All Sporting Goods Intelligence articles in Volume 22, Issue 49-50 – Page 2

  • News briefs

    Stag, the British buying group, is calling its U.K. Buying...

    2011-12-13T00:00:00Z

    Stag, the British buying group, is calling its U.K. Buying Show, held Nov. 20-21, a success, noting that a record amount of business was written there despite the challenging retail conditions in the country. Seventy suppliers were at the show, including new members such as Helly Hansen, Jakabel, Kickers, Falke ...

  • Article

    Bridgepoint pays a premium for Wiggle

    2011-12-13T00:00:00Z

    Offering more than other equity funds, Bridgepoint Capital closed a deal last week to acquire a majority stake in Wiggle, the biggest online retailer in the U.K. specializing in road cycling, swimming and running gear for triathletes and other frequent and serious sports participants. The deal values the company at ...

  • Short stops

    Extreme Hotels, the hotel brand of the Extreme Group, and...

    2011-12-13T00:00:00Z

    Extreme Hotels, the hotel brand of the Extreme Group, and Rosa Khutor Ski Resort Development Company, a Russian property developer, said they would open a hotel in Sochi in 2015, after the Winter Olympics that will take place in the Russian resort in 2014

  • News briefs

    Specialized is calling on its bike dealers and distributors to...

    2011-12-13T00:00:00Z

    Specialized is calling on its bike dealers and distributors to send over damaged carbon bike frames of any brand to get them recycled, using a strategy already employed in the aerospace sector. The results of the program will be announced at the Eurobike and Interbike shows in Europe and the ...

  • News briefs

    Taichung Bike Week, which took place in the heartland of...

    2011-12-13T00:00:00Z

    Taichung Bike Week, which took place in the heartland of the Taiwanese bicycle manufacturing industry earlier this month, will be held two weeks earlier next year to fit more judiciously with the schedules of European as well as U.S. companies. Based on discussions with exhibitors and visitors, the organizers decided ...

  • News briefs

    Hanyang, a company in California run by Denny Barge, owner...

    2011-12-13T00:00:00Z

    Hanyang, a company in California run by Denny Barge, owner of a Chinese sourcing agency, has emerged as a bidder for the assets of Power Balance, the U.S. company whose bracelets purport to optimize the body's natural energy, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Nov. 11. Barge is ...

  • Short stops

    The next Barcelona Marathon, sponsored by Mizuno and scheduled for...

    2011-12-13T00:00:00Z

    The next Barcelona Marathon, sponsored by Mizuno and scheduled for next March 25, already has 12% more runners registered than one year ago

  • Article

    The winners of the Ispo BrandNew Awards

    2011-12-13T00:00:00Z

    After going through the applications filed by 269 young enterprises from 27 countries for close to 10 hours, a 14-member jury picked a company from San Sebastián, Spain, as the overall winner of the Ispo 2012 BrandNew Awards. The overall winner was Wavegarden, a startup that has developed a special ...

  • Short stops

    Maui Jim has signed a two-year partnership with the Australian...

    2011-12-13T00:00:00Z

    Maui Jim has signed a two-year partnership with the Australian Sailing Team

  • News briefs

    Attendance went up at the last round of the Performance...

    2011-12-13T00:00:00Z

    Attendance went up at the last round of the Performance Days, the fibers & fabric shows held in Annecy and Munich in November. Compared with the November 2010 sessions, the total number of visitors at the two locations jumped by 21.4 percent to 969. They came from 21 countries. The ...

  • Article

    Lex’ retailers tell Asics what is the law

    2011-12-13T00:00:00Z

    Lex is the Latin word for law, but in Germany's running scene Lex stands for Laufexperten (“running experts”), a big group of highly qualified retailers specializing in the running segment. Currently the Lex group counts 67 shops across the country.The cooperative has announced that Asics will no longer be one ...

  • Article

    Lafuma turns around, relaunches Killy

    2011-12-13T00:00:00Z

    The Lafuma Group has reported a net profit of €3.9 million for the financial year ended last Sept. 30 compared with a loss of €3.6 million the year before. The gross margin improved by 2.3 percentage points to 53.9 percent of sales, thanks in particular to a better sales mix ...

  • News briefs

    Spy Optic has appointed Devon Howard marketing director, reporting directly...

    2011-12-13T00:00:00Z

    Spy Optic has appointed Devon Howard marketing director, reporting directly to Michael Marckx, who became president of the brand last month in a management reshuffle of its parent company, Orange 21 (more on this in EyeWear Intelligence). A second-generation California surfer, Howard has been an editor of the Longboard magazine ...

  • Article

    Look invests heavily in apparel

    2011-12-13T00:00:00Z

    Sports-inspired vintage outerwear is a segment in which another French firm, Look, has started to invest. The company, whose core business consists of automatic pedals for bicycles, has allocated a budget of €10 million to develop a market for its Look branded collection of garments and accessories, with a medium-term ...

  • Article

    Another French brand, Fusalp goes high-end

    2011-12-13T00:00:00Z

    Lafuma is not the only company going after the high end of the skiwear and after-ski outerwear market with its new Killy collection, in the footsteps of Moncler, Kjus and Toni Sailer. Two other French brands with a long history in the ski sector, Fusalp and Look, are going in ...

  • News briefs

    Metro Group, the big German player in the cash &...

    2011-12-13T00:00:00Z

    Metro Group, the big German player in the cash & carry business and parent company of the Kaufhof department store chain, has lowered its outlook for the outgoing fiscal year both in terms of turnover and profit. The management said that overall sales would be slightly lower than last year's ...

  • News briefs

    W.L. Gore & Associates has disclosed an expanded deal with...

    2011-12-13T00:00:00Z

    W.L. Gore & Associates has disclosed an expanded deal with Dubarry of Ireland, which already uses Gore-Tex membranes in its sailing and country-style boots. The Irish company will now use both Gore-Tex and Windstopper products in its collections of clothing, starting with those being developed for the fall/winter 2012-13 season ...

  • News briefs

    Like Speedo, TYR of the U.S. has also launched a...

    2011-12-13T00:00:00Z

    Like Speedo, TYR of the U.S. has also launched a high-performance swimsuit that complies with Fina's new norms. Its new Alchemy Project 2012 range features advanced hydrodynamic technology. It uses a “turbo compression fabric” made of lightweight, hydrophobic microfilament yarn, with enhanced stretch and memory retention. The seams are bonded ...

  • News briefs

    The much-publicized decision by the Indian government to allow more...

    2011-12-13T00:00:00Z

    The much-publicized decision by the Indian government to allow more foreign direct investment (FDI) in the retail sector is up in the air after some in the political elite opposed the move. As reported in the last issue of SGI Europe, India decided a few weeks ago to allow FDI ...

  • News briefs

    Collective Brands, parent company of Airwalk, Saucony and many other...

    2011-12-13T00:00:00Z

    Collective Brands, parent company of Airwalk, Saucony and many other shoe brands, has reportedly hired an investment bank, Perella Weinberg, to look for potential buyers for its whole business, which includes the loss-making Payless ShoeSource chain of shoe shops, or parts of it. The company indicated last August, after the ...