This month marked the end of an era in the snowboard industry when Elan’s OEM Snowboard Factory in Furnitz, Austria declared bankruptcy and effectively shuttered its doors. Elan has turned out more than four million high-quality boards since it opened over 25 years ago in 1987, and the bankruptcy has left the factory, along with its 78 full-time workers and 90 seasonal employees, dormant.
While Elan’s management did not get back to us for this story, the bankruptcy allegedly resulted from  … More
Nike, Inc. reported revenues from continuing operations rose 9 percent in its third quarter ended Feb. 28, to $6.2 billion, up 10 percent excluding currency changes. Net income from continuing operations increased 16 percent with the help of gross margin expansion and a lower tax rate. Worldwide futures orders were up 6 percent, or 7 percent growth excluding currency changes.
“Our team delivered strong results in Q3. We did it with  … More
During meetings with its European team, the Volcom crew took up the meaty topic and slippery slope that is the current specialty retail landscape and began to look at ways to help more retailers, similar to what they’ve done with Stone-Age for skate shops.
“We were talking about today’s environment and how important it is to create something special for our key retailers and customers,†explains SVP of Marketing Ryan Immegart. â€Something just for them that is inherently Volcom, but very limited in it’s distribution.â€
The result was  … More
Spy Inc. continued on its turn around by reporting sharply lower operating losses in both the fourth quarter and year ended Dec. 31 thanks in large part to a much reduced level of close-outs sales of its sunglasses.
Annual sales of its Spy brand products were $35.1 million in 2012, an increase of 13 percent or $4.0 million, compared to $31.1 million in 2011. Spy brand annual sales included lower closeout sales of $2.6 million in 2012, compared to $3.0 million in 2011. Sales from discontinued licensed brand products, which are no longer a focus of the company, were $0.5 million in 2012, compared with licensed brand product sales of $2.2 million in 2011.
Total company net sales increased by  … More