CORPORATE AND M&A
+++ Chinese fast fashion online retailer Shein has opened an office in Dublin, which will serve as headquarters for its operations in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA)
+++ Happy Birthday, Body Glove: The Redondo Beach, California-based company is celebrating its 70th year in business +++
EXECUTIVE CHANGES
+++ After around one year in the role, Xu Lei, CEO of the Chinese online retail giant JD.com is to step down due to personal reasons and will be replaced by the current CFO, Sandy Ran Xu
+++ Altra, part of VF Corp., has announced the appointments of industry veteran Joe Toth as head of sales for North America and Michael Dobbs as Eastern U.S. sales manager
+++ Fanatics has appointed Krishna Rao as the new chief financial officer for the Fanatics Commerce division
+++ Perry Ellis Europe has appointed Colin McNamara as its new area sales manager for Northern Ireland and Eire
+++ According to Drapers, former Jigsaw CEO Chris Stephenson has taken the role of interim CEO at British footwear brand Hunter
+++ Elon Musk on May 15 announced the appointment of Linda Yaccarino, former chairman of global advertising and partnerships at NBCUniversal, as the new CEO of social media platform Twitter
+++ eBay has named celebrity stylist Amy Bannerman, with whom the company has frequently collaborated in the past, as Pre-Loved Style Director +++
PRODUCT & MARKETING
+++ Bullpadel’s Elite and Hack 03 CMF are the official racquets of the Danish Padel Open (May 13-21)
+++ Skechers has incorporated the Carbon Infused plate into its everyday Performance line of running shoes
+++ Joma, according to Diffusion Sport, is launching two new lines of pádel racquets: the Flex, for mid-level players, and the Pro
+++ German ice hockey distributor Schanner and the German Ice Hockey Association (DEB) are to extend their cooperation, which has existed since 2008, until 2027, with the company remaining a premium partner and supplier of the DEB and its national teams and referees for a further four years
+++ Performance sportswear brand Fire+Ice by Bogner is to collaborate with multi-sport skiing and snowboarding athlete, Ester Ledecka
+++ Ping has announced that it will continue to support the Junior Solheim Cup in 2023 as the official apparel and bag supplier for the competing teams
+++ Italian sportswear firm Macron has announced that Greek basketball club AEK B.C., which will be celebrating its centenary next year, will be wearing Macron for the 2023/24 season and also for the next five years, both in national championship games and in European competitions
+++ Kästle has announced a new sponsorship agreement with Swiss alpine ski racer Jasmine Flury
+++ Adidas has announced Aliyah Boston as the newest addition to its women’s basketball roster
+++ Eileen Gu of China is the first freeskier to win a prestigious Laureus World Sports Award, where she beat the likes of snowboarder Chloe Kim (USA) and skateboarder Rayssa Leal (BRA) to be named “Action Sportsperson of the Year” by the vote-casting panel of international athletes
+++ Swiss-based performance sportswear manufacturer Odlo will once again outfit Swiss-Ski’s Nordic teams (cross-country skiing, Nordic combined, biathlon and ski jumping disciplines) from the 2023/24 season as part of a new four-year partnership
+++ Fanatics signed a long-term multichannel retail partnership with English football club Barnsley F.C.
+++ French apparel firm Z3R0D has been announced as the official supplier of Triathlon Australia’s high-performance program and will be the official Australian performance suit for the 2023 and 2024 international seasons
+++ Sotheby’s is expanding its offering of Michael Jordan sports memorabilia to include the 1992 Summer Olympics Reebok “Dream Team” jacket that the NBA legend wore while accepting his gold medal – estimated to sell for $1 million to $3 million
+++ Volcom has announced the release of the third Volcom Workwear collection, featuring 14 pieces, including jackets, vests, heavy-weight fleece, pants and shorts +++
RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
+++ Decathlon has opened a 5,000-square-meter store in Limerick at the Parkway Retail Park, the retailer’s second store in Ireland
+++ Adidas Originals has opened a new store at the Phoenix Palladium Mall in Ahmedabad, India’s fifth-largest city
+++ Lacoste has opened a new exclusive store in New Delhi, located at the capital’s latest shopping destination, Pacific Premium Outlets
+++ Dutch supply chain management specialist Bleckmann has been listed as a number 1 Fulfilment Warehousing partner for e-businesses by Emerce100, scoring 5.5 out of 7 stars for the fourth consecutive year in the eighteenth edition of the ranking
+++ Swedish sports retail chain Sportshopen has announced the opening of three new stores – in Visby (Gotland), Örebro and Strömstad
+++ Padel Nuestro expands its retail network to Finland by opening in Pirkkala the group’s second Scandinavian store after the existing one in Sweden
+++ Along with partner Notos, Nautica has opened the brand’s sixth store in Greece, in Mediterranean Cosmos, the largest retail complex in the northern region of the country +++
LEGAL & INSTITUTIONAL
+++ According to Snow Industry News, Head GmbH is being sued by Vermont Safety Equipment LLC, a U.S. company owned by the late Carl Ettlinger and David Dodge of Dodge Ski Boots, for patent infringement involving the ACL saving protector binding
+++ New Zealand has announced it is considering the possibility of co-hosting the 2025 Rugby League World Cup with Australia after France announced it was pulling out of hosting the tournament earlier this month +++
E-COMMERCE & DTC
+++ California-based retail apparel brand Pacsun (Pacific Sunwear) continues the expansion of PS Reserve, a custom-curated resell platform for limited-edition streetwear apparel, sneakers and accessories created in collaboration between Magnolia Park owner and CEO Miki Guerra and Pacsun +++
TECHNOLOGY
+++ FC Bayern has signed a deal with omnichannel customer engagement platform SAP Emarsys that will enable the German football club to centralize and analyze customer data to better understand each fan as a unique individual and deliver personalized content across all touchpoints +++
OBITUARIES
+++ Jean-Marc Gaucher, the president and CEO of shoe company Repetto, formerly CEO of Reebok France and vice-president of Reebok International, has died at the age of 70
+++ Lululemon’s SVP and global creative director Phil Dickinson, formerly a Nike/Umbro executive and Superdry creative director, passed away unexpectedly +++
