Latest Headlines – Page 457

  • Article

    Jjb Sees Sales Rise And Margins Drop

    2006-08-29T00:00:00Z

    JJB Sports, the British sports retailer, is blaming “predatory” pricing on England replica shirts for a drop of 2.8 percentage points in the gross margins of its retail outlets for the 25 weeks ended on July 23. Although the company’s sales of football shirts around the World Cup were in ...

  • Article

    While Reporting Poor Sales, Blacks Licenses Mambo For Europe And Works With Evans Cycles In The Uk

    2006-08-29T00:00:00Z

    The 5-year licensing agreement excludes Spain but covers all other wholesale and retail activities for Mambo throughout Europe. Blacks Leisure Group, which already operates numerous O’Neill stores in the UK, will take over Mambo’s existing four outlets in the country as part of the deal. Rob Pascoe, who had ...

  • Article

    Billabong Makes Big Progress Almost Everywhere

    2006-08-29T00:00:00Z

    For its full year ended June 30, Billabong International’s revenues climbed by 21 percent to 1,027,832,000 Australian dollars (€616.4m-US$782.8m), marking the first time the company has surpassed the billion mark in its local currency. Net income rose by 16 percent to A$145,659,000 (€87.3m-US$110.9m). Thanks to a strong 2nd half, ...

  • Article

    Stockmann Will Open Nike Stores In Russia, Joining Many Other Partners

    2006-08-29T00:00:00Z

    Stockmann, a large Finnish retail group known mainly for its department stores, has signed a deal to open and operate many new Nike concept stores in Russia over the next five years as part of a broader expansion program in that fast-growing market. Stockmann is planning to start up between ...

  • Article

    K-swiss Hires Alden Sheets For Apparel

    2006-08-29T00:00:00Z

    Alden Sheets, the American apparel guru who successfully developed Puma’s business in this sector over the last few years, after doing a similar job at Fila, has been hired by K-Swiss to act as global president of apparel. The goal is to build up a more comprehensive offering of textile ...

  • Article

    Exel Trims Its Sports Division

    2006-08-29T00:00:00Z

    Exel’s sports division has decided to lay off about 20 employees, mainly outside Finland, to adjust its sales, distribution and marketing costs to the difficult market situation created by high retailers’ inventories of Nordic walking poles in Central Europe. The Finnish company will concentrate its involvement in consumer products on ...

  • Article

    Some German Football Players Resent Adidas’ Domination

    2006-08-29T00:00:00Z

    Adidas is taking flak from some German football players who are refusing to wear the boots of their sponsor. In nearly all other countries players have the right to choose the brand of their footwear when they play for the national team, regardless of their sponsor, but in Germany the ...

  • Article

    The Mega-brands Turn Their Eyes Onto China

    2006-08-29T00:00:00Z

    Since the football World Cup is over all eyes are turning to China, a fast-growing market that will host the next Olympic Games in Beijing. The market’s size was recently estimated at about $3 billion, and whatever its actual size, it is generally expected to triple by 2010. Mark ...

  • Article

    Salewa Has Ambitious Goals For Its Boots

    2006-08-29T00:00:00Z

    Eyeing place #4 in Europe’s crowded outdoor footwear market, Salewa would like to reach annual sales of 400,000 pairs worth about €30 million in a few years’ time with its new footwear range, which was prominently launched at the OutDoor show in Friedrichshafen last month. Salewa invested heavily in ...

  • Article

    Dare2be Moves European Office To France

    2006-08-29T00:00:00Z

    Dare2be, the winter sports brand belonging to Regatta, is shifting its European head office from Manchester to Annecy in France. The office will be headed by Gérard Barin, who joined Regatta in June in the new position of brand manager for Dare2be after several decades in French sports retailing and ...

  • Article

    Growing Vaude Reorganizes After The Purchase Of Edelrid

    2006-08-29T00:00:00Z

    VauDe, the German outdoor company, is continuing its integration of Edelrid, the climbing brand it acquired last year. The two companies insist that Edelrid and VauDe will retain their separate management, German locations and production but the tie-up will be felt more strongly by foreign distributors and secondary brands. ...

  • Article

    Orange 21 Posts Another Loss, Signs Up Spy Distributors

    2006-08-29T00:00:00Z

    The net loss was about $758,000 in the 2nd quarter for the parent company of Spy Optic, as compared to a net income of $362,000 in the last year’s quarter. However the loss was narrowed by about $1million when compared to the 1st quarter of this year. Turnover slid by ...

  • Article

    Young Crocs Continues To Snowball

    2006-08-29T00:00:00Z

    Sales outside of the USA for Crocs were only expected to be 10 percent of total revenues, but ended up representing 30 percent by the end of the 2nd quarter and are expected to stay at this level through the end of the year. The company now sells its odd-looking ...

  • Article

    Aktiesport Buys Perry Sport, Forming New Dutch Retail Leader

    2006-08-10T00:00:00Z

    Perry Sport, the leading Dutch sports retailer, is to be acquired by Unlimited Sports Group (USG), a company that already owns Aktiesport, a much more aggressive Dutch banner, and several licenses. The new owners have ambitious expansion goals although the two retailers jointly cover a large swathe of the Dutch ...

  • Article

    Adidas Reports Solid Quarterly Gains, Continues To Integrate Reebok

    2006-08-10T00:00:00Z

    Exactly one month after the final of the football World Cup, the excitement of the competition is still reverberating in Adidas’ quarterly results. Buoyant sales of balls and jerseys strongly contributed to a 13 percent jump in the European sales of three-striped products for the second quarter, despite the roughness ...

  • Article

    Management Changes Punctuate Reebok’S Integration

    2006-08-10T00:00:00Z

    Adidas AG is making fast progress with the integration of the Reebok brand. Having bought out Reebok’s Chinese and Russian distributors over the last months, the company is preparing to seal at least two other similar agreements before the end of the year. In the USA, a joint chief ...

  • Article

    Puma Sees Higher Benefits Ahead, In Spite Of The Recent Drop In Profits

    2006-08-10T00:00:00Z

    Lavish spending around the football World Cup sharply depressed Puma’s margins and earnings for the 2nd quarter but a vigorous rise in turnover prompted the company to lift its sales target for the next four years. Sales rose by 38.2 percent to €546.6 million for the quarter, although this ...

  • Article

    Amer Reduces Its Losses

    2006-08-10T00:00:00Z

    Amer Sports, the group that acquired Salomon last October, narrowed its net loss for the 2nd quarter as sales increased in its ski and team sports segments, while its Wilson division continued to suffer from the sluggishness of the golf market. On a comparable basis, sales for the quarter ...

  • Article

    Head Goes Through A Tough Quarter

    2006-08-10T00:00:00Z

    The second quarter was tough for Head, which had to unveil declining sales and profits after strong results in the same period last year. Sales for the quarter were down by 5.3 percent to €63.8 million and the company reported a loss of €4.1 million for the period, compared with ...

  • Article

    Callaway Disappoints Investors But Promises Changes

    2006-08-10T00:00:00Z

    Investors are reportedly skeptical of Callaway Golf’s 3-year business plan to return the company to higher profitability. Some are suggesting that the company should be sold to a private equity group. Net income did grow by 23 percent to $22.5 million in the 2nd quarter, but the result was below ...