TRADE SHOWS & EVENTS

+++ The French show Sport-Achat Hiver, canceled in 2020 and 2021 because of Covid-19, returns to Lyon Eurexpo March 7-9, 2022

+++ The snowboard test event Shops 1st Try, scheduled to take place on Jan. 30 - Feb. 1 at the Ski Juwel Alpbachtal resort, Austria, had to be canceled for the second time in a row due to new Covid regulations imposed by the Austrian government

+++ As the interest of financial investors in investing in companies from the bike, sports and mobility industry continues to grow, the new Eurobike concept now includes a “Eurobike Investors Lounge” on the trade visitor days from July 13 to 15, 2022, in Frankfurt, serving as a casual contact exchange platform between interested parties

+++ NürnbergMesse has confirmed the staging of IWA OutdoorClassics 2022, the international trade show for hunting, shooting, outdoor and safety, in Nuremberg, Germany, from March 3-6, 2022 +++

 

+++ This Saturday, the Netherlands is ending the lockdown on non-essential retail and some other areas of public life that has been in place since before Christmas, but restaurants and cultural venues remain closed and strict Covid measures remain in place

+++ The Guardian reports that Meta is facing a £2.3 billion (€2.7bn) class-action lawsuit accusing the company of violating competition law by mining the data of 44 million Facebook users in the U.K. between 2015 and 2019

+++ Online sneaker community Nice reports that VF Corp has emailed its unvaccinated employees in the U.S. that they will be laid off without severance effective Jan. 31, while Nike and Columbia are reportedly also starting to fire unvaccinated employees this month +++

 

PRODUCT & MARKETING

+++ Delsey Paris, a premium French luggage brand, unveiled Raspail, a line of luggage “inspired by nature” and designed “with the wilderness adventurer in mind,” with wheeled duffel bags ideal for sports travel or camping and made from recycled, water-repellent fabric

+++ Adidas and the German Ski Association (DSV) have extended their partnership, which has existed since 1976, until 2026

+++ For the 2022 season, the Craft Elite Run Team has added U.S. endurance runner Tim Freriks, Swedish trail runner Ida Nilsson and Spanish skyrunner Aroa Sio to its lineup

+++ Ellesse has announced a three-year partnership with electronic music festival Tomorrowland Winter, which returns to the French Alps in March 2022 after a two-year hiatus

+++ Thanks to the new Full Heel Release technology, a combination of horizontal and vertical heel release, the Tyrolia Protector ski binding introduced for winter 2022/23 is said to reduce or mitigate serious, common and, above all, consequential injuries in the knee or cruciate ligament area caused by backward rotational falls

+++ British outdoor apparel brand Montane is the new title sponsor of the legendary Grand Traverse endurance race series from Crested Butte to Aspen, Colorado, originally created in 1998 by Jan Runge as a 40-mile ski traverse across the Elk Mountain range

+++ Prana’s new Alpine Air series and Insulo Stretch Hooded Jackets for fall/winter 2022 utilize PrimaLoft P.U.R.E Black technology which reduces carbon emissions by 70 percent during production process, an offset equivalent to more than 10,500 trees capturing a year’s worth of CO2 from the atmosphere

+++ After ten years, the winter of 2021-22 marks the final season of collaboration between Faction Skis and freeskier Candide Thovex, who will both “move on amicably to new adventures” in the spring

+++ U.S. elite ultrarunner and mountain athlete Kelly Wolf has joined the La Sportiva ambassador team

+++ Schöffel received the Design & Innovation Award 2022 (DI.A), which annually recognizes the most important trends in the bike industry, for its sustainable bike jacket Hybrid Jkt Flow Trail

+++ U.S. brand Yeti, manufacturer of coolers and drinkware, is the new official partner of the pro freeski and snowboard events Freeride World Tour (FWT) and Natural Selection Tour (NST)

+++ Australian-based big air and slopestyle snowboarder, Tess Coady, is the latest addition to Smith’s global snow team

+++ Marion Haerty, French freeride snowboarder, four-time world champion in the freeride category and currently specializing in backcountry snowboarding, is the newest member of Team Mips

+++ Stockholm-based fashion house Acne Studios has presented its first-ever Recco-equipped products, the biscuit beige and chocolate brown down-filled jackets +++

 

E-COMMERCE & DTC

+++ Shopify and JD.com have entered into a strategic partnership that will open up the world’s largest e-commerce market to U.S. merchants by allowing them to list their products on cross-border e-commerce platform JD Worldwide, giving them access to 550 million active customers in China

+++ U.S. outdoor brand Cotopaxi has partnered with Sezzle, a technology already used by Keen, Klymit, Rumpl, Altitude Sports, Dragon Alliance and others, to offer its North American customers a “Buy Now, Pay Later” option +++

 

CORPORATE AND M&A

+++ Fosielund Holding AB,  a privately held investment company based in Malmö, has acquired 5,031 shares in bicycle airbag brand Hövding Sverige AB and now, together with Swedish investor Joel Eklund, owns more than 30 percent of the shares and votes in Hövding

+++ MycoWorks, a California-based company developing a fungal-based biomaterial that could replace leather, has secured $125 million in Series C financing led by Prime Movers Lab to finance the first full-scale, mass production plant to produce Fine Mycelium and the flagship product, Reishi

+++ Each of the 850 employees worldwide of the Oberalp Group (owner of brands Salewa, Dynafit, Pomoca, Wild Country, EvolvVelotex and LaMunt), which celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2021, will receive an additional paid leave week in 2022 if this time is used to contribute to a charitable institution of their choice

+++ The Seattle-based brand Outdoor Research is rebranding its existing and future tactical line and its expanding working professionals product line under the name OR Pro™ +++

 

CSR & SUSTAINABILITY

+++ Canadian Tire Corporation has, for the third time, been listed as one of Corporate Knights’ Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations, ranking as the top general merchandiser in Canada and placed first among its peers headquartered in the country

+++ The largest manufacturing site of the Lycra Company, located in Foshan (China), has earned a score in the upper quartile for its third-party audited Higg Facility Environmental Module (Higg FEM) +++

 

EXECUTIVE CHANGES

+++ Boardriders has promoted Andrew Henry to head of retail in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) for all its brands +++

 

RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION

+++ Dutch Popal Mobility Group has signed an exclusive distribution agreement for Germany and Benelux for Bird Bike, the e-bicycle from U.S. micromobility specialist Bird, listed since November 2021 as the first e-mobility company on the New York Stock Exchange +++

 

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