News Briefs – Page 248
-
News briefs
Nike veteran to lead Amazon's live sports marketing
Marc Patrick has been appointed global head of sports marketing for Amazon Prime Video. Patrick, who was most recently senior vice-president of marketing at Beyond Meat, previously spent two decades at Nike, where he served as head of brand marketing for golf, tennis, baseball, athletic training, skateboarding and football. In ...
-
News briefs
Kobe Bryant’s widow launches the Mambacita capsule collection
Vanessa Bryant, the widow of the late NBA star Kobe Bryant, announced on Instagram on April 30 that she was launching the Mambacita clothing line, in partnership with Dannijo. Bryant said that the proceeds would go to the Mamba & Mambacita Sports Foundation, a non-profit organization for undeserved athletes and ...
-
News briefs
Jay-Z invests in at-home fitness company
Shawn Carter, the 51-year-old American rapper and business mogul globally known as Jay-Z, has invested in LIT Method, a fitness company specializing in at-home fitness training, through his venture capital firm Marcy Venture Partners. The financial details of the investment have not been disclosed. LIT Method is a Los Angeles-based ...
-
News briefs
Amazon’s sales grew by 44% in Q1
Beating estimates, Amazon’s net sales jumped by 44 percent to $108.5 billion in the first quarter, driven by the ongoing online shopping boom caused by the Covid pandemic. Excluding a $2.1 billion favorable impact from changes in foreign exchange rates during the quarter, the revenue increase was limited at 41 ...
-
News briefs
Vans honors the skate legend Jeff Grosso with a dedicated line
Vans is paying tribute to the skate legend Jeff Grosso with a new Grosso Forever collection. Grosso, who prematurely died in March 2020 at the age of 51, wore Vans for 50 years, the brand said. The collection leads with the Skate Sk8-Hi, which features re-issued colorways and iconic designs ...
-
News briefs
Castore will move its HQ from Liverpool to Manchester
Castore will relocate its headquarters from Liverpool to 1 Central Street, part of The Albert Estate, in Manchester ’s city center, later this year. The growing British sportswear brand has signed a lease to occupy a 22,100-square-foot space within the building, spanning across five floors. OBI advised on the ...
-
News briefs
A $200m valuation for Ergatta, a gamified connected rower start-up
Ergatta, a Brooklyn-based start-up that has developed a good-looking, connected home rowing machine, is the latest target of private equity in the growing home fitness market. The company, which was founded in 2019, has raised $30 million in a new funding round that gives it a $200 million valuation. Ergatta ...
-
News briefs
Albion launches women’s cycling apparel, hires ex Rapha lead designer
Albion has released its new spring/summer 2021 collection of performance cycling clothing, which comprises the brand’s first women’s products. Both the men’s and women’s items are made using the same recycled performance fabrics. The women’s range also features a women-specific bib short pad for long-distance riding by Elastic Interface. Additionally, ...
-
News briefs
Veja drops a lighter performance sneaker
Veja, the French sustainable sneaker company, is introducing its second and lighter performance running shoe, made with special materials. Manufactured in Brazil, the Marlin features a 65 percent bio-based rubber outsole, made from Amazonian rubber and rice waste, and a 60 percent sugar cane midsole. The lining is made from ...
-
News briefs
New CFO for Champion’s parent
Hanesbrands, the parent company of Champion, has hired a new chief financial, Michael Dastugue, who previously served in a similar position at Walmart and J.C. Penney. He will report to the group’s new CEO, Steve Bratspies, as he is implementing a new “Full Potential” strategic restructuring plan, which calls for ...
-
News briefs
Adidas to sponsor Boston College football program
Adidas has signed a three-year deal to become the official brand of the Boston College’s (global) football program for athletic footwear, apparel and accessories, starting on June 1. As reported in early April, New Balance agreed earlier this month to supply the college’s 30 other non-football teams over the next ...
-
News briefs
Mips grows by 55% in the sport segment
The ongoing bike boom helped Mips to raise its total sales by 48 percent to 83 million Swedish kronor (€8.17m-$9.90m) in the first quarter of 2021. The growth was driven by a 55 percent increase to SEK 78 million (€7.71m-$9.31m) in its dominant Sport segment, where the number of clients ...
-
News briefs
Polygiene posts double-digit revenue growth, led by ViralOff
Polygiene, the Swedish-based provider of antimicrobial treatments, posted revenues of 83.9 million Swedish kronor (€8.3m-$10.1m) in 2020, an increase of 22 percent as compared to 2019. In connection with the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, the company launched its ViralOff antiviral technology in April, followed by an upgraded formula with ...
-
News briefs
Saucony introduces a versatile sports shoe
Saucony has unveiled the all-new Freedom 4, a versatile shoe that can be used for running, the gym and all-day casualwear. Borrowing from the brand’s Endorphin Collection, the new version of the Freedom has been updated with PWRRUN PB, an ultralight PEBA cushioning. The shoe’s base has been widened slightly ...
-
News briefs
Adidas’ basketball hub may move to Los Angeles
Adidas has decided to move its basketball operations in the U.S. from its North American campus in Portland, Oregon, to Los Angeles, according to Business Insider. The move would follow the brand’s appointment in December of Jerry Lorenzo, founder of the Fear of God brand of streetwear, as the person ...
-
News briefs
Kinetyx gets funding for its “kinesomic sensory insole”
Kinetyx’ director, Robin Thurston, believes that every shoe in the world will be fitted with sensors twenty years from now. The Canadian high-tech company, which was spun off by its parent, Orpyx Medical Technologies, nearly one year ago, has secured new funding for its continued R&D on a “kinesomic sensory ...
-
News briefs
Yue Yuen turned around in Q1
Yue Yuen Industrial says it estimates that it made a net profit of between $80 million and $90 million in the first quarter, against last year’s pandemic-triggered loss of $56 million for the period. The world’s largest shoe producer says it has enhanced the utilization and efficiency of its manufacturing ...
-
News briefs
VF divests its occupational workwear operations
Completing a divestiture process that began in January 2020, VF Corp. has sold the occupational workwear portion of its Work segment to a subsidiary of Redwood Capital Investments for a yet undisclosed price. The deal should be closed during VF’s present quarter, which ends on June 30. The group is ...
-
News briefsThe Swiss sports market was stable in 2020, and it continued to grow online more recently
According to GfK, the Swiss sporting goods market ended up being flat in 2020, in spite of Covid-19, thanks to a sales rally in the last two months of the year. There was, however, a significant gap between the different sectors: the overall winners in 2020 were fitness, outdoor, running, ...
-
News briefs
Maersk sees tight maritime freight conditions until Q4
The world’s largest container shipping company, Maersk, expects tight market conditions in maritime transport to continue until the fourth quarter of 2021. Container shipments by boat are estimated to represent more than 80 percent of intercontinental trade. Maersk pointed out that global demand for container shipments is now expected to ...
