by The Editors on August 21, 2013
Souce Interlink, the parent company of GrindMedia which owns Transworld Media, announced today (August 21, 2013) that they have decided to “recapitalize the company.” In other words, they sold another piece of themselves to one of their current owners (GoldenTree Asset Management) in exchange for “enhanced liquidity” more cash.
“The tremendously improved capital structure will provide both Source Interlink Media and Source Interlink Distribution with the ability to maximize transformational opportunities across their respective industries,” said Michael L. Sullivan, president and chief executive officer of Source Interlink Companies. “This transaction will put both businesses in better positions to strengthen strategic partnerships and make investments to enhance their position in their respective industries.”
Yes, this means GrindMedia will have more money to get things done, so that’s likely good for them and not so good for their competitors (yes, they still have at least three in our space). If the action media business intrigues you, please follow the jump. [click to continue…]
by The Editors on August 19, 2013
Ever since the GrindMedia consolidation of the action sports media business on May 20, 2013, there seems to have been nothing but changes for the employees of both companies (no duh!). The first casualty was Transworld Surf Magazine. Now, it’s GrindMedia’s turn to take a hit as the publisher has reportedly decided to stop what little print and digital operations Skateboarder Magazine had left and move forward with their leading skateboard media property TransWorld Skateboarding, according to a post on SkateDaily.net.
“Unfortunately market conditions have forced us to have to make the difficult decision to cease publication of Skateboarder,” said Norb Garrett, SVP Group Publisher of GrindMedia. “It’s especially disappointing given the strong interest and initial success we’ve had with the new digitally focused editions; our Skateboarder team has worked incredibly hard producing a cutting-edge product that has been successful at reaching a larger audience online. We will take all of the learnings from Skateboarder’s efforts and apply them to TransWorld Skateboarding and our other brands as the digital model has demonstrated real promise.”
Yes, they say you learn more in failure than in success. If that is true, then things should be looking up nicely for the crew at Transworld Skateboarding, indeed. This also means that there’s one more face off yet to be played between Snowboarder Magazine and Transworld Snowboarding. Wonder which way that one will go? Maybe they’ll both stay.
[Link: Transworld Business and SkateDaily]
by The Editors on August 16, 2013
Billy Anderson, the longtime Volcom Snowboarding head has left the Kering-owned youth fashion conglomerate to become Senior Brand Director at Burton Snowboards in Burlington, Vermont.
“I have always considered myself a snowboarder – that is who I am,” said Billy Anderson. “So to work for a company that is 100% dedicated to snowboarding is extremely exciting. In my time within the industry, I’ve always put snowboarding first – if it’s right for snowboarding, then it’s right for the company. Burton seems to live by this motto as well. Their commitment to product, athletes and events is unmatched in the industry, and I couldn’t be more proud to join the Burton crew.”
Congrats to Billy. He begins his new job on September 3, 2013. For the official word from Burton, follow the jump. [click to continue…]
by The Editors on August 7, 2013
Spy finished off another quarter of increased sales and lower losses as they logged $19 million in sales for the first half of 2013, according to financials released today, August 7, 2013.
“We are really happy to have achieved our 9th consecutive quarter of year over year growth of SPY® brand products, with strong SPY® brand sales growth of 10% in the first half of 2013 over the first half of 2012, and the first half of 2013 was 29% higher than the first half of 2011,” said Michael Marckx, President and CEO. “Moving forward, our Happy Lens Collection is expanding to include a growing list of new styles and will be featured in our Rx, Performance and Goggle Collections, which will further leverage this innovation in many ways. On top of our successful Happy Lens launch, we are even more pleased with the combination of things we accomplished this half: solid sales growth, improved gross margins, lower operating expenses, positive cash flow from operations and income from operations. We believe this solid first half of the year helps to position us well for the balance of 2013.”
Unfortunately, the company is still not out of the red yet. Spy lost $1.3 million in the first half of 2013, down from $4.2 million in the same period of 2012. For the official word from Spy, follow the jump. [click to continue…]
by The Editors on July 29, 2013
The Snow Industries of America just released their 2013 Participant Study and as you might have guessed the numbers were down for pretty much everyone but those free heelers. Yeah, we see that bump in “freeski” but come on, that’s just skiing. We all know that.
Ultimately, overall snow sports participation was down 3% to 19.3M participants across all disciplines; alpine ski had a 19% drop in participation but still brought the most to the mountain with 8.2M, followed by snowboard with 7.4M, freeski with 5.4M, snowshoe with 4M, cross country with 3.3 million and telemark with 2.8M participants.
For the official release from the SIA follow the jump.
[click to continue…]
by The Editors on July 26, 2013
Click here for our Agenda Show photo gallery.
The Agenda Show kicked off yesterday (July 25, 2013) for its two-day run in the Long Beach Convention Center in Long Beach, California. Above all it was a reminder for everyone of how great it is to get some face time with the people you do business with.
We’re still processing our one-day into the crowded aisles of Agenda and The Berrics Agenda, but in the meantime check out a few of our photos by clicking here.
by The Editors on July 23, 2013
Brixton has added Adam Warren to the team as Marketing Manager. Warren will be handling retail, athlete, and music marketing programs.
“We’re excited to bring someone with Adam’s knowledge and experience on board to help drive our marketing initiatives,” said co-founder and Brand Manager David Stoddard. “Adam truly understands the brand and we couldn’t be happier to have him join the team.”
For the official word from Brixton, follow the jump. [click to continue…]
by The Editors on July 22, 2013
Burton Snowboards has announced that they will be opening not one, but two company stores in Northern California’s Bay Area but they didn’t mention anything about wearing “flowers in their hair.” They’re taking over the space that formerly housed SFO Snowboard on Haight St. and moving in right down the street from the Nixon store in Berkeley.
“With Tahoe just a few hours away, there are thousands of people around San Francisco who are into winter sports, but only a handful of local snowboard shops to choose from,” says Jake Burton, Founder & CEO of Burton Snowboards. “We ship a lot of product to the Bay Area through Burton.com, so to us, that means snowboarders out there are looking for gear. By opening two stores in San Francisco, we can better service local riders by offering them industry-leading product and the customer experience Burton is known for, right in their own backyard.”
As independent retailers fade, expect the company stores to pick up the slack. For the official word from Burton and SFO’s Kent Uyehara, follow the jump.
[click to continue…]
by The Editors on July 16, 2013
The list of large changes on the memo Billabong released today (July 16, 2013) is almost too long for one headline. That’s probably why they just listed four in order. Refinancing of Syndicated Debt Facilities, Sale Of Dakine, Appointment of New CEO, and New Director Appointments. How’s that for a mouthful?
Concurrent with signing the Bridge Facility, the Company has entered into binding documentation regarding the sale of DaKine to Altamont for a purchase price of A$70m (“Asset Sale”). The transaction is subject to conditions precedent which are typical for a transaction of this type. The sale is also conditional on the completion of the funding under the Bridge Facility.
In other words, Launa Inman is out as CEO (after a tumultuous 14 months), former Oakley CEO Scott Olivet is in, and Altamont Capital is now running the show. Thanks to their debt bailout (aka “Bridge Facility”) Altamont also gets to name two people (Altamont co-founders Jesse Rogers and Keoni Schwartz (hello Stanford, Harvard and Princeton)) to the Billabong board of directors. And the best part? They didn’t even have to buy the company. For most of the official details from Billabong, follow the jump or click here to get Jeff Harbaugh’s take on it all. [click to continue…]
by The Editors on July 8, 2013
Huntington Beach, California’s Huntington Surf & Sport is upping its footprint on the surf world’s most trafficked corner with an expansion of their current shop. Some of it even got finished in time for the US Open of Surfing later this month.
Huntington Surf and Sport is in the midst of a major renovation at its downtown Pierside Pavilion location, adding more than 3,000 square feet and a new energy to this iconic store. Upon completion, HSS will offer the largest inventory and best selection of hardgoods in the entire surf industry; a haven for real surfers to get authentic gear.
It’s nice to know that all surf retail isn’t dead just yet. For the official word from HSS follow the jump.
[click to continue…]
Souce Interlink, the parent company of GrindMedia which owns Transworld Media, announced today (August 21, 2013) that they have decided to “recapitalize the company.” In other words, they sold another piece of themselves to one of their current owners (GoldenTree Asset Management) in exchange for “enhanced liquidity” more cash.
