by The Editors on April 27, 2012
VF Corp, the parent company of Vans, The North Face, and Reef announced “record first quarter revenues and earnings thanks in part to their acquisition of Timberland and Smartwool, but also because their outdoor group (the only part of the company we really even care about) did really, really, well.
Global revenues of The North Face® brand increased 14% during the quarter, with double-digit growth in both the Americas and internationally. Momentum continued in The North Face® brand’s direct-to-consumer business, where revenues grew more than 20% in the quarter. The Vans® brand achieved another quarter of very healthy growth, with global revenues rising 25% and strong increases in both its Americas and international businesses. The Vans direct-to-consumer business demonstrated solid results, with revenues rising by 18%.
Boom. As usual, Reef did not get so much as a mention in the quarterly numbers, and only showed up in the list of companies VF owns. That must be so motivating for the people at Reef. For the official word follow the jump. If you’re interested in the hard numbers click here. [click to continue…]
by The Editors on April 25, 2012
Collective Brands, the owner of zombie brands Airwalk, Vision Streetwear, and (sadly) Sims is reportedly up for sale, according to a story in the Wall Street Journal.
The team, private-equity firm Golden Gate Capital and bootmaker Wolverine World Wide Inc., are competing in the last stretch of a months-long auction for Collective Brands, owner of Payless ShoeSource as well as brands including Keds, Stride Rite and Sperry Top-Sider, according to people familiar with the matter. . . The pair is dueling for the deal against South Korean conglomerate E-Land Group, these people said.
E-Land recently made a run at buying the LA Dogers. We’re not sure what any of this means other than maybe, just maybe, this deal will finally let the Airwalk, Vision, and Sims brands die in peace.
[Link: Wall Street Journal]
by The Editors on April 24, 2012
Transworld Media has promoted Kevin Duffel to the position of Editor of Transworld Skateboarding Magazine, according to a story on Transworld Business.
“Duffel has been a key part in the success of TransWorld SKATEboarding as we’ve most recently embarked on our 30th year in existence,” said Editor In Chief Skin Phillips. Duffel was first hired on at TransWorld SKATEboarding back in September 2010. He joined the team with an extensive skateboarding background and impressive writing skills, contributing to TransWorld SKATEboarding in addition to various national and international lifestyle publications including The Huffington Post, Color Magazine, Huck Magazine, Lifelounge, and more. Duffel’s scholastic acheivements most notably include graduating Magna Cum Laude from UCLA with a BA in Philosophy.
For all the details, follow the jump. [click to continue…]
by The Editors on April 23, 2012
Attention skate media workers: The Swoosh would like to invite one of you to live in Portland, Oregon and “act as editor-in-chief for Nike Skateboarding’s interactive voice through digital Brand and Social channels, leading, creating, producing, editing and curating content and conversations for all online and digital experiences and engagement.”
Here’s all you need in the way of experience:
Must have at least 12 years of senior-level editorial experience in a global print and/or digital skateboarding outlet.
Must have at least 12 years of hands-on experience creating top-level written, photographic and video assets for skateboarding and culture audiences.
Must have at least 12 years experience with copy and photo/video editing.
Must have at least five years of experience producing content for digital and social communities.
Must have at least three years of experience executing content posts on social media and/or community forum sites in skateboarding.
Must demonstrate strong ties with established skateboard industry media, athletes, managers and content producers.
If you’re one of the six people in the world who can honestly answer yes to all of the above (or are a really great liar) click the link to apply.
[Editors’ Update: Things may not be as the seem. Read the comment for another angle which makes much more sense.]
[Link: Jobs At Nike]
by The Editors on April 18, 2012
The Agenda Show NYC has a all new location for July 16-17, 2012. It’s at 82 Mercer Street in New York City. Here’s what to expect.
The Agenda Trade Show is a forum for the most inspired in the streewear and action sports industries to unite. Lines speak for themselves and buyers are not intimidated by the usual overwhelming tradeshow experience. From the garage-run lines on the verge of explosion, to the well-established elite, Agenda caters to the needs of buyers and brands that exist on a higher level of design and aesthetic.
If you want to get in to check it all out live you’ll have to register first. No, they’re not just letting people walk in off the street any more. Buyers, distributors, and press are admitted into the show for free, but first you gotta register. Click here to pre-register now.
[Link: Agenda NYC]
by The Editors on April 17, 2012
Rob Dyrdek announced today that it’s official, he has purchased DNA Distribution from Burton Snowboards in its entirely including Alien Workshop, Habitat and Reflex.
Confirming the previous purchase buzz, Dyrdek has been in discussion with Burton and DNA Distribution through out the last year. “It’s hard to put into words what an amazing opportunity this is for me, I am extremely proud to now own the company that first sponsored me 20 years ago,” stated Dyrdek, President of Dyrdek Enterprises. “DNA has truly amazing brands that have incredible growth potential, and I look forward to help guiding these brands over the next 20 years.”
DNA was a Burton purchase we never really understood, and now it’s over. Chris Carter will continue on at DNA in Dayton, Ohio while “Dyrdek will consult directly on all marketing and creative from his Los Angeles based office.”
For the official word, follow the jump. [click to continue…]
by The Editors on April 17, 2012
Billabong has officially closed on the sale of controlling interest in Nixon to Trilantic Capital Partners, according to a story in The Australian.
The company said it needed the cash from the sale to clean up its balance sheet, and halve its debt from $525.6m to about $250m. . . Billabong’s largest shareholder, Perennial Investment Partners, criticised the company for selling one of its best-performing assets, while another private equity group, TPG Capital, made a $765m takeover offer for the company on the condition that it not sell the Nixon stake.
All that and they still have $250 million in debt to go. Hmm, wonder how much Billabong could get for Dakine?
[Link: The Australian]
by The Editors on April 16, 2012
Apparently, NBC Sports action arm Alli Sports has an unlimited tolerance for pushing flame retardant, mouse dissolving, caffeinated, carbonated high fructose corn syrup on the youth of the world as they’ve just announced that they have signing up for four more years of partnership with Pepsi Co. Along with this comes plans for a three venue annual tour: beach, city, mountain.
“The action sports landscape has grown and changed dramatically since we launched the Dew Tour in 2005. The multi-stop series format was what the industry wanted and needed then. The Dew Tour changed the industry forever, taking the sports to a whole new level. The new Dew Tour, which will include three major events across Beach, City and Mountain venues, represents what the athletes and industry want and need today,” said Wade Martin, President & CEO, Alli Sports. “We believe our partnership with Mountain Dew represents one of the most unique, integrated relationships between brand and property in all of sports. This partnership extension and the new approach we created for the Dew Tour together with Mountain Dew, the athletes and the industry, truly underscores that.”
The new tour will feature stops in Ocean City, Maryland; San Francisco, California; and Breckenridge, Colorado. For the official word, follow the jump. [click to continue…]
by The Editors on April 16, 2012
The students of San Clemente’s Clarence Lobo Elementary School had their handball courts turned into Volcom billboards last week as a surprise in what VeeCo calls a “community service project,” after the school’s student body president called them for help, according to a story in the Orange County Register.
“We saw that the handball courts were kind of ugly,” said Randi (above right), daughter of Chris and Stacey Jones of San Clemente. She came up with a plan and consulted with her mom about how to get it done. . . The handball walls had been “plain gray” and kind of dirty back in November, when Randi began working on the project. Now there are murals on one side and fresh blue paint on the back, sporting the school’s name.
Get ’em when they’re young and you’ll have them for life.
[Link: OC Register]
by The Editors on April 16, 2012
ActionWatch, the “action sports industry’s premier source for market intelligence,” has formed a joint venture with Australasian Surf Business Magazine to provide market intelligence from the independent surf retail channel to the Australian surf market.
“The experience we have gained developing the ActionWatch program in the U.S. makes us much more efficient with launches in other countries,” said ActionWatch co-founder Cary Allington. “We’ve wanted to better utilize the infrastructure we have developed by expanding into other countries for a long time, but we needed a perfect partner. It is clear to us that ASB is the perfect partner for us in Australia.”
For the official details follow the jump. [click to continue…]
VF Corp, the parent company of Vans, The North Face, and Reef announced “record first quarter revenues and earnings thanks in part to their acquisition of Timberland and Smartwool, but also because their outdoor group (the only part of the company we really even care about) did really, really, well.
