So I confess. I’m from Seattle and there was no way in hell I was going to be on a plane Sunday while the Super Bowl was on. I left Saturday. But in my two days wandering the show, I had some thoughts I wanted to share with you. There was a bit more of a somber attitude […]
Thoughts from the SIA Show Read More »
As many of you know, Intrawest, the owner of Steamboat, Winter Park, Tremblant, Stratton, Snowshoe, Mammoth, and half of Blue Mountain, started trading as a public company on January 31. The initial offering price for the stock was supposed to be $15 to $17, but it ended up going public at $12 in a soft stock
Intrawest Officially Trading as a Public Company. What’s the Impact? Read More »
We sell a lot of apparel. It’s where we, as an industry, make somewhere between a lot to most of our money. We’ve benefited over many years from apparel prices that have risen slowly if at all, and certainly more slowly than inflation. This article demonstrates that. It further tells us that apparel prices have started to rise and
What Happens If (When?) Apparel Prices Rise? Read More »
I have written before about the value of Zumiez’s hiring, training, and promotion process. They take kids with a passion for the activities and brands their stores sell, train them, support them, make them compete with their peers, and promote the ones who succeed. The average age of store managers is something like 23 and pretty much
A Sustainable Competitive Advantage: The Zumiez 100K Read More »
Tilly’s quarter ended November 2, though the 10Q didn’t come out until later. I’m late writing this, but I thought there were a few things in it you might want to think about, especially given the holiday results and warnings from industry retailers. Just to be clear, I believe the country was over retailed even before
Tilly’s Quarter and the Retail Environment Read More »
Yesterday morning, I was in warm, humid, sea level Orlando for Surf Expo. After 14 hours of travel, I found myself at the cold, dry, and 10,000 feet high Keystone resort for the Zumiez 100K event. Whew. One beer was my limit with dinner last night, and then I went to sleep early. Agenda and Surf Expo are
Surf Expo from the 10,000 Foot Level- Literally Read More »
I’m somewhere in the middle of the country between the Agenda and Surf Expo trade shows at 30,000 feet. Before I talk about the sea change in skateboarding I saw at Agenda, I have a request. Will the powers that be at both shows please figure out how to not have the shows overlap? Please, no explanations
Agenda Show: The New Skate Business Model Read More »
Shortly after I posted my article on Quiksilver’s annual results, a reader of mine sent me this brief article (thanks YKW!). Here’s another article on the same subject with a little more information (don’t be confused because it has the same picture). Basically, what they say is that “Nike and Adidas recently dealt an additional blow to
Speaking of Brand Retail Strategies….. Read More »
If you haven’t noticed, I’ve been working to not just report the numbers (it’s hard to grab readers attention with the drama of a changing current ratio) but to draw some larger business lessons from company reports and make us all think about the issues. You can think I’m wrong, or you can think I’m right
Quiksilver’s 10K: It’s Results for the Year and Some Issues of Strategy Read More »
I’ve been holding on to this article on Crocs for a while mostly because I just didn’t have time to do anything with it. What it says is that Crocs is looking to go private because it’s just not as cool as it was. Currently, it’s traded under the symbol CROX on the NASDAQ and
Why Crocs Might Go Private Read More »