As I recall, the report I wrote on Billabong last year broke the 4,000 word barrier. I’m probably the only person who read the whole thing. But there was chaos and uncertainty last year and it seemed necessary to explain everything that was going on. As of this year’s end at June 30, there’s still chaos and […]
Deckers is mostly of interest to us because of their ownership of Sanuk. We’ll talk about how Sanuk is doing. But Deckers management say some interesting, perhaps even insightful, things about online business and the omnichannel and I want to focus on those as well. Let’s start by getting some of the numbers out of the way. In […]
If you finish The Great Deformation: The Corruption of Capitalism in America, by David Stockman, you should get a t-shirt saying you made it through. At 700 pages, it’s a journey. It tells you things about what’s gone on since the Federal Reserve was created, and right through 2012, that you won’t find anywhere in the […]
I’ve written probably way more times than you want to hear about how it’s been a good time to focus on brand building, distribution, and gross margin dollars rather than generating big sales increases that can only be realized in the short term with resulting long term damage to a business. And I’ve sympathized with […]
Long time readers have been through the saga of Spy with me. But for the last couple of years, they’ve pretty much done things right. They’ve cleaned up inventory, managed expenses down, focused on a niche they can compete in, strengthened the management team, done some innovative product things, gotten out of products that weren’t working, and […]
As you know, Vestis Retail Group has been in the process of doing a tender offer for the shares of Sport Chalet. We learn this morning that they’ve acquired enough shares for the deal to go forward. Here’s a link to a press release making the announcement. And here’s a link to my original article explaining the […]
That the outdoor and action sports segment (OAS) of VF’s business is critical to its overall success is pretty obvious from the numbers. Total company revenue for the quarter rose 8% from $2.22 to $2.4 billion. OAS revenue rose 16% from $1.1 to $1.28 billion. OAS generated more than 53% of the quarter’s total revenues. OAS revenue experienced “…double-digit […]
Back on July 9th, Volcom presented a new brand vision to a group of 100 retailers and media people. I wasn’t invited so all I know is what was reported in Transworld and a little that some people have told me. Last week Kering, Volcom’s parent company, released its results for the 6 month ended June […]
My research department sent me “The Key to Selling an $800 Sneaker” from the Wall Street Journal. Personally, I’m not in the market for any of those, but I thought the article said a few interesting things. The first interesting thing is that there is such a thing as an $800 pair of sneakers. Even more […]
A reader pointed out to me that Zumiez has started (don’t know exactly when) a program they call “Order Online Pay in Store.” You order it online, selecting “pay in store” when you check out, go to the store within 48 hours and pay for the item, and it’s shipped to either your home or the […]
