by The Editors on October 9, 2008
Video gamers willing to shop at Target and spend five dollars more for Ubisoft’s Shaun White Snowboarding video game are going to get some pretty cool in-game extras including the Target Mountain Boarding area, according to a story on Gamespot.com.
Along with the mountain, which brings the total number of scalable slopes to five, those who purchase the Shaun White Snowboarding Target edition will gain access to bonus moves, characters, and scenery. Capping off the bundle, the Target edition will include Target Chalet, “the real-life mountainside home where Shaun and his fellow Target athletes hang out with friends and family at the annual Winter X Games in Aspen, Colorado.”
Not really all that high a price to pay to support Shaun’s number one sponsor.
[Link: Game Spot]
by The Editors on October 8, 2008
Vail Trail columnist Linda Boyne, the mother to two young boys, has written an open letter to Jake Burton in her column this week explaining why, thanks to the Love boards, she will be boycotting all Burton products from now on. She ends her column with the following:
You and your wife are raising three boys of your own. I’m appealing to you as a fellow parent. In an interview posted on your Web site, you state, “I’d like to be remembered as a good husband, father, friend, relative and someone who always did the right thing for the sport of snowboarding and the Burton brand.” In this case, I don’t think you’re doing the right thing.
Apparently, Ms. Boyne doesn’t understand that in business making money always comes first.
[Link: Vail Trail]
by The Editors on October 8, 2008
America’s core sports mall store Zumiez reported their same store sales were down 9 percent in September according to a story on Forbes.com.
The Everett-based retailer said its same-store sales results were dragged down by poor performance California, Arizona, Florida and Nevada – areas that are among the hardest hit by the nation’s housing market meltdown.
The good news is that net sales were up over last year to $33.6 million. Guess that’s what happens when you keep adding more stores.
[Link: Forbes.com]
by The Editors on October 8, 2008
Things are looking pretty good for an early start to the SoCal snow season. This is Mammoth Mountain on Sunday morning.
A substantial cool-down is expected by week’s end and the Eastern Sierra forecast calls for more snow flurries this weekend, probably late Friday through much of Saturday.
Mammoth isn’t scheduled to open until early November, but you never know. Bring it on. We’re ready.
[Link: LA Times]
by The Editors on October 8, 2008
Wachovia is no longer hyped on Pacific Sunwear. So they’ve knocked the mall retailer down a notch from Outperform to Market Perform
Until now, our thesis had been predicated on improvements in merchandising, coupled with new operating efficiencies. However, we believe the assortment is losing focus, evidenced by too much color overall and an overinvestment in the weak-trending fleece category.
It’s kind of laughable that Wachovia would have any opinions about the market when they can’t even run their own business. But they’re still giving the stock a valuation range of $5-6. PSUN is now trading at $4.98.
[Link: StreetInsider.com]
by The Editors on October 7, 2008
Rumors that Amer Sports‘ largest share holder was selling out of the company were not confirmed today. The parent company of Salomon, Bonfire, and Atomic hasn’t heard anything about the Icelandic investment firm of Novator selling any shares.
“I have not heard anything from Novator that could indicate they would sell their stake,” an Amer spokesman said.
We haven’t heard anything about it either.
[Link: Reuters]
by The Editors on October 6, 2008
by The Editors on October 6, 2008
To launch their new “alternative sports” title Shaun White Snowboarding French Game-maker Ubisoft will spend $10 million in what Mediaweek is calling “nontraditional media buys” in the weeks leading up to the Nov. 16 game launch.
Anyone watching South Park’s first two episodes will find the game nearly impossible to miss. For the series premiere Oct. 8, Ubisoft bought out all of the ad inventory and will run three separate two-minute spots for its flagship Shaun White Snowboarding, Prince of Persia and Farcry 2 titles. The second episode will feature only ads for Shaun White Snowboarding.
They also have a string of appearances on ESPN’s shows all day on November 16 because what’s good for Shaun White is good for the X Games. Let just say this: we think Ubisoft is being tragically optimistic about how many copies of this game they’re going to sell.
[Link: Mediaweek]
by The Editors on October 3, 2008
We haven’t been to one snowboard movie this fall. Can’t really explain how that happened, but let’s just say that unless they’re being shown in a theatre with seats (and not some polluted bar on tiny flat screen monitors with a drunk realtor yelling in our ear) we prefer enjoying snowboard films in the privacy of our own homes.
Which brings us to our point: If you want to see Burton’s newest shredstraviganza It’s Always Snowing Somewhere in a theater you’re in luck. The following shows are in full-on theaters: Calgary on October 16, Denver on October 21, 2008, Salt Lake City on October 22, Los Angeles on the 24, or Burlington on October 30. The rest are in shops, bars, or in Portland’s case, October 23 in a bowling alley.
Hey, five out of eleven in theaters isn’t that bad. Click the line for all the details.
[Link: Burton.com/movie]
by The Editors on October 3, 2008
Thanks to “a new mezzanine and high-tech, three-level pick module designed and implemented by Tompkins Associates, Sole Technology is utilizing vertical space, and this “vertical change” has doubled the company’s capacity while increasing processing volume and lowering labor costs” at it’s 315,000 distribution center. God, what a mouthful of business blather that was.
Working with Tompkins Associates, we were able to design and implement a brand new distribution center in 12 months,” added Theo Song, vice president of supply chain at Sole Technology. “The new facility is helping us support our growth needs, as well as better satisfy our customer requirements. The overall process, or implementation, was actually quite smooth, and the new DC is performing well beyond our expectations.”
That warehouse looks pretty impressive, no? We’re guessing these Tompkins Associates people could work wonders with our garage as well. Maybe we should call them.
[Link: Supply & Demand Chain]
Video gamers willing to shop at Target and spend five dollars more for Ubisoft’s Shaun White Snowboarding video game are going to get some pretty cool in-game extras including the Target Mountain Boarding area, according to a story on Gamespot.com.
