Latest Headlines – Page 455
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Another Quirky Footwear Company Goes Public In The Usa
In the footsteps of Crocs, which continues to make major inroads internationally, Heelys, the American supplier of wheeled footwear created by Roger Adams, has rolled onto the U.S. stock market, filing an IPO on Sept. 1. The company, valued at about $115 million, is now trading on the NASDAQ under ...
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Shoe Importers Cry Foul At Brussels Compromise Proposal On Anti-dumping
European footwear importers are criticizing strongly a proposal now on the table of the 25 member governments of the European Union to assess anti-dumping duties on Chinese and Vietnamese leather shoes for only two-three years. Both the European Sporting Goods Industry Federation (FESI) and the Footwear Association of Importers and ...
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More Changes In The Ispo Team As It Pursues Its International Development
Stefan Reschke, who has done a great job in building up the ISPO China show, is now responsible also for ISPO Russia. The 31-year-old manager, who has worked within the ISPO team since 2001, has been appointed to the newly created position of international exhibition director for ISPO following the ...
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Fusion And Other Brands Sustain Nike’S Growth, But The Uk Is Still A Challenge
While there are signs of recovery in France, cut-throat competition in the British market continues to depress Nike’s European performance. Excluding the UK, the brand’s revenues in Europe raced ahead at a double-digit pace for the 1st quarter ended on Aug. 31, and sales in Eastern Europe even grew by ...
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World Cup Boosted Retail Sales
Retail sales of football clothing increased by 27 percent to an estimated €422 million in the five major European countries during the first six months of 2006, according to NPD Group, thanks to the World Cup. At 70 percent, the biggest sales increases were recorded in France and Germany. In ...
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Two New Country Managers At Decathlon
Jean-Paul Constant, a French executive known as a tough guy, has been appointed as Décathlon’s new country manager in the UK, a difficult market where its private brands are just now beginning to be appreciated and where the company has stopped losing money on its six stores in the country. ...
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Kesko Plans Second Budget Sport Store
Kesko, Finland’s leading retail group, has decided to open a second Budget Sport store of more than 2,500 square meters in a new shopping center near Tampere, called Idea Park, next April. The investment follows better than expected results at the first Budget Sport store, opened in a shopping center ...
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Champion Sports Is Sold For €60 Million
The Irish chain of 17 sporting goods stores was sold last week for a about €60 million to PCP One, an Irish investment consortium led by John Quinn. With the new financial backing of PCP, Champion Sports will begin an aggressive expansion plan, adding 10-15 of its large outlets over ...
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Ashley Pulls Blacks’ Share Price Up
Blacks Leisure, the embattled British outdoor retailer, remains at the center of intense speculation after Mike Ashley, the hard-hitting owner of Sports World, apparently amassed a sizeable stake in the company. Man Financial, an investment firm thought to represent Ashley, first reported acquiring a stake of 14.32 percent in Blacks ...
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Cavden Group Rescues Hawkshead
Hawkshead Retail, a British mail order company specializing in outdoor clothing, footwear and accessories, with annual sales of an estimated £25 million (€37.3m-$47.5m), was rescued from administration last month when it was taken over by Branded Logo. This new entity is financed by Cavden Group, a British company which owns ...
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Trespass Opens Lots Of Stores
Trespass, the Scottish-based ski and outdoor company, is snapping up store locations in Britain’s distressed retail landscape to vastly expand its own retail network over the next months. While it already has 23 stores around the country, the tally should increase to 45 outlets by the end of next February. ...
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Dutch Sneakers Chain Steers A New Course Under New Ownership
Sneakers, the Dutch lifestyle footwear retailer, is making an impressive comeback. Under new ownership since last year it has begun to entirely overhaul its formula and to refurbish its stores, lifting comparable sales in the upgraded outlets by close to 20 percent this year. The retailer was sold as ...
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Basicnet Nets Profit From Capital Gain
BasicNet swung into a net profit of €26.1 million in the 1st half of 2006, against a €5.9 million loss a year earlier, thanks to a €27.1 million capital gain stemming from the €27.3 million sale to Diamond King International of property rights for the Kappa and Robe di Kappa ...
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Trespass Opens Lots Of Stores
Trespass, the Scottish-based ski and outdoor company, is snapping up store locations in Britain’s distressed retail landscape to vastly expand its own retail network over the next months. While it already has 23 stores around the country, the tally should increase to 45 outlets by the end of next February. ...
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Volcom Appoints New European Team, Expects Strong Revenue Gains
Volcom has nearly completed the recruitment of the new management team that will gradually take over next year the large European business developed under the brand by a licensee, Michel Gamay, with growing annual sales estimated at about $30 million. Volcom Europe, whose head office is being erected in a ...
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Freak First Quarter For Cutter & Buck, Which Launches New Brand
The traditionally conservative golf company is looking to grab younger, more fashionable consumers with a new brand of golf-inspired sportswear, called “CBUK”. Cutter & Buck says that the line, which is being launched for Spring 2007, is made with high-tech fabrics and uses unique design elements. The company’s 1st ...
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Ashworth Turns Around, Loses Ceo
Further evidence that Ashworth may be seeking new owners is provided by the departure of the company’ chairman and chief executive, Randall L. Herrel Sr.. He will leave Ashworth on Oct. 17 after ten years with the company, and his responsibilities will be taken over by several other executives within ...
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Peak Performance Will Push The Golf Segment After A Strong Year
The most sports-oriented apparel line of IC Companys, Peak Performance, expects to make a stronger push into the golf market during the company’s 2006/07 financial year, which began on July 1. The Swedish brand continues to do well outside Scandinavia in general, growing especially in the Benelux countries, Austria and ...
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Head Moves Into Badminton
The goal is to rapidly become the second-largest player in the badminton market after Yonex by using the group’s well-oiled distribution network, by offering a complete package of products including shuttlecocks, clothing and footwear, and by adapting the technologies already developed in the highly competitive tennis sector to its future ...
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Land Puzzle Doesn’T Prevent Elan From Expanding
Elan, the Slovenian ski and marine company, is urging the country’s authorities to solve a decade-old land ownership issue. Igor Umek, chief executive of Skimar, the holding company above Elan, complained about the bizarre situation as he outlined plans to invest €2.6 million in the production facilities of the marine ...
