EXECUTIVE CHANGES
+++ Andreas Dempf will assume global responsibility as head of sales and customers for the Mobility Solutions business sector of Robert Bosch GmbH on Feb. 1
+++ John Collins, former head of Patagonia’s global revenue division who began his retail career with the company in 1996, has been named CEO of Better Place Forests, a San Francisco-based company that offers forests as an alternative to cemeteries
+++ Smith has named Taryn Ryan, an eyewear and sports industry veteran who has worked for the Luxottica Group since 2008 with stints in South Africa and Italy, global marketing manager, based in Portland, Oregon
+++ Stefan Mues, former chief digital officer at Swiss Calida Holding and managing director of its e-commerce division in Germany, will head the German eco-fashion company Hess Natur as CEO starting this March
+++ Katja Erbe, who has been with the group since 2018 and 17 years with Adidas before that, succeeds Jessica Mair in March as GM exclusive brands commercial at Intersport International Corp. (IIC) and is expected to strengthen the success of Intersport’s exclusive brands together with Susanne Nanouche, GM operations +++
CORPORATE AND M&A
+++ While Willy Bogner Jr., the former German ski racer, filmmaker, designer and owner of the eponymous clothing company, just celebrated his 80th birthday this month, Willy Bogner GmbH & Co. KGaA is celebrating its 90th anniversary this year with a number of activities (tba)
+++ Polygiene, indirectly through its wholly-owned subsidiary Addmaster (UK) Limited, completed the previously announced acquisition of the SteriTouch business from privately-held U.K. company Radical Materials Limited for a total purchase price of £3.5 million (approximately €4.2m) on Jan. 18 +++
PRODUCT & MARKETING
+++ Canada Goose’s Project Atigi returns with the launch of the 2022 collection, designed in partnership with renowned Inuk fashion designer, Victoria Kakuktinniq
+++ Ruffwear, a U.S. manufacturer of performance outdoor gear for dogs, announced a limited-edition line called Meadow Stream made from excess material from other Ruffwear products
+++ British outdoor brand Rab (owned by Equip Outdoor Technologies) announced to expand its support for mountain running activities around the world in 2022, sponsoring the Lake District Sky Trails (with Scafell Sky Race, Pinnacle Ridge Extreme and Lakes Sky Ultra) in the U.K., the Cirque Series in the U.S. (with several events in Alaska, Utah, Wyoming and Colorado) and the Tromsø Mountain Challenge in Norway +++
RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
+++ Already responsible for the distribution of X-Bionic and X-Socks in Austria and Italy since 2018, the Bolzano-based Oberalp Group has now recruited the Salzburg-based sales agency PeHo2 for the Austrian market, starting with the pre-orders for fall/winter 2022/23 as well as for the ongoing orders for the coming summer
+++ Fashion United reports that Swiss children’s outdoor brand Namuk is expanding in the DACH region with its own online store, but also through retailers such as Breuninger, Globetrotter and Engelhorn
+++ Artilect, the apparel brand launched globally this winter, has opened its very first shop in shop at The Epicentre, a premium outdoor store owned by Artilect’s parent company Bradshaw Taylor and located in Ambleside, in the heart of the English Lake District +++
CSR & SUSTAINABILITY
+++ U.K.-based outdoor lifestyle brand Dewerstone, founded in 2013 and selling its apparel and accessories through both its online store and three company-owned brick-and-mortar stores in Princetown, Totnes (both U.K.) and Gili Trawangan (Indonesia), has become a Certified B Corporation with a score of 98.6
+++ German company Ortlieb Sportartikel GmbH, after creating the position of CSR manager in September 2021 and filling it with Max Grießer, is the latest and 23rd company to sign BikeBrainPool’s Bike Charta, a corporate social responsibility action plan for resource conservation, sustainability and climate protection around products and services in the bicycle industry +++
DTC & E-COMMERCE
+++ U.K. rental platform Hirestreet has announced a new partnership with Decathlon, which will see the global sporting goods retailer’s ski and outerwear available for rental with immediate effect
+++ Deporvillage, the Spanish e-commerce specialist acquired last June by Iberian Sports Retail Group SL (ISRG), in which JD Sports holds a majority stake, has launched a bike collection under its own brand, initially focusing on the MTB discipline with four models +++
FINANCIAL RESULTS
+++ tradebike.es reports that 2021 was the best year in its history for Spanish bicycle components company Rotor Bike Components, which closed the 2021 financial year with a turnover of €18 million (+40%) due to the increased demand for bicycle-related products, the introduction of new products and compatibility with Shimano and SRAM products +++
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