“This is a tremendously exciting day for VF. We are delighted to officially welcome Timberland(R) and Smartwool(R) to VF’s family of brands,” said Eric Wiseman, VF Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “This acquisition strengthens VF’s position within the outdoor industry by adding two strong, global, and authentic brands with significant momentum and growth opportunities. VF is committed to helping the Timberland(R) and Smartwool(R) brands reach their global growth potential, while maintaining each brand’s unique essence.”
Patrik Frisk, who has been president, VF Outdoor & Action Sports EMEA since 2009 will be the new president of Timberland. For the rest of the details, follow the jump. [click to continue…]
Ever wanted to lock up your skateboard to a bike rack after a roll to the store? Yeah, we never have either. But that hasn’t stopped San Diego, California inventor Tom Piszkin from coming up with the “Valet My Stick” skateboard lock, according to a story on First Coast News.
“Theaters don’t want skateboards in, restaurants don’t want skateboards in, a classroom gets cluttered with skateboards, so there are lots of places where they are starting to be restricted,” he says. . . Piszkin came up with the ideal solution. . . It’s like a bicycle cable lock, but with a loop big enough to go around the skateboard truck, or axle.
To quote the skater interviewed, “I never really actually thought about a skateboard lock.” And neither has anyone else.
“This acquisition represents a significant step for both Kooey and West in our strategy designed to accelerate growth in both businesses,” said Nikki Silverthorne, Director and Designer of Kooey. “We are now focused on seizing the opportunities in both local and international markets that this transaction has created for us. We are looking forward to delivering on the promise of this acquisition to build both brands exponentially and with speed.”
Kind of cool that the brand will remain a Western Australian company. Follow the jump for all the details. [click to continue…]
As more evidence that longboarding is its own brand of skateboarding comes The Longboard Expo to be held January 5-6, 2012 at the Hilton Long Beach in Long Beach, California.
This show is focused on bringing brands and buyers together in one place to conduct business in professional environment. The time is right for a truly focused show that celebrates the innovations found within longboarding.
“The surfboard, fins and their component parts were unsafe for their intended use. . . Gregg’s attorney, Jeffrey Karpel, said the fins are so sharp some surfers cover them with protective sleeves. Gregg was not aware of that before the injury, Karpel said.
According to the story Channel Island’s GM Scott Anderson says this is the first liability claim that he has heard of. While this kind of injury is no surprise to surfers or companies like SurfCo Hawaii (makers of Pro Teck fins), it does seem a little like Gregg is blaming his equipment. It will be interesting to see how Burton lawyers proceed with this one.
Greg Dacyshyn, Burton’s Chief Creative Officer, had a column on “innovation” in the Burlington Free Press today. In it he talks about how meaningful the term “standing sideways” is to him and how innovating Burton is.
As for innovation, there is no denying that it is at the core of what we do here at Burton. We’re literally obsessed with making our products better. It started when Jake Burton hand-built over 100 different snowboard prototypes in his Vermont barn back in 1977. At that time he was making snowboards using the construction techniques of skateboards, surfboards, boats, water skis, and even solid wood furniture. He tells a great story about how, since there were no snowboard manufacturing machines, he had do it all by hand, and almost killed himself twice when wooden blanks shot off his hand router and went through a wall.
Pacific Sunwear has reported their financial results for its quarter ending July 30, 2011 and guess what? They lost $19.3 million. Of course, they’re pitching this as a good thing because they loss less than they lost last year at this time, and they beat analysts’ forecasts. In other “good” news, while total sales fell, sales at stores open longer than a year were actually up one percent, according to a story on Forbes.
“Until recently we had expected this positive momentum to continue, yet we are now more cautious in our near-term outlook due to a combination of factors including macroeconomic pressure, along with a highly promotional start to the back-to-school season,” said President and CEO Gary Schoenfeld.
Losing less is good. Just give Mr. Schoenfeld a few more years and things will probably get right back on track. Or maybe he just loves hitting two-year stock price lows.
SoCal OG snowboarder and industry veteran Todd Proffit is the new Advertising and Events Manager at Mountain High Resort. It’s a bit of a homecoming for Proffit.
“Mountain High was the first place I ever snowboarded so it’s great to get back to my roots,” Proffit said. “I’ve dealt in many other sections of the action sports industry but my passion has always been snowboarding. I’m really looking forward to the coming winter season and to continue to elevate Mountain High as the best resort in Southern California.”
According to an Associated Press story in the Washington Post, Billabong is one of seven companies listed as allegedly buying products from Brazilian sweatshops that are under investigated for slave labor by Brazilian officials.
Prosecutor Nei Vieira says 51 people were found to be working in unhealthy conditions and for little pay in such a shop in the city of Americana near Sao Paulo. Authorities say they expect to find more shops.
According to the story, Billabong said they had not been notified, but they were looking into it.
Vans and Reef’s parent company VF Corp announced today that they have finished their $2.3 billion acquisition of The Timberland Company.
