All Coronavirus articles
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Article
Consumer confidence dwindles in the U.K.
GfK’s Consumer Confidence Index for the U.K. has fallen by one point so far in December, remaining negative at -15, in the midst of the spreading Omicron variant, which has led to more than 100,000 new daily cases of Covid contamination. The index had improved by three points to -14 ...
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German retailers oppose the current anti-Covid measures
Intersport Germany and Rose Bikes are reportedly representing a group of 4,500 stakeholders in Germany that is grouping retailers, trade associations, journalists and economic experts in their opposition against the German government’s Dec. 2 decision to allow only vaccinated people to enter non-essential retail stores. The requirement, which is being ...
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Intersport Austria enhances services during the present lockdown
At a press conference marking the start of the 2022 winter season, Intersport Austria looked to the future with cautious optimism. On the first weekend of the advent season, the retail group recorded a digital run on all the winter sports articles that its retail members are offering. Alpine skis, ...
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The unvaccinated are banned from Germany’s non-essential stores
In contrast with Austria, where non-essential stores and other public indoor services have been forced to shut down completely at least until Dec. 13, or with the U.K., where people must now wear masks in all the stores, non-essential stores as well as cinemas, theaters and restaurants in Germany will ...
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Ski resorts are opening in Russia, but many will not go there
The first ski resorts in Russia have opened in the Kemerovo and Khabarovsk Krai regions, marking the beginning of the early winter season. Around this time a year ago, the Russian market experienced a substantial rise in demand for winter sporting goods equipment, as many Russian skiers were prevented from ...
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Alpine ski facilities are not being closed, but Germany may follow Austria’s lockdown
Europe has become the epicenter of the new wave of the coronavirus pandemic, registering 67 percent of the new cases of infection around the world. The situation is particularly tense in Central Europe, but in contrast with a year ago, health authorities are generally excluding snow sports from the range ...
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Austria imposes a general lockdown, Germany approves a new infection protection act
Without waiting for the end of a previously imposed confinement for the unvaccinated, which started on Nov. 15, the Austrian government decided that everybody will go into a general, nationwide lockdown for a maximum of 20 days on Monday, Nov. 22, and that it will be extended for unvaccinated people ...
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New Russian lockdown boosts the resale market
A week-long lockdown ordered by the Russian government to slow down the spread of the Covid-19 epidemic forced Russian sporting goods retailers and others to shut most of their outlets, but it doesn’t seem to have affected the market to a major extent. As Russia has become the European country ...
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News briefs
Vietnamese manufacturers react to the spreading virus
More than 1,000 companies operating in various sectors in the Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) region have managed to keep most of their workers on site, accommodating them in their factories or transporting them from hotels and other lodgings, to help avoid a shutdown of their operations due to the ...
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Early end to industry lockdown in Bangladesh, new concerns over floods and China
We have started to hear reports of “panic buying” by various apparel companies that are sourcing finished products and materials such as elastane from Chinese suppliers as the new delta variant of the Covid-19 epidemic has started to cause some localized factory shutdowns in Beijing and at least four other ...
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Shenzhou and Eagle Nice slow output in Vietnam
Pou Chen and Kingmaker Footwear are shutting down their shoe factories in Vietnam, as previously reported, and we now hear about the shutdown of at least another local shoe producer, Chang Shin Vietnam Co. Meanwhile a couple of important producers of sports apparel are doing the same as the Covid-19 ...
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News briefs
Tokyo bans Olympic spectators amid Covid-19 emergency
The Japanese Olympics Minister, Tamayo Marukawa, has announced that the Tokyo-area venues for the upcoming Summer Olympics, both indoor and outdoor, will not admit spectators. As for the presence of spectators in other areas, the organizers will consider “concrete measures” with each local governor involved, Marukawa said. The announcement comes ...
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News briefs
Spain alone providing post-pandemic relief to the sport sector?
Spain is the only country in the EU that has so far included the sport sector in its subsidies for the recovery from Covid-19, according to the chairman of the country’s Upper Council on Sport (CSD), José Manuel Franco. The claim could not be verified at the time of going ...
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News briefs
Chinese port congestion won't be cleared until the end of June
A backlog at Yantian, China’s largest container terminal, will take several weeks to clear, according to Maersk. The world’s largest shipping company told the news agency AFP that it had been informed by the port’s authorities that activity will return to normal by the end of June. The terminal had ...
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FESI report indicates a recovery in the sports goods sector
A new survey conduct in April by the Federation of the European Sporting Goods Industry (FESI) indicates that most sporting goods companies are now “on their way to recovery;” despite the difficulties they have been going through over the last 12 months. The picture is, however, quite diversified. The outdoor ...
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News briefs
German retailers seize the Constitutional Court over the lockdowns
A group of ten German retailers including Intersport, Engelhorn and Rose Bikes have sued the German federal government in the country’s Constitution Court over its strict anti-Covid lockdown regulations. The current measures prevent the opening of so-called “non-essential” retail stores, including sporting goods retail shops, in areas where more than ...
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Wildberries: Extended work holiday boosts the market in Russia
Sales of sporting goods on Wildberries’ website jumped by 111 percent as compared to the year-ago period after Russia President Vladimir Putin backed a proposal by the head of Russia’s health watchdog to introduce a 10-day no-work holiday from May 1 to 11 to help prevent a surge in new ...
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News briefs
Markus Hefter will join Polygiene
Source: Polygiene Markus Hefter Markus Hefter, who left the ISPO Group after 18 years earlier this month, will join the Swedish ingredient brand Polygiene as commercial director for EMEA in September. The 51-year-old German manager has been most recently in charge of the ISPO Munich and OutDoor ...
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News briefs
Nepal in humanitarian crisis, donations needed
Source: Sherpa Adventure Gear Sherpa Adventure Gear’s teams in the U.K. and Germany are receiving dramatic reports from the brand’s home country, Nepal. Medical care in the country is already at a very modest level under “normal” circumstances, but now it is catastrophic, according to the news. ...
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News briefs
Nike sees HQ staff working at the office three days a week
Nike’s vice president of workplace design and connectivity, Jeff Nichols, has sent out in an email to affected employees, laying out a new in-office work policy for the company’s global headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon. Nike is to begin raising capacity, services and amenities there as of next month, while continuing ...