Latest Headlines – Page 397
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China’S Ski Boom Seems To Be Slowing
After several years of growth, the Chinese ski market has flattened due to the lack of new resorts and regular skiers. Suppliers at the Ispo China fair in Beijing estimated that the market for branded skis to consumers reached no more than 10,000 pairs this season, and the same could ...
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Ispo Provides A Good Look At Chinese Industry
Regardless of the expected slowdown in the growth of the Chinese sports market this year, interest in the country’s outdoor and winter sports business continued to thrive, as witnessed at the Ispo China fair in Beijing earlier this month. About 13,500 visitors attended the fifth edition of Ispo ...
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New Leaders For World Group
The World Federation of the Sporting Goods Industry has elected the chief executives of Pentland Brands, Andrew Rubin, and Under Armour, Kevin Plank, to be new members of its board. In addition, the WFSGI named Stephen Rubin, who has been active in the group for many years and has served ...
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Further Commotion In British Sports Retailing
Blacks Leisure Group released a statement last week that it had received a number of proposals for the acquisition of the company, but declined to disclose their origin. According to reports in the British media, which could not be confirmed, the main candidates are Mike Ashley, the entrepreneur who controls ...
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Insolvency For Parent Of H²O And Signal
Buksesnedkeren, the Danish company that owns the H²O and Signal brands of clothing, was declared bankrupt on Feb. 4. The process is understood to be a prelude to the possible sale of the whole group or its two components. Advanced discussions have been taking place with five different candidates, but ...
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No Change In Shareholding For Chervo
Negotiations over the possible entry of an investment fund into Chervò, the leading Italian golf apparel company, have failed over its valuation. Francesco Guidetti, a brand development expert who had been appointed as managing director a few months ago, has resigned on good terms, as he was going to take ...
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Vf’S Outdoor Coalition Overtakes The Jeans Core Business
VF Corporation, the huge conglomerate that federates strong brands such as Wrangler, Lee, 7 for All Mankind, Nautica, The North Face, Jansport, Eastpak, Napapijri, Eagle Creek, Vans and Reef, has announced strong sales for 2008. Revenues increased over the full year by 6 percent to $7.64 billion, mainly driven by ...
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Salewa Sees Continued Growth
Excluding Oberalp, Sportler and other properties of the Oberrauch family, the Salewa group reports an 8 percent sales increase to €136 million for 2008, driven by ski touring and hiking boots, and is budgeting a 10 percent increase to €150 million for 2009. Salewa’s new subsidiaries in North America and ...
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Outdoor Segment Doesn’T Help Jarden
Despite a 13.4 percent drop in sales to $494.0 million for the fourth quarter, the Outdoor Solutions division of Jarden Corporation significantly improved its profitability, reporting an operating loss of $400,000 compared with a loss of $21.5 million in the same period in 2007. The division’s sales were ...
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Exel Suffers In 2008
Sales at the Finnish company Exel dropped 16.4 perent in 2008, ending up at €94.9 million. The operating loss was €400,000, down from a profit of €4.8 million for 2007, though this loss did include €7.8 million in non-recurring items. The board of directors has proposed that no dividend be ...
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Arcandor Holds Its Own In 1st Quarter
In the first quarter of the 2008-09 fiscal year, the German group Arcandor maintained its earnings while improving adjusted EBITDA by 18 percent to €180 million. Adjusted sales creeped up by 1.1 percent to €4.79 billion. It got a boost from its major brands, which outperformed the German retail market ...
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Champion Europe Expands Its Footprint
Champion Europe has signed new important distribution deals in the last few weeks in several countries including Russia and the Ukraine, the states of the Persian Gulf, South Africa and Lebanon. It has also appointed a new country manager for Spain, Alberto Sanchez, who worked previously for Nestlé. Royal ...
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Big Jump In Springboost’S Sales
Springboost is going to boost the number pairs sold around the world to about 350,000 this year from 120,000 in 2008, thanks to the addition of many new markets, especially in Europe and the Middle East. New agents and distributors have been signed up in such countries as Austria, Britain, ...
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Vietnam Worries About Indonesia And Eu Even As It Grows
Indonesia’s efforts to lure leather and shoe manufacturers from China and Vietnam appear to be paying off, and the Vietnam Trade Office is alarmed. Many companies had moved from China to Vietnam, and the country hoped for more such investments. However, in 2008, 22 companies moved from China to Indonesia, ...
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Arena Takes New Product Initiatives
Opening up two new product segments, Arena has signed a swimwear licensing deal with Mattel for children between the ages of 3 and 10, and is launching Body Lift, a sexy new line of women’s swimwear with special cuts. At the same time, the company has developed a new performance ...
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New Fitness Apparel Brand Led By A Hungarian Woman Is Ready For Europe
Anatomie, an American brand of fitness-oriented apparel, has set out to build a network of distributors in Europe. The brand was established in 2005 by Katalin Posztos, a former Hungarian gymnast, who has found a market for the brand in the U.S. with a mix of function and sophisticated fashion. ...
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Sailing For Women, A New Market For A Snow Sports Firm
Morpho, a French brand of snowshoes, won Ispo’s BrandNew Awards for its women’s sailing pants, developed under the company’s accessory brand Sailing for Women. The sailing apparel market is a relatively difficult one, with very few players, because the clothing is highly technical. Morpho’s sailing gear has padding in areas ...
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Invicta Develops Limited-edition Items
Invicta is developing a line of bags that will be exclusively sold in Beams stores in Japan. For the moment Invicta is going to make them in a limited edition, but if they are successful the company might continue production on a larger scale. The Italian brand is strong in ...
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New Logo Rules For Vancouver Olympics
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) told a conference organized by the World Federation of the Sporting Goods Industry at the last Ispo fair that it is now ready with some adjustments to the contested “Rule 51” logo rules. An exhaustive new rulebook governing the use of corporate logos – specifically ...
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Ispo Was Unexpectedly Good
Independently of the number of daily visitors, which was slightly down from one year ago, the mood throughout the mammoth show was decidedly positive, in stark contrast with the doom and gloom of the general economy. Besides the increasing concentration of the trade show business on fewer strong players, it ...
