PRODUCT & MARKETING
+++ Hawaiian lifestyle brand OluKai, a certified B Corporation, has unveiled its first sports performance line with the introduction of four golf shoe styles for men and women, available through www.OluKai.com
+++ OrthoLite has unveiled ESD Shield, the world’s first and only mechanically-bonded electrostatic discharge protection insole technology available in molded insoles and delivers full heel-to-toe ESD protection
+++ Charge, a U.S. DTC e-bike brand, entered its second year as an official sponsor of the U.S. Open Pickleball Championships, the largest pickleball event in the world
+++ Hollywood stars Ben Affleck (director and role of Phil Knight) and Matt Damon (producer and role of Sonny Vaccaro) are reportedly making a film about how basketball legend Michael Jordan came to join Nike
+++ 100%, the San Diego-based brand with a focus in performance eyewear, has announced the signing of elite runner Molly Seidel, who will now compete and train in eyewear from 100%’s Sport Performance and Active Performance collections
+++ Tenson has signed a three-year agreement as a supporting partner of the Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour Scandinavia + Finland 2022-2024 to promote the tour dates and the festival itself in the two Scandinavian countries
+++ Joma has launched its SS22 running shoe collection, including the R.3000, the first running shoe with a carbon fiber plate that compresses the midsole foam to achieve 80 percent reactivity upon body weight impact
+++ For the development of its zero-emission hydrogen-based snowmobile Lynx HySnow, the Austrian company BRP-Rotax, together with project partners, received the EL-MO Mobility Award at the 12th EL-MOTION 2022 Electromobility Conference in Vienna
+++ Hummel has announced a five-year agreement with English football club Millwall FC starting in the 2022/23 season that will see the sportswear brand supply bespoke training, competing and travel wear +++
FINANCIAL REPORTING
+++ Skechers has announced that it has changed its segment reporting to a breakdown between wholesale and direct-to-consumer beginning with the first quarter of 2022, as the company refines the way it views its business and decision-making
+++ 361 Degrees reported comparable first-quarter sales growth of core branded products increased in the high teens as comps of its 361 Kids branded products rose 20-25 percent year-over-year, while e-commerce sales were 50 percent higher during the period +++
LEGAL & INSTITUTIONAL
+++ According to media reports, Vans has filed a trademark infringement lawsuit in the Eastern District Court in New York against the U.S.-based artist collective MSCHF, claiming that MSCHF’s Wavy Baby sneaker is clearly based on the design of the Vans Old Skool sneaker. +++
EXECUTIVE CHANGES
+++ Bollé Brands has hired Peter Moore, previously CFO/COO at Birkenstock, as senior VP of finance and operations for North America, based at the company’s headquarters in Carlsbad, California +++
RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
+++ Austrian boardsports and lifestyle omnichannel retailer Blue Tomato has opened a new 220-square-meter store in the city of Constance on the eponymous lake in southwestern Germany, managed by Florian Ambiehl
+++ Authentic Brands Group signed a long-term partnership with LF Corp. as a strategic partner for Reebok in South Korea, serving wholesale, e-commerce and Reebok’s current 30+ retail outlets in the country +++
CORPORATE AND M&A
+++ Stride Fitness, a Californian boutique fitness franchise offering treadmill-based interval training and total-body workouts for every fitness level, announced it has been ranked among Entrepreneur Magazine’s Top New Franchises at No. 144, marking the brand’s debut on the list
+++ The Argentinian sportswear brand Sonder has received a loan of nearly $1 million from Banco Nacion to finance further expansion plans +++
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