After 15 years of writing action sports business analysis for publications like Transworld Business, Ski Area Management, Boardsport Source, Snowboard Canada Business, and others Jeff Harbaugh has joined the modern era. For the last couple months he has been providing his “commentary, analysis, and advice” directly to the people through his blog Jeff Harbaugh’s Market Watch.
While his analysis often pisses people off, one thing is certain: it is always entertaining, insightful, and opinionated; three things that are rare in action sports business media. The most recent topic Jeff dropped in on is, not surprisingly, Billabong Acquiring West 49.
Billabong’s strategy may be opportunistic with regards to timing (anybody’s acquisition strategy is) but I don’t think there’s any doubt that they have been planning to make retail a bigger part of their business. The presentation on West 49 says, in part, “Billabong has a long track record of successfully acquiring and integrating ‘bolt-on’ acquisitions consistent with its key strategic objectives of growing its brand portfolio and expanding its retail distribution network.” (Emphasis added) And their store count has grown from 49 in 2004 to 510 this year assuming they complete the West 49 deal.
And better yet–Jeff has posted every Market Watch column he’s written since 1995. Check it out if you care, and if you do, put him on your RSS reader.
[Link: Jeff Harbaugh’s Market Watch]
