Well, this one caught me by surprise, though I guess it was supposed to. No, not that Zumiez bought Blue Tomato, though that caught me by surprise too. What surprised me is that Zumiez has a “…strategic plan to build the leading global action sports retail business.” And, according to the press release, this acquisition is the “next […]
Zumiez Buys Blue Tomato Read More »
The strategic issue hasn’t changed. As CEO Gary Schoenfeld put it in the conference call, “Regrettably, over the past several years, PacSun lost some of its identity as a brand and its relevance among target consumers…” If they can fix that, they can succeed. Gary Schoenfeld took the job because he thinks they can. You can see their
PacSun’s Quarterly Results: The Financial Statements Show Progress Read More »
Maybe ten days ago, I wrote this article that talked about JC Penney’s new pricing policy and strategy and referred you to an article on that strategy and why it might not work. I thought that article had some implications for our industry and I discussed them. Now, my ultra-sophisticated research department (thank you dear) has
Retail Evolution and Industry Conferences: What’s the Connection? Read More »
If it wasn’t so intriguing, it would be getting boring. Zumiez’s sales for the quarter ended April 28, 2012 grew 22.7% to $129.9 million from $105.9 million in the same quarter the previous year. Comparable store sales were up 12.9%. Ecommerce sales rose 7.7% and were 6.2% of the quarter’s total sales. They think ecommerce may eventually be 10%
Zumiez’s Quarter; Ho Hum, Another Good One. How Do They Keep Doing It? Read More »
As you are probably aware JC Penney, struggling to find a sustainable market position, hired a high powered Apple executive as CEO. He got rid of all their sales and started offering everyday low prices in an attempt to regain some customer attention and loyalty. Based on their recent earnings release, it’s not working, though I hope
Learning from JC Penney: Their Transparent Pricing Debacle (So Far) Read More »
As I’ve told you, I’m not so much interested in analyzing the financial statements of big multi-brand corporations like VF (or Nike, or PPR, or Jarden, etc.) but of seeing, to the extent we can, what they are doing in the action sports/youth culture space (or whatever industry we’re in). Mostly I don’t think you want
VF’s Quarter and some Broader Considerations Read More »
I’m looking at Decker’s filings not because of a general interest in Deckers, but because they purchased Sanuk last July. Unlike Reef as part of VF Corporation, Sanuk is a significant part of Decker’s sales and profits so we can find out way more about how it’s doing as part of Deckers than we can find
Decker’s Quarter and Sanuk’s Role in it. Read More »
SPY’s sales for the quarter ended March 31 increased 22% during the quarter to $8.1 million compared to $6.7 million in the same quarter last year. The company had a net loss of $2.58 million compared to $1.52 million in the quarter last year. Sale of SPY branded products were also up 22% to $7.9 million. The
SPY Optic’s Quarter: Sales and Loss Both Grow Read More »
Let’s review what’s happened. Over a few years, Billabong transformed itself from a wholesaler with a group of strong brands with some retail to a 600 store retailer that owns brands. The retail growth, I’ve written, probably took place a little faster than they had planned, but if what you think is the right opportunity appears, sometimes
The Management Changes at Billabong Read More »
The International Association of Skateboard Company’s conference week was, as usual, well attended by the people you want to see there. That’s a lot of what makes it worth attending for me. I enjoyed the Hall of Fame awards. It was great to see and hear some of these people I’ve only read about. I left before the bitter
The IASC Skate Industry Conference Read More »