We all give lip service to the speed of technological change. I imagine most of you have heard that the first driverless 18 wheel trucks are on the highways in Nevada. For the time being, they’ve got a driver accompanying them, but I don’t expect that to last. Here’s a link to the story in […]
Speaking of Technology…… Read More »
I’ve been writing, talking and thinking a lot lately about the evolution of the retail market; about HOW YOU SELL STUFF TO PEOPLE and WHY THEY BUY IT. Skullcandy CEO Hoby Darling has a plan, and he sure talks pretty about how the company is making it happen. I recommend you read his opening statement
Skullcandy’s March 31st Quarter; Confronting the New Retail Environment Read More »
I have admired SPY for the organizational, strategic positioning, and expense control changes they’ve implemented in the last couple of years. But there’s a limit to how far you can reduce expenses. After that, SPY has to find ways to increase sales or its gross margin to find a way out from under its $21.5
SPY’s March 31 Quarter; Curious About the Inventory Read More »
Once again, my research department has come through. They’ve presented me with a paper from PwC and Kantar Retail that talks in some detail about where they see retail going between 2013 and 2020. It’s a little dated, but still very relevant. If you’re already seen it, never mind. I suppose one of the reasons
An Interesting Point of View on the Future of Retail Read More »
The Buckle’s results for the year ended January 31st are certainly not news at this point, but I do think they have a few things to tell us about retail. There are some commonalities emerging among retailers in the active outdoor/fashion retailers that I want to highlight. The Buckle is a retailer I think does
What it Takes to Succeed in Retail; Some Ideas from The Buckle’s 10-K Read More »
Kering, as you know, owns Volcom and Electric. Because the two brands represent a very small piece of Kering’s annual revenue, we don’t get much information on them. But I’ll give you what we’ve got and I also want to point you to some market data Kering provides in one of its documents. Let’s start
Volcom/Electric’s 2014 and First Quarter 2015 Results; Plus Some Interesting Market Data Read More »
I thought I’d wait until I commented because I was hoping for some more details from Amer Sports. I asked them, but all I got was the comment you’ve seen from their interim report published on April 23rd. “In March, Amer Sports divested Nikita and Bonfire brands to CRN Pte Ltd. The combined net sales
The Amer Sports Sale of Bonfire and Nikita Read More »
We are all aware that Nike releases smaller quantities of limited production sneakers that are sold at pretty typical retail prices then resold for big markups. The interesting question is why Nike doesn’t price them higher and take at least some of that retail profit for themselves. The guy profiled in this article called You
The Sneaker Resale Market: Should Nike Maximize Its Profit? Read More »
The Board Press published a really good interview with Ultimate Distribution founder Kevin Harris. It’s his description of what he learned visiting 55 skate shops in Western Canada. I didn’t know there were 55 skate shops in Western Canada. Kevin’s description of what he learned reminds us, or at least reminds me, is how important
What’s It Like Out There in the Real Skateboarding World? Read More »
Well, as you know, A&F is having some troubles. You may recall that they fired their long time CEO late last year and have retained seven new board of director members and two new brand presidents, all with significant retail experience. They are in the process of finding a new CEO. If you want to