Latest News & Analysis – Page 281

  • Article

    Kailas Puts On Meindl Shoes, Explains Vaude's Strategy For China

    2011-03-16T00:00:00Z

    As reported in the previous issue of The Compass, Kailas, one of the four leading brands in China, has joined forces with Vaude to develop and market products of the German brand especially designed for the Chinese market. Under the deal, the newly created company that will distribute these products ...

  • Article

    Salewa Starts Up In China

    2011-03-16T00:00:00Z

    Salewa has arrived in China at last and boosted its momentum with a large booth at Ispo China in Beijing. Andreas Rauter, the group's export director, and Robson Iu, business development director for China, told us that they want to penetrate this promising emerging market through grass-roots marketing, own retail ...

  • Article

    Ispo China Shined In The Smog Of Beijing

    2011-03-16T00:00:00Z

    Messe München made a good decision to transfer its Ispo China show, held In Beijing on Feb. 23-25, from its former venue to CNCC (China National Convention Center). The new facility is just 400 meters or so away from the ?Bird's Nest? in the 2008 Olympic Stadium. Due to heavy ...

  • Article

    Oia, American Brands Test Chinese Waters

    2011-03-16T00:00:00Z

    The Outdoor Industry Association and the U.S. Commercial Service held a trade mission recently at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, designed to introduce American brands to retailers, distributors and other industry figures in China. The American companies included The North Face, Simms Fishing Products, L.L. Bean and REI. ...

  • Article

    The Industry Struggles To Repair The Supply Chain From China

    2011-02-18T00:00:00Z

    The latest Ispo trade show in Munich was dominated by one issue that will certainly be important during the talks at Ispo China in Beijing: the future of the supply chain from China to the West. Labor costs are skyrocketing and prices for raw materials are exploding. For example, the ...

  • Article

    Timberland Sales Surge, Focus On Earthkeepers

    2011-02-18T00:00:00Z

    Timberland increased revenues by 26.7 percent to $491.1 million in the fourth quarter thanks to strong growth in men's products. The Earthkeepers range booked an astronomic triple-digit growth in the quarter and full year. In 2010, four of the top 20 products sold in Timberland's stores were Earthkeepers. The group's ...

  • Article

    End Of Hunting Season: Who Will Get Jack's Skin?

    2011-02-18T00:00:00Z

    Shortly before the end of the deadline for bids to acquire Jack Wolfskin, scheduled for the end of next week, Financial Times Deutschland, the German daily newspaper, is spreading names of companies that are still in the race for buying the brand, and of those that are reportedly out. The ...

  • Article

    Continued Positive Development For Fenix Outdoor

    2011-02-18T00:00:00Z

    The financial results of 2010 for Fenix Outdoor group ? organized into brands and retail ? show strong positive results. The total turnover for the group increased by 20 percent to 1,331.7 million Swedish kronor (€152.6m-$206.2m), due to stable demand, supplements from acquired businesses and a strong retail market in ...

  • Article

    New Leaders In Lundhags Shake-up

    2011-02-18T00:00:00Z

    Lundhags, the Swedish outdoor brand, is undergoing significant staff changes after its chief executive was replaced last year. Erik Abrahamsson, former brand manager at Craft, joined Lundhags as brand and assortment manager, dealing with marketing. Tommy Östermann, formerly export manager at Björn Borg, has become sales manager at Lundhags. Sales ...

  • Article

    Black Diamond Plans Apparel Launch

    2011-02-18T00:00:00Z

    Black Diamond is considering the possible launch in the autumn of 2013 of a line of technical outdoor clothing under its own brand name, to be developed internally. Peter Metcalf, president of the American company, indicated such a line could potentially generate as much revenue as its existing hardware or ...

  • Article

    Merrell And Chaco Get New Direction Globally

    2011-02-18T00:00:00Z

    The outdoor group at Wolverine World Wide has two new executives to help drive strategic growth for Merrell and Chaco, keeping the good momentum of the group's 2010 going. Seth Cobb is the new vice president and general manager for Merrell, and Chip Coe takes over those positions for Chaco. ...

  • Article

    Vibram Takes U.S. License Back

    2011-02-18T00:00:00Z

    Vibram took over the distribution of its soles in the U.S. last Jan. 1 from its long-standing licensee for that market, Quabaug. As the biggest rubber producer in the country, that company will continue to manufacture soles for Vibram, and it will continue to be involved in R&D, but Vibram ...

  • Article

    Jarden's Outdoor Solutions Grows Strong By 14.4%, Margins Down

    2011-02-18T00:00:00Z

    A different price mix and higher commodity costs drove the operating margin before amortization (Ebitda) of Jarden Corporation's Outdoor Solutions segment down to 7.9 percent from 9.7 percent in the 4th quarter of 2010, but this was before extraordinary items. As acquisition and integration costs were down to $7.4 million ...

  • Article

    Rocky Beats Targets In Fourth Quarter

    2011-02-18T00:00:00Z

    Rocky Brands beat its own expectations in the fourth quarter of 2010 with an 8.2 percent rise in sales to $66.7 million. The biggest factor was a 14.4 percent increase in wholesale revenues to $52.5 million. Other revenue sources were lower, with retail sales declining to $12.4 million from $12.5 ...

  • Article

    U.S. Outdoor Sales Up By 4% In Last Fiscal Year

    2011-02-18T00:00:00Z

    A strong holiday season in the U.S. boosted sales of outdoor products by 4.0 percent to $10.85 billion for the year ended Jan. 29, according to data compiled by SportScanInfo for the Outdoor Industry Association. Specialty stores did better than the general market with a 7.3 percent increase. In the ...

  • Article

    Arc'teryx And Salomon Prove To Be Steamhorses In Amer's Stable

    2011-02-05T00:00:00Z

    With favorable weather triggering buoyant reorders, European sales of outdoor footwear and apparel continued to drive the recovery of Finland's Amer Sports group in the fourth quarter of last year. Marketed chiefly under the Salomon and Arc'teryx brands, its outdoor footwear and apparel sales have been expanding steadily for several ...

  • Article

    Wolverine's Outdoor Sales Are Fired By All Brands

    2011-02-05T00:00:00Z

    Wolverine World Wide's outdoor division booked a 22.3 percent increase in fourth-quarter sales to $134.9 million thanks to double-digit growth for its three brands: Merrell, Patagonia Footwear and Chaco. In the full-year, this business unit increased sales by 12.4 percent to $467.6 million. Merrell, the Wolverine group's second-largest brand ...

  • Article

    Wolverine Creates International Division

    2011-02-05T00:00:00Z

    Wolverine World Wide has created a new stand-alone structure, called Wolverine International Group, to oversee the market development, selling activities and local market execution for all its brands outside of North America. The unit will be run by Bill Brown, a 24-year veteran of the company. He will report directly ...

  • Article

    The Leading Player In Russia Sees A Turnaround

    2011-02-05T00:00:00Z

    Kant, a big importer that is probably the biggest Russian supplier of outdoor products, finished the financial year ended last September with a slight sales increase of 5 percent, despite an estimated 20 percent decline in the whole Russian outdoor market, thanks to the new development of its retail business. ...

  • Article

    New Stenata Stores In Bulgaria

    2011-02-05T00:00:00Z

    Consolidating its position as the largest retailer and wholesaler of outdoor products in Bulgaria, where there are fewer than 30 specialist outdoor retail stores, Stenata opened two stores in November 2010. The second one was totally refurbished and was opened in the country's capital, Sofia. Stenata also opened its ...