You know, I always assumed/took for granted that skateboards you bought at Walmart or other large discount chains were not too good. I have to admit though that sometimes I thought to myself that maybe they weren’t a bad idea for a first deck if somebody was starting out. To be clear, I’m way too […]
Kering, the owner of Volcom and Electric, presented its annual results for 2014 last week and held the usual conference call. As regular readers know, I was impressed at the job Volcom did selling itself to Kering (then PPR) both in terms of the price they achieved and their timing. The deal happened almost four […]
You have heard me say from time to time that companies get into trouble due to denial and perseverance in a period of change. I’ve also noted that it’s typically not the founder or executive who’s been in charge for a long time who can fix the problems. Their perception of the organization, relationships with […]
The overall numbers for Deckers for the quarter look pretty good. But some of the comments left me a bit perplexed. Meanwhile, Sanuk is still not performing the way Deckers must have expected when they bought it. Overall Results In the quarter ended December 31, Deckers’ revenue rose 6.6% from $736 to $785 million. The […]
In some recent speeches and articles, I’ve been highlighting the growing importance of mobile to brands and retailers. I thought I’d been pretty aggressive in suggesting how important it has become (and is increasingly becoming), but I think I’ve probably been understating the case. Now, I’ve stumbled (thank you fabled research department) on an article/presentation […]
You may recall that Intrawest got in an avalanche of unmanageable debt when the Great Recession took down the resort real estate market. They solved the problems of an unpayable interest bill by getting their primary debt holder to convert a big chunk of its debt to equity and taking Intrawest public. I wrote about […]
SIA’s show in Denver last week was the third trade show I’ve been to this year (the only three I’ve been to, and that’s quite enough) where the millennial generation was discussed and analyzed and their importance acknowledged. You should know I was one of the people discussing them at a speech I made in […]
Recently, some companies have said some intriguing things about the omnichannel and the relationship between brick and mortar and online (for the record, when I say “online” I’m including mobile devices). I’ve also read some interesting things about generational behavior that made me think about the future of brands and retail structure. It’s no surprise […]
Okay, I’m back from Agenda and Surf Expo. I feel bad I didn’t go to the Zumiez 100K event even though it’s not, exactly, a trade show. I’ll make it to Denver for SIA, but am not going to OR, though I should. They wanted me to pay to get in, but in the best […]
Last week at Surf Expo, I made a speech where one of the things I highlighted was the importance of mobile. I said, “How mobile influences brick-and-mortar sales is more important than what you sell online.” I get back home and, low and behold, come across a presentation on just how dominant mobile is becoming […]
