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The Possible Rip Curl Deal

A couple of readers were thoughtful enough to send me articles on the possible sale of Rip Curl. You can read them here and here. What’s intriguing from my perspective is that the offers came along at the same time as the conditional TPG offer for Billabong. As you know, that’s in due diligence right now, though there’s […]

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Zumiez’s July 28th Quarter; Forget the Numbers. I Might Have Had a Strategic Epiphany

Okay, I don’t mean it. No way I can ignore the financial results. It’s just not the way my mind works. But I was so struck with something President and CEO Rich Brooks said in their conference call that I wanted to start there. He said, as a brief part of a longer answer to an analyst’s question, “…we

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PacSun’s Quarter: Still Losing Money, But Elements of the Strategy Becoming Clearer

Strategies don’t bear fruit in a quarter, or even in a year. There’s still a lot of work to be done before we can say that PacSun’s strategy has been successful if only because the company is still losing money. The goal has been the same for a couple of years now; to make PacSun relevant to

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Spy’s Expense Cuts

Spy announced on August 27 that they were reducing their North American and European employment by 20 positions, going to a distribution model in Europe (they had been direct previously), and spending less on marketing. They think these changes will cost them  $1.2 million in the quarter ($1.0 million in cash) during their 3rd quarter, but

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Spy’s June 30 Quarter. Brand Sales Up, But Gross Margin Falls. What to do About the Balance Sheet?

In the conference call discussion of their results Michael Marckx, Spy’s President and CEO, emphasized two things. The first was the total focus on the Spy brand. The second was that they had a solid and complete management team that was in agreement on the company’s strategy and direction. Those are good things. In spite of the sales

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VF’s Quarterly Results and Strategy: They Do Love Outdoor and Action Sports

VF’s reported revenues rising 16.4% in the quarter ended June 30 compared to the same quarter last year. Net income was up 20% from $129.4 million to $155.3 million. As you look at those headline numbers, there are a couple of things to keep in mind.   First, the Timberland acquisition closed on September 13, 2011 so

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