E-COMMERCE & DTC
+++ With its new logistics service Vinted Go, the Lithuania-based second-hand platform Vinted wants to develop more efficient shipping options for its own platform and third-party companies
+++ Zalando has introduced a Europe-wide minimum order price to qualify for free shipping, with different minimum amounts in different countries
+++ Payment service Klarna has announced the launch of a new feature in its app allowing users to access physical loyalty cards digitally
+++ Sports Illustrated and the Web3 commerce solution company OneOf have announced the next iteration of their ongoing SI Covers NFT program for June 27, honoring Muhammad Ali, available exclusively on eBay (USA) for a limited time +++
EXECUTIVE CHANGES
+++ Foot Locker appointed Andrew Gray, executive vice president and global chief commercial officer since July 2020, as executive vice president of global Lockers and Champs Sports
+++ Burton’s Anon helmet and eyewear brand has a new general manager in Mark Wakeling, previously global business unit director of Anon for four years and Burton’s U.S. sales director of specialty and resorts for six years before that
+++ Florence Marine X, the outdoor apparel brand founded by two-time world surfing champion and Olympian John John Florence in partnership with Jeff Hurley and Kandui Holdings, announced that it has appointed former Hurley Hawaii advertising supervisor Joel Centeio as GM for Hawaii
+++ After more than 20 years of service, Klaus Dittrich, chairman of the management board of Messe München, will retire on June 30 and the company will be led by Dr. Reinhard Pfeiffer and Stefan Rummel as equal managing directors in a CEO dual leadership from July 1
+++ Pinterest has announced that co-founder, CEO and president, Ben Silbermann has transitioned to the newly created role of executive chairman, with Bill Ready – previously at Google - taking over as the new Pinterest CEO, effective June 29
+++ Saucony has hired Stephan Schmitz, who has previously worked in marketing at K2 Sports, Oakley and – most recently – Eastpak, as its new marketing manager for Germany and Austria, succeeding Florian Sievers, who has already been promoted to marketing director EMEA, effective Feb. 1
+++ Sports Marketing Surveys (SMS) appoints Geoff Zeidler as the new executive chairman of its European and Asian business, replacing Rob McCowen, who has served as acting chairman of SMS since the Nov. 2021 passing of Stephen Proctor +++
CORPORATE AND M&A
+++ Foot Locker is selling its U.S. Eastbay Team Sales business to BSN Sports, a direct marketer and distributor of sporting goods, footwear, apparel and branding to the school and league markets, for an undisclosed price
+++ According to the Phoenix Business Journal, Puma has signed a 15-year lease for 93,000 square meters of warehouse space in Glendale, Arizona +++
LEGAL & INSTITUTIONAL
+++ UEFA has announced that no UEFA competition match shall be played in the region of Transnistria until further notice due to the security situation in the area
+++ Adidas, Nike, Patagonia, Dick’s Sporting Goods and GoPro were among the first sports brands to commit to various actions in support of their female employees to protest the U.S. Supreme Court decision that overturned the constitutional right to abortion care
+++ LaLiga has officially presented “Legends – The Home of Football,” a new museum on seven floors about the history of international football that will open at the end of the year in Puerta del Sol, Madrid
+++ The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has welcomed the United Nations resolution, adopted on June 20, to designate June 24 as the International Women Day in Diplomacy, and has reiterated the IOC commitment to advance gender equality in sports +++
PRODUCT & MARKETING
+++ Surf lifestyle brands Otis and Outerknown have come together to create an eyewear capsule featuring seven styles, all created from Eco-Acetate, made from natural materials like cotton seeds and certified biodegradable at its end of life
+++ Germany’s fastest mid-distance runner Robert Farken and Swiss long-distance runner Jonas Raess are the newest members of the OAC, the On Athletics Club Europe for young talent, an offshoot of the OAC Colorado
+++ The British e-sports entertainment company Blast has introduced an “e-sports-inspired” Nike-branded apparel collection that will launch in August and include a T-shirt, hoodie, jersey, and cap
+++ The Danish sportswear brand Hummel – a sponsor of the team over 30 years ago – is returning as the kit supplier of Spanish football club Real Betis for the next five years
+++ Puma and AC Milan have announced a long-term extension of their partnership, which has been in place since 2018, under which Puma will continue to serve as the football club’s main partner, global technical supplier and official licensing partner
+++ Puma will replace Nike as the kit supplier of UD Ibiza, which plays in the Segunda División of Spanish professional football, from the start of the 2022/23 season
+++ Having first collaborated on the iconoclastic SST Ammonite shoe as part of the brand’s Catalyst for Change program in 2020, Adidas Originals and MRBAILEY have come together once again to start an ongoing partnership that will see the innovative designer reimagine the Trefoil’s Ozworld family of silhouettes
+++ Laurent Ogier, the CEO of the luxury ski wear brand Maison Ogier, has been named “Most Innovative CEO in the Winter Sportswear Industry” in the 2022 Business Worldwide Magazine CEO Awards +++
RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
+++ The German running brand Joe Nimble, previously primarily known as a DTC brand, will be available to Intersport members in the DACH region for the SS23 pre-order, and is thus taking a big step towards becoming a retail brand
+++ Champion has invested around €360,000 in Bogota, Colombia, to open two new stores in the Parque La Colina and Multiplaza shopping centers, according to local media reports
+++ Decathlon has opened a new 3,000-square-meter store in Carini, near Palermo, its seventh in Sicily
+++ With 600 square meters of retail space across four floors, Adidas has opened its largest store in Bengaluru, India, on Brigade Road, a multiple digital touchpoint store that embodies the future of the consumer retail experience +++
MARKET ANALYSIS
+++ According to a new fee-based report by ResearchAndMarkets.com, the European winter sports equipment market was valued at $2,356.8 million in 2021 and will grow by 4.5% annually over 2021-2031 +++
OBITUARY
+++ Leonardo Del Vecchio, the founder of eyewear manufacturer Luxottica, which includes the Oakley, Ray-Ban, Revo, Arnette and Killer Loop brands, among others, has passed away at the age of 87 +++
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