Perhaps I bring the most value to the industry when a reader sends me something they think is important but that they don’t want to be directly associated with. And they figure, “Send it to Jeff! He’ll publicize anything.” Most of the time, they’re right and this is one of those times.
We believe in the power of brands. We have to. In action sports/active outdoor, there are very few “moats” around products. That is, there are few distinguishing product features not based on marketing that are sustainable and even long-established brand names run into difficulties holding onto their market positions. Witness Nike’s current struggles. Years ago, […]
During the last couple of years, I’ve written some articles pointing to the emergence of 3D printing, urging you to at least be aware of the trends even if we agreed it wasn’t going to rock your world today. I wrote about it here, here, and here.
Roots, a Canadian retailer, has filed a prospectus for a public offering. Here’s the link to their web site. As usual, the initial prospectus is missing a lot of key numbers, but I’ll do the best I can. Roots has been around since 1973, so they must be doing something right. “As of July 29, […]
A reader sent me this article discussing how retail seems likely to evolve. Why don’t you go and read it before I offer my comments? The author (Doug Stephens) and I are, in general, in violent agreement about the direction and speed of retail change. We further agree that if you, as a retailer are […]
In my travels, I’ve come across a few articles describing some new retail ideas. I don’t know which might turn out to be “right” or “wrong,” but it seems incumbent on us to be aware and consider whether any of the ideas might apply to our businesses. I guess this is my way to help […]
During the quarter, Zumiez increased its sales and reduced its loss compared to the same quarter last year. It continued to follow its strategy and its balance sheet remains solid- perhaps a bit stronger than a year ago. I’ve generally been a supporter of Zumiez’s strategy. It’s not that they necessarily know any better than […]
Globe is no more immune to economic conditions than any other company. But what I’ve always liked about them is they seem to be in touch with reality and have a positive attitude about it. They haven’t always been right (me neither) but they’re not slow to realize when something should change and in making […]
Here’s what I said six months ago about Billabong: “Six months ago [talking about a year 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 […]
As you probably know, Emerald Expositions (EE) is the owner and manager of Surf Expo, Outdoor Retailer, and now what was formerly SIA’s Snow Show. Overall, they operate over 50 shows as well as other events. They’ve grown by acquisition, and expect to continue to do so. Their shows are in many industries and include […]
