All Article articles – Page 208

  • Article

    Sustainability takes center stage at forum

    2012-10-27T00:00:00Z

    Joint action on sustainability has been moving rapidly forward since the matter was discussed at last year's European Outdoor Forum and in the context of other events in Europe and the U.S., driven by organizations such as the Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC), which was introduced to the executives in Annecy ...

  • Article

    Schmid calls on outdoor industry to work together

    2012-10-27T00:00:00Z

    Rolf Schmid, chief executive of the Mammut Sports Group, urged other executives in the outdoor industry to take part more intensely in joint efforts to build a steady European market. He warned that suppliers could no longer “flood the market and hope that each of us will become a market ...

  • Article

    VF’s sports, outdoor brands weather the storms, globally

    2012-10-27T00:00:00Z

    VF Corporation reported this week that its gross margin reached a record of 46.7 percent of sales in the third quarter, largely as a result of the group's continued shift in the product mix toward higher-margin businesses. Total revenues grew by 14 percent to $3,148 million in the quarter, but ...

  • Article

    Big drop for Wolverine in Europe

    2012-10-27T00:00:00Z

    Merrell and other brands of Wolverine Worldwide had a tough ride in the European market during the third quarter ended Sept. 8. The group's sales in the Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA) region fell by about 20 percent during the period compared with a year ago, due to poor ...

  • Article

    Multi-sport retailers push for better relations with suppliers

    2012-10-27T00:00:00Z

    At a panel discussion moderated by The Compass at the European Outdoor Forum earlier this month, three prominent sports retailers called for European outdoor companies to build up their brands more strongly and to form more productive relationships with their retail partners. They said they were searching for ways to ...

  • Article

    Brazil: Another outdoor market with potential

    2012-10-27T00:00:00Z

    The down jackets and warm underwear one might expect to sell in Russia will probably not do so well in Brazil, another large country with stupendous landscapes and an under-developed outdoor market. It was described at the EOF by Marina Franco, managing director of the Adventure Sports Fair, a fair ...

  • Article

    Good European outdoor convention in Annecy

    2012-10-27T00:00:00Z

    A total of 240 delegates from many different countries took part in the third European Outdoor Forum, organized by Outdoor Sports Valley in the nice French town of Annecy earlier this month. Attendance levels were about the same as a year ago, but the general spirit appeared to have risen ...

  • Article

    Strong growth for Amer’s brands in apparel

    2012-10-27T00:00:00Z

    The Winter and Outdoor division of Amer Sports, which includes brands such as Arc'teryx, Salomon and Suunto, improved its operating profit by 9 percent to €80.8 million in the third quarter ended Sept. 30, compared with €79.3 million in the same period a year ago, while its net sales increased ...

  • Article

    Stabilo’s outdoor division grows organically and through acquisition

    2012-10-27T00:00:00Z

    Schwanhäusser Industrie Holding, well known for its writing products marketed under the Schwan-Stabilo brand, has posted strong growth for its outdoor division, which has been run as a subsidiary of its own since this year. The combined sales of the Deuter and Ortovox brands reached €78 million in Schwanhäusser's last ...

  • Article

    Columbia is not amused about Europe

    2012-10-27T00:00:00Z

    Columbia Sportswear posted a decrease of 4.0 percent in net sales to $545.0 million for its third quarter ended Sept. 30, compared with the year-ago results. About 2 percentage points of the decrease were said to be due to currency effects. In the same period, operating profit went up by ...

  • Article

    Jarden’s outdoor segment slips by 7%

    2012-10-27T00:00:00Z

    Jarden Corporation's Outdoor Solutions segment had sales of $657.6 million in the third quarter ended Sept. 30, down by 7.0 percent from the year-earlier period, due to declining sales for its snow sports brands in the wake of last winter's disappointing weather. The revenues for the segment fell by 8.0 ...

  • Article

    Transa sets a retail momentum in the heart of Zurich

    2012-10-15T00:00:00Z

    In late September, Transa, the big Swiss specialty outdoor retailer, opened its largest store in the country by far, just a few meters away from the central railway station of the country's biggest city, with which it is directly connected. The shop has a selling surface of around 3,000 square ...

  • Article

    OR may stay where it is if the locals make an effort

    2012-10-15T00:00:00Z

    Like the next Outdoor Retailer Winter Market, the Outdoor Retailer Summer Market will run from Wednesday to Saturday rather than from Thursday to Sunday to let the participants enjoy part of the weekend. While the Winter Market will run from Jan. 23 to Jan. 26, the Summer Market will start ...

  • Article

    Lafuma puts down its rifle while talking to E-Land

    2012-10-15T00:00:00Z

    The Lafuma Group has been putting out some important information about its future lately. As reported in the last issue, Lafuma has opened up discussions with E-Land on a potential takeover of the French group by that large South Korean conglomerate. According to the French press, E-Land indicated that it ...

  • Article

    First graduate course in sporting goods management kicks off

    2012-10-15T00:00:00Z

    Born as an initiative by the Outdoor Sports Valley (OSV), an interesting new Master of Science course in sports and outdoor industry management, or SOIM for short, began a few days ago at the School of Management of Lyon (EMLyon). Described as the first such master's degree program specializing in ...

  • Article

    Nordic study finds openings in buoyant markets

    2012-10-15T00:00:00Z

    The outdoor market in the Nordic European countries jointly yielded retail sales of about €1.4 billion last year, amounting to about twice the level of spending per capita attained in the German market, it emerged from the Nordic outdoor study compiled by EDM Publications, the publisher of The Compass. The ...

  • Article

    VF sets new targets for its business in Asia

    2012-10-15T00:00:00Z

    VF Corporation, the U.S.-based owner of The North Face, Eastpak, Jansport, Vans, Timberland and many other brands, told investors at a meeting in Shanghai that it was eyeing sales of $2 billion in the Asia-Pacific region over the next five years, compared with about $900 million this year. This ...

  • Article

    American toesock brand wants to be more international

    2012-10-15T00:00:00Z

    Injinji is running as fast as Vibram's FiveFingers, and perhaps even faster now, as more and more trail runners and hikers are adopting the toe separation concept of its line of sports socks. Based in San Diego, this company went into ultra-running before FiveFingers, but the success of Vibram's shoes ...

  • Article

    Black Diamond goes big in Japan, adds an Austrian brand

    2012-10-15T00:00:00Z

    + Black Diamond Inc. has agreed to buy Pieps, an Austrian brand of alpine safety equipment, at a price of €8.0 million in cash. The deal also calls for the American company to assume debts worth €2.1 million, and to make extra payments of up to €2.3 million if Pieps ...

  • Article

    Wolverine completes PLG’s acquisition

    2012-10-15T00:00:00Z

    Wolverine Worldwide announced last week the slightly belated completion of its $1.24 billion acquisition of the Performance + Lifestyle Group of Collective Brands, which includes big shoe brands such as Saucony, Sperry Top-Sider, Keds and Stride Rite. For the parent company of Merrell, Sebago and other footwear brands, it is ...