Zumiez’s Annual Report and Some Questions I’d Ask if I were an Analyst.

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I’m always grateful when a company has a short 10K and conference call.  I’m efficient at spotting the meat in a 10K, but it’s easier when it’s 77 pages, as Zumiez’s was, instead of 177 pages.  Though when it’s 177 pages, there’s usually some really interesting stuff.

Zumiez doesn’t need more than 77 pages.  They pursue the general strategy they’ve pursued since the company was founded, they make money, and their balance sheet is fine.  They are dealing with the same crappy retail and economic environment everybody else is, they are impacted by it, and they are cautious about the future.  Ho hum.

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How Was VF’s Year?

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It’s accurate to say that VF ran into the same issues and economic dislocations as other brands and retailers.  During their fourth quarter, ended December 31, 2016, revenues fell 2.7% from $3.41 billion to $3.32 billion in the quarter ended December 31, 2015 (the prior calendar period- PCP).  Net income was also down from $312 to $264 million, or by 16.7%.

For the year, revenue was almost the same at just over $12 billion.  Net income fell 12.8% from $1.32 in 2016 to $1.07 billion in 2015 (also the PCP).  More details and nuance later.  I wanted you to have those numbers as we talk strategy.

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Billabong’s Six Month Report: The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same

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Six months ago, reporting on Billabong’s results for the whole year, I said this was a challenging turnaround, Billabong was doing things right, they were starting to see results, but the market was tough, and implementing their plan was taking longer and costing more (perhaps because it’s taking longer) than they’d initially expected.

That’s all still true for the six months ended December 31, 2016.

I’ll start with the numbers as reported (numbers in Australian dollars).

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GoPro’s Year and Quarter: Doing the Right Things, But……..

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Let’s just jump right to a comment CEO Nick Woodman made during the conference call.

“I would say that we are more focused on revenue and margin and less focused on volume on a unit basis.”

That sounds to me like GoPro is more interested in the higher end of the market.  And they should be. But if that’s their focus (I happen to think it should be, but dare I call it a niche?) is there enough revenue growth to satisfy the requirements of being a public company?

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Trade Shows: Can’t Live with Them, Can’t Live Without Them

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Life was simpler when I wrote my first article on trade shows in the mid-90s.  We went to trade shows because it was the only place to see, and to make, complete product presentations, and discover new, meaningful, features and products.  There were also a lot more specialty retailers.  The shows were the only place they and brands could efficiently connect and do business- by which I mean write orders.

All that’s changed.  It’s not that it doesn’t still go on, but it doesn’t have to happen at trade shows like it used to.  There are other choices caused by consolidation, the internet, and changing consumer behavior.

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Deckers’ Quarter: More Sanuk Travails and the Public Company Conundrum.

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I’ve reviewed Deckers’ 10Q for the three months ended December 31, 2016 and their conference call.  The company earned $41 million on sales of $760 million in the quarter, which isn’t bad.  But that’s down from net income of $157 million on revenues of $796 million in the same quarter last year.

The problem?  I’m sure regular readers already know.  Yup, it’s mostly Sanuk again.  But’s let start at the company’s top line.

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What Will Retail Be Like in Five Years and How Will You Prosper?

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That was the question asked at a meeting last week at the Agenda trade show.  The meeting was attended by various invited brands and retailers and by me.

This meeting has been going for maybe four shows now and has generally been thoughtful and productive.  That’s a welcome improvement from the larger group meetings that used to be held at ASR.  They tended to be a bit acrimonious and have limited value.  Except that I got a free breakfast.

I had to leave before the meeting ended for a dinner engagement and didn’t get a chance to put in my two cents worth.  But the topic keeps churning my brain.  Typically, that means I should write about it.

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The Impact of Demographics on the Active Outdoor Industry

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I’ve just finished reading a book called The Methuselah Effect, by Patrick Cox.  As I’ve said, I often get intriguing business ideas from non-business books.  This is one of those times.  I really recommend this book.  The trouble is, it doesn’t seem to be on Amazon, which I’ve never seen before.

Anyway, the book is about advances in biotechnology and how they are going to impact health and longevity.  The first chapter title is, “Fewer Births, Longer Lives: Society’s Aging Changes Everything.”

His premise, which I found convincing, is that people are going to live longer and be more active.  But there are going to be fewer people.  He goes on to says in the first page, “From here on out, every generation will be smaller than the one before it.  After 200,000 years of population growth, mankind’s numbers are shrinking.”

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What Is the Value of Advertising?

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I read with some amusement as well as concern this article about an apparently still ongoing and massive online advertising fraud.  I imagine you’re all aware of it.  Meanwhile, back in this article, I mentioned the increasing use of ad blockers, especially by millennials.  And within the last week or so, I questioned, as I pointed you to four article on changes in retail, how TV advertising was being received.  What I said was, “Perhaps it explains some of the advertising I see on TV these days where a brand tries so hard to find a compromise message that reaches the sensibilities of more than one group that you walk away not sure what product you just saw advertised or why you should care.”

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Some Waypoints in the Evolution of Retail

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During the last couple of weeks, I’ve come across a number of articles that speak to the evolution of retail.  Here they are for your consideration in no particular order.

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