A strategic investment by Artémis in Goat Group
Groupe Artémis, which controls the Kering luxury group while remaining the biggest shareholder in Puma, has made an unspecified investment in the Goat Group, the online auction-based sneaker reseller. The idea is to help accelerate Goat’s growth, expanding its international reach and diversifying its business in the luxury sector, where ...
ISPO Munich Online will host more than 500 exhibitors
As we reported more than once last year, the 2021 edition of world’s largest trade show will also be the first to go entirely digital. The reason is, of course, the Covid-19 pandemic and its attendant restrictions on travel and gatherings.
The EOG and EDM intensify their partnership
In 2021, the European Outdoor Group (EOG) and EDM Publications (EDM), publisher of The Outdoor Industry Compass (OIC) and SGI Europe, among others, will build on an already existing successful relationship. Together, they want to reach bigger audiences with business information and news about the outdoor industry. Most recently, EOG ...
A Li Ning unit may take over Clarks for £51m
Li Ning, the famous Chinese Olympic gold-medallist-turned-businessman, is about to take control of the iconic British shoemaker Clarks less than a month after its shareholders agreed in principle to sell most of their shares to a Hong Kong-based private equity firm, LionRock Capital. Li is the non-executive chairman of Lion ...
Germany gives more aid to retailers affected by the extended lockdown
As expected, the German government has agreed with the federal states on a further extension of a lockdown for retailers that sell non-essential products until Feb. 14. In response to requests made by fashion and sports retailers that are heavily dependent on the sale of winter products, especially seasonal clothing ...
Updated: Isn’t sports retailing an “essential” category?
The German government is widely expected to announce an extension of its lockdown for retailers of “non-essential” items as well as fitness studios and restaurants through Feb. 14, according to leading German media. The second German lockdown started on Dec. 16 and was supposed to end on Jan. 11, but ...
White quits as president of Salomon
Amer Sports announced the immediate departure of Michael White as president of Salomon, indicating that he has decided to “pursue other interests” and adding that it has initiated an external search for a permanent successor. We were unable to find out about his new plans by the time of going ...
Stella’s revenues down by 19%
Stella International continued to struggle in the fourth quarter, ending a difficult year for the Chinese footwear company. Shipment volumes for the last three months of 2020 were down by 21.7 percent from the year-ago quarter to 10.8 million pairs, while total revenues plunged by 18.9 percent to $280.1 million, ...
Switzerland joins the retail lockdown
Joining Germany and Austria, the Swiss government has ordered the closure of all non-essential physical shops, starting on Monday, Jan. 18. The Swiss ban will last through the end of February, affecting all kinds of sports shops, many of which work a lot with winter sports. However, many Swiss ski ...
Google says it has closed Fitbit’s takeover
In a post on its blog, Google announced on Jan. 14 the closing of its acquisition of Fitbit, which has thus been delisted from the New York Stock Exchange. The announcement was timed to follow a deadline of Jan. 13 that the U.S. Justice Department had set for its approval ...
Pon reportedly sold stake in Accell at a profit
According to reports in various Dutch media, Pon Holdings sold its 20 percent stake in its big Dutch competitor, Accell Group, at the end of last year. At the time of writing, no official comment was available from either Pon or Accell.
Spanish buying groups seek stronger corporate identities
Base Detall Sport, one of the major Spanish buying groups in the sporting goods sectors, is asking that all of the 298 stores run by its 82 retail members should carry one of its banners – Base, Base Selection or Wanna Sneakers – by the end of 2021 or early ...
The momentum keeps going for StockX
StockX, the online reseller for sneakers and other cult products, said it recorded $1.8 billion in gross merchandise value (GMV) in 2020, which compares with about $1.0 billion in the previous year. It concluded more than 7.5 million trades. More than 200 million people visited the marketplace, and the number ...
Growing Dr. Martens plans an IPO in London
Dr. Martens plans to float on the London Stock Exchange as it looks to expand its offering and drive e-commerce sales, as reported in our sister publication Shoe Intelligence, which covers non-athletic footwear. The company behind the iconic British boot brand expects an eventual free float of 25 percent ...
Tecnica’s former CEO is now running Pinarello
Antonio Dus, the seasoned manager who has led Tecnica Group for the past five years, has become the new global CEO of Cicli Pinarello, with a financial stake in the iconic Italian brand of high-end bicycles, which came three years ago under the control of L Catterton, the private equity ...
VF reorganizes APAC operations
VF Corp. has decided to move the center of its brands’ operations in the Asia-Pacific region from Hong Kong to Shanghai, where it already has some 900 office and retail employees. Some of the operations will also be transferred to Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia. The transition ...
Better-than-expected profits for JD Sports Fashion
In an update on its performance through the Christmas selling period, JD Sports Fashion said that demand has remained robust throughout the second half of 2020, including the key months of November and December, despite temporary store closures in many territories. As a result, revenues for the 22 weeks to ...
German winter sports retailers ask for special government aid
Rainer Angstl, the manager of Sport Schuster in Munich, and the managing directors of more than 170 other German sports retailers that depend heavily on the winter sports business have signed an open letter to the federal government, asking for subsidies based on the monthly gross profits that they are ...
Oeko-Tex carries out its annual standards revision
Oeko-Tex®, an association of 18 independent research and testing institutes worldwide that sets standards for more safety in products of the textile and leather industry and their manufacture, is proceeding with its annual revision of test criteria, limit values and requirements for its sustainability certifications and labels – the objective ...
Wolverine makes two big executive appointments
Wolverine Worldwide has made a couple of executive appointments to ring in the new year.
Emerald buys PlumRiver for more digital engagement
The trade show industry is seeking new ways to generate revenues and engage its clients because of the damage made to its physical events. Just as the Outdoor Retailer Winter Market is starting its new online edition, scheduled to run from Jan. 6 through March 19, its parent company, Emerald ...
FLA members may not use products from the Xinjiang region
In an unprecedented move, the Fair Labor Association (FLA) has prohibited its member companies from sourcing from or producing in the Xinjiang region, in northwest China, because of growing concerns over violations of human and labor rights. The region is home to several ethnic minority groups, including the Uyghur people.
Sporting goods industry stocks surged by 32% in Covid year
This exclusive chart shows the development in the market capitalization of the top 86 stock-listed sporting goods companies between the end of 2019 and the end of 2020. This is exclusive data and analysis for Professional Members.
Sports & outdoor retail rose by 7.2% in the U.K. in 2020
Sports and outdoor retailers survived the Covid-19 pandemic in the U.K. last year. Spending on their products rose by 7.2 percent, according to Barclaycard, which noted in particular the boom in home fitness while gyms were closed. Home improvement items and furniture scored similar increases. In contrast, general clothing contracted ...
Year-end reflections on agility and responsibility
The coronavirus crisis has led all of us to the choice of sinking into depression or to grab the chance of becoming more agile and more responsible in reacting to the situations created by the virus and other events like Brexit. Fortunately, mankind’s innate resiliency has apparently led the majority ...
U.K. signs free trade pacts with the EU and Turkey
On Christmas Eve, the U.K. and the EU reached an eleventh hour trade agreement, after nine months and some 2,000 hours of painstaking discussions involving about 200 officials. The deal, called the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement, has since been approved by the ambassadors of the EU’s 27 member states ...
Will Reebok become black-owned?
Reebok would become the first major black-owned athletic footwear and apparel brand if the African American rap music mogul Percy Rebert Miller, also known as Master P, and a former two-time NBA All-Star, Baron Davis, succeed in their reported bid. According to reports in the ESPN sports network and Forbes, ...
Interview with D’Wayne Edwards: Diversity leads to innovation
As part of our survey on diversity and inclusion, the first part of which was published on this website on Dec. 23, we have held an e-mail interview with D’Wayne Edwards, who was the lead designer of Nike’s iconic Air Jordan brand for a decade from 2001, making him one ...
A curious tender offer for Himaraya
Himaraya, one of the three major Japanese sporting goods chains along with Alpen and Xebio, is the target of an unusual tender offer for all its shares launched by Komori Corp., an asset management company that already holds 25.29 percent of its equity. Himaraya’s share price fell by 6.6 percent ...
Zalando hires a “circularity director” away from H&M
Laura Coppen, who has been a major contributor to H&M’s sustainability efforts for almost five years, is joining Zalando to serve as “circularity director,” charged with implementing a program to promote greater transparency among its partner brands in the area of environmental protection.
