A friend sent me this excellent interview with Dr. Michael T. Osterholm. He’s not a medical doctor. See his background here. Seems pretty clear he’s worth listening to when it comes infectious diseases. His objectivity and willingness to say what we don’t know impressed me. I’m supposed to write about business stuff. The interview may […]
On June 10 Emerald, the publicly traded company that runs trade shows including Surf Expo and Outdoor Retailer and owns Shop Eat Surf announced they were going to issue $400 million in convertible preferred stock. Like every company in our industry, Emerald is impacted by the pandemic, and is seeing already existing trends in its […]
When we do get through the virus and at least some of the economic disruption, I’m wondering what the trade show environment might look like. It had already been changing and it seems pretty clear those changes are going to accelerate.
Kathmandu released its number for the six months ended January 31 and I’ve finally gotten through the statements. Maybe the first thing you should do is go read what I wrote when Kathmandu acquired Rip Curl on October 31, 2019. Here’s the link. I thought the deal could work, but I was concerned by the […]
Zumiez reported their results for the year and quarter ended February 1st on March 12th. Great quarter and year. But about a week after their fiscal year ended, the impact of the pandemic on the economy became apparent. For all retailers who sell directly to the consumer, in our industry or not, the world is […]
And you think you’ve got problems with your brand? Actually- and I say this with a certain amount of relief- apparently relatively few people are stupid enough to relate the beer to the virus. Go take a look at this article on Snopes.com that discusses what’s happened to the brand in spite of some of […]
The poster with the slogan was issued in 1939 by the British. We don’t have anybody bombing our cities or threatening to invade us- exactly- but the coronavirus is a national challenge with social, financial and health related impacts unlike anything most of us have experienced. I’m not sure I’m overstating it to say […]
VF continues to manage its brand portfolio consistent with its strategic imperatives. Before moving onto the financials, we’ll take a look at their decision to divest their occupational work brands. It’s consistent with other brand decisions they’ve made.
The first thing you think when you walk into the show is what an incredibly great idea it was to consolidate The Snow Show with Outdoor Retailer. The second thing you think is, “What took them so long?” I imagine the answer to that is quite a soap opera. The next thing I thought was […]
It took two guys like author Chris Diamond and his editor Andy Bigford to make this book as valuable as it is. Their combined 88 or so years in the industry means they have the knowledge, perspective and access to write this book, and the book takes full advantage. When Chris says “ski” he means […]
