Latest Headlines – Page 450
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New Balance Takes More Action In Europe
While upgrading its collection, New Balance is working more closely with some European retailers and appointing new country managers as part of its corporate goal to double sales by 2012. After the recently announced nomination of a new manager for its French subsidiary, Olivier Motteau, it’s now the turn of ...
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The Football Market Is Off
The European football market declined steeply to about €4.270 billion in 2007, a fall of 13 percent compared with the previous year, according to the latest research by NPD Group. The decline was chiefly attributed to the fact that there wasn’t any major international tournament to stimulate replica sales in ...
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Auditors Question Jjb’S Health
Shares in JJB Sports, the U.K.’s second-largest sports retailer, crashed in London today after it unveiled unexpected half-year losses – and the financial situation has apparently grown so tense that JJB’s auditors questioned whether it could continue as a going concern. In spite of firm reassurances by the company, JJB’s ...
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Jd’S Sports Stores Outperform The British Market
While the latest reports by U.K. retailers are turning into a horror series, the JD Sports Fashion group again unveiled an impressive performance, with a comparable sales increase of 6 percent for the half-year ended on Aug. 2. Due to the company’s takeover last December of Bank, a fashion retailer ...
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Sports Direct Has A Flat Quarter And Its Owner Gives Up On Football Team
Sports Direct International (SDI), the leading U.K. sports retailer and brand owner, reported flat sales and gross profit for the 13 weeks ended July 27. The company stated in July that it had suffered the hardest time in its history during the financial year ended in April, and it warned ...
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Nike Remains Unscathed By Troubled Economies
The Nike group continued to be unaffected by economic jitters with a sales rise of 10 percent in constant currencies for the quarter ended Aug. 31, the first quarter of its financial year. In dollars, Nike’s sales surged by 17 percent to $5.4 billion for the three months. Furthermore, ...
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Decathlon Takes Over No. 1 Position Among World’S Top Sports Retailers
The top 70 integrated sporting goods retailer chains in the world accounted for nearly one-quarter of the total sporting goods market, which has been estimated by NPD Group at $278 billion. They totaled $62.1 billion in sales, helped by mergers, growth in expanding markets and foreign exchange rates. The findings ...
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Sport 2000 Launches Online Stores In Germany And France
We may recall that the buying group tried unsuccessfully some time ago to persuade its retail members to do business online through Amazon. Since Sept. 1, Sport 2000 Germany has been running a new online store called boardscout24.com. While the site is owned by the buying group, the sales are ...
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Lifestyle Sports Expands Rapidly In Ireland And The Czech Republic
Feeling that it was about to reach the limits of growth in its home country, where overall retail sales fell steeply this past summer, the Irish sporting goods retailer bought the 22 stores of City Sport in the Czech Republic last November, after looking at other countries with populations of ...
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Usg Shores Up Leadership To Handle Growth
Unlimited Sports Group (USG), the leading Dutch sports retailer and wholesaler, is reinforcing its management to deal with the raft of licensing agreements and retail acquisitions it has sealed over the last months. Among the latest moves is the appointment of Steve Preston, former head of the retail division, as ...
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Amer Acquires Bulgarian Ski Supplier
Amer Sports has acquired the assets of Pamporovo Ski, a Bulgarian ski manufacturer that has been working for Atomic in different ways since 1980, for about €5 million. The exact amount will depend on the working capital when the transaction closes before the end of this year. Pamporovo’s current management, ...
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Lange Acquires Majority Stake In Wintersteiger
Rainer Bartram, the man who controlled this global market leader in ski service, maintenance and storing during the past two decades, has sold his 55.1 percent stake in Wintersteiger to LJH Holding. The 84-year-old, who acquired a minority of Wintersteiger’s shares in 1982 and became majority shareholder in 1989, sold ...
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Armstrong Invests In Sram And Returns To The Tour De France
Lance Armstrong is returning to the Tour de France, but something will be a little different. In the 2009 Tour, he will be using SRAM equipment, a change from his usual Shimano. Not only that, but he is reportedly joining the financially troubled Lehman Brother Merchant Bank in acquiring 40 ...
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Mission-itech Bought By Bauer
The pool of makers of hockey equipment and protective gear has gone down by one, as Bauer Hockey has bought Mission-ITECH Hockey as part of its growth and investment strategy. Both companies are private, and terms of the deal were not released. The Canadian division of Bauer will ...
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Uhlsport’S Former Strong Man Brings Umbro Back To Germany
Jürgen Kiefer, who quit Uhlsport as managing partner in early 2007, is back in business. His recently created Kiefer Sport has struck a deal to license Umbro in Germany for the next five years. Kiefer’s new company has gotten support from a former sales manager of Uhlsport, Steffen Oestreicher, who ...
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Big Changes At Fila In Europe
Jan Valdmaa has been appointed as the new chief executive of Fila for Europe, the Middle East, Africa and South Asia. He is also running Integrix, the new holding company created by the Batra Group, with the support of Barclays, to take over Fila’s operations in 140 countries, combining it ...
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Wilkinson Takes The European License For Macgregor And Greg Norman
Tony Wilkinson, who has been running the Greg Norman Collection in Europe for the past six years, has formed a new U.K.-based company that has become the European licensee for the line as well as the MacGregor Golf brand of equipment. He plans to invest in the Greg Norman brand ...
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Golf Drives Peak’S Performance
Fast-growing golf ranges and international sales are driving the expansion of Peak Performance, the Swedish ski and golf apparel brand, which saw its sales rise by 11 percent to 893 million Danish kroner (€119.7m-$175.7m) in the financial year ended June 30, as reported by its Danish owner, IC Companys. ...
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Ashworth Looks At Options After A Bad Quarter
After a poor third quarter, Ashworth has enlisted financial advisers to explore options to keep the company going, even considering a sale or a merger. The action comes on the heels of a loss of $9.6 million in the third quarter ended July 31, down from a loss of $5.7 ...
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Lindeberg Forms Joint Venture In Usa
J.Lindeberg, the upscale Swedish men’s golf and fashion apparel brand, is striving to speed up its U.S. growth by teaming up with People’s Liberation, a Los Angeles-based company that has established a strong nationwide sales network by marketing the People’s Liberation and William Rast brands. The Swedish label was ...
