CSR & SUSTAINABILITY
+++ Swedish brand Houdini is supporting the U.S. non-profit organization Sierra Club’s Team Sierra this April to celebrate Earth Month, helping to drive funds and create awareness around environmentalism and circular business
+++ In a blog entry, Patagonia announced that it is “transitioning away from adding additional logos to our products,” due to environmental reasons
+++ In April and May, the German outdoor brand Elkline will donate €5 to the Bienenretter.de campaign for every pair of waxed pants and jacket sold
+++ Danish footwear brand Ecco employs 33 workers with disabilities in Indonesia, which is why sign language training has now been introduced in the company’s production facility to facilitate communication among colleagues
+++ Hydro Flask has announced 15 nonprofit organizations that will receive the 2021 Parks for All grant, a total of $400,000 to support the construction, maintenance, restoration and increased access to public parks and green spaces worldwide
+++ One year after installing nearly 3,000 solar modules covering 52,000 square meters of roof space on its production facility in Sevelen, Switzerland, Schoeller Textil was able to produce 950,000 kWh of solar energy, equivalent to the average electricity consumption of about 238 households (at 4,000 kWh per household), 85 percent of which could be used for Schoeller’s own operations
+++ According to greenbiz.com, U.S. outdoor recreation retail co-op REI is asking its suppliers to double down on their climate strategies and social justice policies and will require all existing partners to share their climate action plans by the end of this year +++
LEGAL & INSTITUTIONAL
+++ The U.S. Patent Office’s Trademark Trial and Appeal Board denied a bid by VF Corp. to register the design of Timberland’s iconic Yellow Boot, concluding that it lacks sufficient acquired distinctiveness
+++ Yeti, the U.S. manufacturer of coolers, filed a lawsuit in the federal court in West Texas against Yeti Products LLC, doing business as Yeti Yoga, for trademark infringement and related allegations, claiming that the defendant’s yoga mats and related products cause confusion in the marketplace
+++ Eric Ziegler, master instructor at Skylotec, has been elected president of the regional committee for the GAS region at the Industrial Rope Access Trade Association (IRATA)
+++ FESI has launched a third survey to assess the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the sporting goods industry, which is open until April 28 to all sporting goods companies operating in Europe
+++ Nick Rennie, previously head of development at Scottish Curling, has been appointed chief executive officer of Scottish Cycling, the governing body for cycle sport in Scotland and part of British Cycling +++
PRODUCT & MARKETING
+++ Scarpa will be the main sponsor of the Vemdalen Fjällmaraton, a 45km, 35km, 25km and 11km cross-country race in central Sweden that was canceled in 2020 but will now return on Aug. 14 this year
+++ Dakine and Rumpl partnered to deliver a collection of packable and lightweight bags, blankets and towels made from recycled materials that are “purpose-built for travel and adventure”
+++ Nixon is launching the world’s first line of technical watches made with upcycled ocean plastics by Basel, Switzerland-based company #tide ocean material®
+++ Klean Kanteen is teaming up with Victoria’s Secret Pink - a partnership the brand says will continue afterward - to create a limited-edition, custom Klean Kanteen Classic water bottle to celebrate Earth Day
+++ For maximum safety, Bianchi’s new e-Omnia platform (with MTB, Tourer and City models that can be individually configured online) now comes standard with high-range front, side and rear lights from Spanninga
+++ Salomon has unveiled a limited-edition capsule of trail running footwear and apparel that will directly benefit the Salomon Foundation, which aids mountain professionals
+++ As part of Helly Hansen’s new global campaign “Trust Makes It Possible,” the Norwegian brand is partnering with Norwegian People’s Aid (Norsk Folkehjelp), a professional search and rescue team of over 2,000 expert volunteers who put their lives on the line in rescue operations across Norway, to highlight the reliability of the brand’s gear in extreme situations
+++ The North Face has unveiled the official sport climbing competition uniforms to be worn by athletes from the U.S., Japan, South Korea and Austria in Tokyo
+++ onX, a U.S. pioneer in digital outdoor navigation, has partnered with compatriot Somewear Labs, a leading provider of off-grid communications technology, to launch the industry’s first integration between a GPS mapping app and a satellite communications device
+++ JanSport has partnered with sustainable designer and upcycle artist Nicole McLaughlin to bring attention to the environmental benefits of upcycling within the fashion industry
+++ The German bicycle accessories specialist Sigma Sport is strengthening its brand ambassador team with 14-time Tour de France stage winner, Marcel Kittel +++
RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
+++ NRG Enterprises, a division of Montréal, Québec-based family-owned distributor Lanctôt, has signed a multi‐year agreement to distribute Goodyear Bicycle Tires in Canada +++
+++ Grassroots Outdoor Alliance, the U.S. collaborative strategic network of 95 independent retailers with 195 retail locations in 45 U.S. states, has reported an exceptional year-to-year sales rebound that has both met and surpassed “business as usual,” with a startling 101-percent gain in March 2021 +++
E-COMMERCE & DTC
+++ Bloomberg, in an article on the situation in Calgary, Canada, suggested that warehouse space across the entire country could run out by the end of 2021 thanks to the boom in e-commerce sparked by the pandemic
+++ With Ebay Deine Stadt (“eBay Your City”), eBay Germany has launched a new project in cooperation with the German Retail Association (HDE) and ten cities that aims to strengthen local retail by allowing municipalities to set up local online marketplaces with their retailers +++
CORPORATE & M&A
+++ Amazon.com is donating $1.75 million to a new STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) high school in Onondaga County, New York, a county that will receive a new robotics fulfillment center in the fall that will create more than 1,000 local jobs
+++ At the Annual General Meeting of Calida Holding AG (Lafuma, Millet) on April 15, the shareholders re-elected the current chairman of the board of directors, Hans-Kristian Hoejsgaard, as well as the board members Marco Gadola, Nathalie Gaveau, Gregor Greber, Erich Kellenberger, Dr. Lukas Morscher and Stefan Portmann for a one-year term of office until the end of the next AGM +++
EXECUTIVE CHANGES
+++ Isbjörn of Sweden has appointed Sandra Nielsen as e-commerce manager, joining the team at the company headquarters in Stockholm
+++ Matt Burbach, previously director of marketing at Content & Creative as well as a climber, writer and photographer, was named director of marketing of Mountain Hardwear, responsible for connecting all brand marketing efforts across DTC e-commerce, wholesale and distributor channels, both domestically and globally, and reporting directly to the company’s president, Joe Vernachio +++
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