Sport Chalet, SoCal moms’ favorite action sporting, big box chain store, is calling it quits after 57 years in business. But they’re not going to try and restructure like PacSun, or Quiksilver. No, they’ve turned off their online store and are shutting down each and every one of their 47 locations, according to a story in the Los Angeles Times.
The chain has 40 stores in California, mainly in the Southland, according to the website. It also operates five stores in Arizona and two in Las Vegas. The company didn’t say how many people would be losing their jobs, but as of March 30, 2014, the chain employed 1,200 full-time workers and 1,600 part-timers. . . At the Sport Chalet in downtown Los Angeles, the signs in windows of the black-and-white facade told of the chain’s fate. “Everything must go,” they stated. “All Sales are Final No Returns.”
The chain reportedly hadn’t made a profit since 2007 and was apparently $52 million in debt when it was sold in 2014 for $17 million. Blame Target and those dastardly online discounters.
Surprisingly, if you’re looking for cheap camping gear for a summer road trip, you should definitely look elsewhere. There are no deals at Sport Chalet. According to one store employee, “The liquidation company came in and took over the pricing,” he said. “We have no control over anything” Meaning, most everything in the store is now more expensive than it was before the closing announcement.
To get an Emmy from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS), yes, that’s satan spelled backwards, your film has to appear on an eligible television channel. Thankfully, Jeremy Jones’ Higher aired on Outside Television and this year they are eligible for the Emmy’s. Higher provided the network not one, but two nominations: one for Outstanding Serialized Sports Documentary, and another for Outstanding Camera Work categories.
“It’s great validation to be nominated in the same categories as HBO, Showtime, NBC, ABC/ESPN and CBS” said Rob Faris the Senior Vice President of Programming and Production for Outside Television. “This is a tribute to the efforts put forth by the Outside Television and TGR teams who push the limits each day to create compelling story-based content captured in the world of adventure sports.”
Congrats to Jeremy Jones and the entire Teton Gravity Research team. Next up the Oscars. For the official word from Outside TV, please follow the jump. [click to continue…]
ZEAL Optics announced today (April 1, 2016) that it has officially let the dogs out, with the release of its new canine-friendly eyewear collection, Doggles. The new line, ranging from full-wrap glacier styles for arctic travel, to stylish, yet rugged beachwear for the pup on the playa, hits storefronts today. And yes, they are “bacon-infused.”
PowderJet is rolling to Portland, Oregon for what they’re calling “a hot weekend of snowboard shaping” and they’d like to help you build yer own snowboard, April 23-24, 2016.
The class costs $795 and you walk away with your own, hand-shaped PowderJet snowboard. If you’re down, then you need to sign up by Friday March 25, 2016 because classes fill up fast. For more info (and to sign up) please click the link.
For big mountain powder riders there is no place like Alaska. And for people who love riding Alaska’s wild, raw mountains there is no event like Mark Sullivan’s Tailgate Alaska. This year the 9th Annual event runs from April 1 – 10, 2016. Which means, the countdown has begun and we’ve heard the snow is ready and waiting.
“Just in the past week we have had between four and six feet of snow,” says Tailgate Alaska founder Mark Sullivan. “And we are due for another huge storm – seven more days of snow – clearing the day Tailgate starts. If you have dreamed of going to Alaska – this year is off the charts.”
Sounds like this is the year, you know, if you like riding the big walls. For the official word from Tailgate Alaska, please follow the jump.
In what could be called the “Day before St. Paddy’s Day Massacre” the Burton Corporation reportedly cut 4 percent of their 900 member global workforce on Wednesday, March 16, 2016 according to a story on Yobeat.com.
Burton President John Lacy framed it this way in a memo to the company’s remaining employees:
What that really means is that we had to let some good people go. Friends and colleagues were affected in every area of our business, and in multiple regions, and it isn’t easy to say goodbye. We’ve now talked directly with everyone affected by these changes, and our HR team is working with each of them to provide full service support during this transition. These decisions are not easy nor are they taken lightly. Please know we will be doing everything we can to help ensure these individuals have the tools and backing they need to take on this next chapter.
According to the post cuts include “multiple key sales roles, such as sales director for Anon/Analog, the women’s brand manager and some product developers.” We also hear the Burton LA store will be closing soon and the NYC store will move to a more economical location. For the entire letter from the president, please click the link to Yobeat.
Turns out there was some news from Shaun White’s concert/stunt jump event in downtown Los Angeles over the weekend of February 20-21, 2016. Mark McMorris broke his femur after catching an edge on what looked to be a pretty chunked up landing zone.
According to a story from CBC News, McMorris is going in for surgery and will be out for the rest of the season. We wish him the best and look forward to his complete recovery. . . and to his hanging out with his girlfriend at one of our favorite coffee shops.
Jake and Donna Burton Carpenter’s sons George and Timothy, are apparently responsible for accidentally torching Mount Mansfield’s historic Stone Hut just before Christmas, after getting the place warmed up for a friend who they thought was spending the night, according to a story in the Vermont Digger.
The brothers and a few friends “built the fire up really big” in the wood stove, and brought in some wet wood from outside, which they leaned up against the stove to dry out, the report said. . . A few of the pieces were placed at an angle where the tip of the wood was against the stove and made a ‘hissing’ sound as the snow began to melt against it,” the police report reads. . . The group left the hut and headed down the mountain at 2:40 p.m. About five hours later, they realized the friend they expected to spend the night at the hut didn’t show up.
Sometime later, the Hut caught on fire, however, the fire was not reported until 7 AM the next morning by a lift mechanic. The Carpenters have reportedly pledged $100,000 for the restoration of the hut. Pretty expensive way to learn that whole Smokey The Bear “never leave a fire unattended” thing.
Sport Chalet, SoCal moms’ favorite action sporting, big box chain store, is calling it quits after 57 years in business. But they’re not going to try and restructure like PacSun, or Quiksilver. No, they’ve turned off their online store and are shutting down each and every one of their 47 locations, according to a story in the Los Angeles Times.
To get an Emmy from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS), yes, that’s satan spelled backwards, your film has to appear on an eligible television channel. Thankfully, Jeremy Jones’ Higher aired on Outside Television and this year they are eligible for the Emmy’s. Higher provided the network not one, but two nominations: one for Outstanding Serialized Sports Documentary, and another for Outstanding Camera Work categories.
In what could be called the “Day before St. Paddy’s Day Massacre” the Burton Corporation reportedly cut 4 percent of their 900 member global workforce on Wednesday, March 16, 2016 according to a story on 
Jake and Donna Burton Carpenter’s sons George and Timothy, are apparently responsible for accidentally torching Mount Mansfield’s historic Stone Hut just before Christmas, after getting the place warmed up for a friend who they thought was spending the night, according to a story in the 
