of adjusting the business responsibly to survive the lulls and hopefully emerge a stronger, more efficient brand.
Looks like Mr. Gatto just “adjusted” the Reef business to survive this lull. Hopefully, that was enough.
by The Editors on January 7, 2009
On December 10, 2008 Blacks Leisure announced they were giving the UK distribution rights to O’Neill back to O’Neill Europe and later mentioned they would find a buyer for their 57 Freespirit and O’Neill boardsports shops. Well, according to a story in the Blacks Leisure the company was unable to find a buyer for the stores.
“The reality is in the current market people aren’t prepared to do a sensible deal,” Neil Gillis, chief executive. . . . He said the fashion of wearing clothing inspired by skateboard and surf culture appeared to have passed. Instead of selling the division, Blacks is preparing to convert the stores to its main brands at a cost of £150,000 a store or £1.5m for the first tranche to be completed this year.
Blame it on skate and surf fashions. Nice.
[Link: Financial Times]
by The Editors on January 6, 2009
Just a little reminder regarding January 21, 2009 and the Crossroads Retail Show and kind of wondering what this means for ASR and skateboarding if Crossroads becomes more successful.
[Link: Black Box Distribution]
by The Editors on January 5, 2009
ASG parent company Source Interlink’s owner (and Tony Hawk supporter) Ron Burkle has just announced that his Yucaipa Cos owns an 8.5 percent stake in Barnes & Nobel, according to a story on Bloomberg.com.
Burkle intends to monitor Barnes & Noble’s performance and consider the option to discuss strategic opportunities with the company’s board or executives, according to a regulatory filing today. The stake makes Burkle, 56, the fourth-largest shareholder of Barnes & Noble, based on data compiled by Bloomberg.
Wonder if one of those strategic opportunities will be cutting all competing magazine titles (TransWorld, Storm Mountain Publishing, etc. . . ) from the magazine racks in the bookseller’s stores? Burkle definitely knows how to leverage his assets so you never know.
[Link: Bloomberg.com]
by The Editors on January 5, 2009
In a story titled 5 Cash-Rich Companies Being Given Away Motley Fool writer Morgan Housel says Volcom may be one of the stocks that Warren Buffet refers to as “a one-foot bar I can step over.”
Is retail dead yet? As a whole, perhaps, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t some stores that stand out from the pack. Volcom might be one of them. While other apparel veterans like Quiksilver (NYSE: ZQK) and retailers like Macy’s (NYSE: M) are saddled with long-term debt, Volcom has kept its balance sheet spotless. . . . But with a bulletproof balance sheet and a well-known, powerful brand name, the main catalysts that typically shove recession-prone industries into the graveyard are nowhere to be seen with Volcom.
Apparently, being a millionaire is that easy.
[Link: The Motley Fool]
by The Editors on January 5, 2009
The entire energy drink market has blown up right under Gatorade’s oblivious nose and the only time they ever seemed to take notice was when Salman Agah attempted to launch and market Skaterade.
Now it appears that someone has kicked the sports drink company in the nuts because they’re diving in on action sports like bums on a bottle, according to a story in Sports Business Journal.
The brand signed a multiyear deal with [Chaz] Ortiz that sources valued in the low to mid-six figures annually. He will be the cornerstone of Gatorade’s action sports campaign and will be featured alongside its marquee athletes, including Derek Jeter, Dwyane Wade and Peyton Manning. . . . The brand also signed smaller deals with snowboarder Ellery Hollingsworth, a 17-year-old from Darien, Conn., and BMX star Nigel Sylvester, an 18-year-old from Queens, N.Y. The athletes will be featured in Gatorade’s action sports campaigns, which are being planned. Terms of those deals were not available.
That fact that Gatorade never had any bull balls or caffeine in it always made it a favorite around here anyway. And for Chaz, the “mid-six figures” shouldn’t be so bad.
[Link: Sports Business Journal via Skatedaily.net]
by The Editors on January 2, 2009
Jesse Huffman writes up another great snowboarding story for The New York Times. This one, on who snowboard companies are jumping on the “green manufacturing” movement.
More snowboard makers than ever, from grass-roots innovators like Mervin in Sequim, Wash., to multinational companies like Burton, are offering green or eco-friendly boards this ski season. And the trend is just beginning. Boards made with sustainable materials account for just 2 percent of the $140 million board market, according to Snowsports Industries America, a trade group.
Those quoted include: Burton’s Todd King, Salomon’s Alex Warburton, Arbor’s Bob Carlson, K2’s Doug Sanders, Mike Basich and Mervin’s Pete Saari (pictured right). Cleaner is better and if it help sells, great.
[Link: The New York Times]
by The Editors on December 26, 2008
In May, 2008 ESPN sued Quiksilver for copyright infringement on the letter “X,” then a month later Quiksilver sued ESPN for the same thing claiming they had been using the X since 1994. Now, according to a story in the LA Times ESPN has settled the lawsuit with Quiksilver.
Walt Disney Co.’s ESPN network settled a lawsuit by clothing maker Quiksilver Inc. over the cable channel’s logo for the international X Games competition. . . . The companies didn’t disclose the details of the settlement in papers filed jointly Monday in federal court in New York.
Wonder if the settlement included any “free advertising?”
[Link: LA Times]
by The Editors on December 22, 2008
In a letter to Stone Douglass, Chairman of Orange 21 dated December 16, 2008, and recently filed with the SEC, Spy Optic and No Fear founder Mark Simo announced his resignation from the board of directors of the company. It appears to be mostly over the Orange 21 board’s rejection of Simo’s repeated attempts to get the company to buy (or merge with) No Fear’s retail business.
I am convinced, as much as I ever have been, that real opportunities exist for enhancing shareholder value while at the same time doing right by the company’s employees and business partners. I believe that, in this radically changing environment, the merger I have proposed with No Fear Retail Stores offers the best opportunity to achieve those goals. There may be other options that the board also should consider, but the one thing this company cannot afford is to do nothing. That, unfortunately, is the course this board has chosen to take.
We’re going to guess that this came neither as a surprise nor a disappointment to the Orange 21 board. But that’s just a guess.
[Link: Edgar Online]
