Well hell, this is a lot more fun when there’s something negative or at least controversial to gossip about. All I’ve got to go on is the 10-Q for the quarter ended October 28th and things seem awful solid. No executives fired. Sales growing, margins holding up, no interesting litigation. You might as well go read another article. Net sales for the quarter were up 43.3% to $82.3 million. Comparable store net sales were up More…
Archive for 2006
Zumiez’s 10/31/06 Quarterly Report: Pretty Much Nothing But Good News
Saturday, December 23rd, 2006Make Love, Not War; Blanks and the Park and Recreation Convention. What’s a Skate Brand to Do?
Thursday, November 2nd, 2006First time I’ve ever had two subtitles. That must be meaningful. Either I’ve been thinking a lot about this, or I’ve got nothing to say and am desperate to use up space. I suppose each reader will decide which it is. Not long after I read Cullen Poythress’s article “The War on Blanks” in the September issues of this publication, I went to the Park and Recreation Convention here in Seattle. Basically this is More…
The Relationship Between Marketing and Business Risk; Do One and Reduce the Other
Tuesday, October 31st, 2006Have you ever noticed how often the group of people who create ads, run promotions, and manage sponsorships are called the marketing department? That’s always struck me as kind of odd. I think marketing is the process of figuring out who your customer is, or can be, and why they buy your product. Advertising and promotion are the tactics you use to reach and attract those customers after you’ve reached some decisions about More…
PacSun Quarter and 9 Months Ended 10/28/06- Good Tactics. What’s the Strategy?
Thursday, October 26th, 2006Pacific Sunwear’s (NASDAQ: PSUN) official SEC filing isn’t out yet (I’m writing this November 26 because I love working Sundays), but I’ve read the press release, reviewed the associated financial statements for the quarter and nine months ended October 28, and listened to the conference call. Let’s look at the numbers first, and then talk about the conference call. The Numbers The quarter showed a slight decline in sales More…
Globe Annual Report and the Pacific Brands Deal
Monday, October 23rd, 2006Being traded on the Australian Stock Exchange, Globe doesn’t have to file the usual reports with the Securities and Exchange Commission here in the U.S. But they did file an annual report (109 pages, but happily for me full of pretty pictures and big type) and, in conjunction with the announcement of the pending sale of its Australian and New Zealand street wear apparel division to Pacific Brands for a maximum More…
What Forward Thinking Retailers are Doing: Trends That Probably Won’t Surprise Anybody
Wednesday, October 18th, 2006The issues that smaller retailers are facing haven’t changed much. There are too many retail stores, pressure from chains, brand stores and big boxes, a tough financial model, the challenge of keeping margins up, lack of product differentiation, increasing costs, over distribution. That’s a cheery environment, isn’t it? You’ve got a choice. You can bemoan the unfairness of it all or you can take advantage of this tough environment that’s putting a More…
The Last Intrawest Annual Report: One Benefit of Being Bought
Tuesday, September 26th, 2006I’ve always admired Intrawest’s ability to combine and coordinate its real estate activities with the development and management of its mountain resorts. It always seemed like they managed to choreograph the two to maximize the value of both. That didn’t mean, however, that I looked forward to reading their annual Form 40-F filing with Security and Exchange Commission and now that they are about to be acquired by Fortress Investment Group (probably More…
PacSun’s Quarter Ended 7/29/06; Numbers and Industry Implications
Saturday, September 9th, 2006I guess if you’re going to talk about a quarterly earnings release, you have to mention the numbers. Okay, fine. PacSun’s net income for the quarter ended July 29, 2006 was $0.14 a share compared to $0.28 a share for the same quarter the previous year. For the six months ended the same date, it was $0.30 a share compared to $0.51 for the same period the previous year. Those are drops of 50% More…
Volcom’s Quarterly Conference Call: It Didn’t Sound 29% Bad to Me
Tuesday, August 8th, 2006I’m just back from two years In Ireland, where I made a futile attempt to have one pint in every pub in Dublin. I’ve missed a bit, but I did hear about Volcom’s quarterly conference call last Friday, the 29.4% decline in its stock that followed, the industry discussion that has ensued about the reduction in Volcom’s projected third quarter sales at PacSun, and the apparent concern over the More…
What’s Happening to Core Retailers? Things We Won’t Argue About- and What They Mean
Thursday, April 6th, 2006Not long ago, I finally came up with a definition of core retailer that I liked. I was really proud of it because it had taken me about 13 years to settle on one I thought was accurate and useful. Now, not all that long after I accomplished that feat, I’m not sure it really matters. I’ve begun to be concerned that the traditional concept of core stores is of diminishing importance More…
