Just what kind of company is GoPro exactly? Well, obviously, in spite of its recent difficulties, it’s a huge success. How else can you characterize a founder and a company that recognized and created a new market, took the lead in it and built a billion-dollar business? But having accomplished that, it now has to […]
Branding, they tell me, is all about building a relationship between a customer and a brand. That customer, theoretically, will have a bias towards your brand that encourages less consideration of alternatives, more purchases and, hopefully, less price sensitivity. That’s the theory anyway. It was, most of us would probably agree, a pretty good theory. […]
Teen focused jewelry and fashion accessory retailer Claire’s Stores has more than 2,800 stores in Europe and the U.S. It was the “beneficiary” of a leveraged buyout (LBO) back in the giddy days of 2007. The debt it acquired in that process, along with the over retailed, soft economy, online selling environment has pushed it […]
You may remember that until a few months ago Spy, as a public company, was releasing the usual filings and I was analyzing them. But they stopped releasing them and, though still public, its shares are now traded on the OTC pink sheets under the symbol XSPY. As I wrote every quarter, I always liked […]
Well, the press release was back on June 3rd. And the sale of Sector 9 was, I guess, a week ago. Happily, it’s not my job to be timely, but to give you things to think about with the goal of maybe helping you do better business. So let’s think about Billabong. Back when CEO […]
At almost the same time Abercrombie & Fitch (owner of Hollister), Tilly’s, The Buckle, and Genesco (owner of the Journeys chain) released, in early June, 10-Qs for their quarters that ended April 30th. I was going to do my usual thing and review each one separately. But I was busy, too much time passed and […]
What I most liked about Agenda this time was how refreshingly inviting it was. Lots of open space and perhaps wider aisles. Maybe lighter? Especially on Wednesday, there appeared to be a lot of traffic and people seemed upbeat. Apparently that might have had something to do with getting a few days of sun after […]
I imagine you are all aware that Incipio reached an agreement with Skullcandy on June 23rd to make a tender offer for the company’s common stock at a price of $5.75 representing a price of approximately $177 million. That agreement allowed Skullcandy some time (until July 23rd) to see if it could find a better […]
We’re all watching the continuing rationalization of our retail space. I suppose “rationalization” is a way too benign sounding word for a process that includes bankruptcies, store closings, job losses, margin hits, too much inventory, and struggles to increase sales and even to stay in business. As ugly as this continues to be, there are […]
I’ve generally been a supporter of Zumiez’s strategy and believe they’ve done most things right. So when I see them suffering right along with everybody else in a difficult (not nearly a strong enough word) retail environment, it really brings home to me just what we’re dealing with. The numbers first, then the strategic issues.
