Sunday, May 31, 2009
Friday, May 29, 2009
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Monday, May 25, 2009
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Zumiez Makes $7.2 Million Bid For Active
On May 15, The Active Wallace Group (dba Active Rideshop) made a motion for an order of approval of the sale of substantially all its assets to Active Acquisition, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Zumiez, Inc.
The terms of the motion state that Zumiez would purchase all of Active’s inventory for less than market costs, as well as pay $100,000 per store acquired. At the time of filing Chapter 11, Active operated 21 stores.
Zumiez, Inc. (ZUMZ) owns 350 stores in 31 states. The company’s sales and net income for fiscal year ending 2009 were $408.7 million and $17.2 million respectively. According to the court documents, as of January Zumiez had more than $33 million in cash.
The terms of the proposed sale are as follows:
Based on the offer made by Zumiez, Active proposes to sell its assets for a total consideration of up to as much as $7.2 million cash, depending upon the outcome of Zumiez valuation of inventory and determination of number of stores to acquire. The total consideration offered to be paid by Zumiez in this case is based on the following formula:
1.) Inventory valued at the lower of cost or market, as determined by an appraiser hired by Zumiez;
2.) $100,000 per store to be purchased by Zumiez; and
3.) Assumption of gift card certificates up to $1.3 million, with total consideration to be adjusted if gift card liability is in excess of $1.3 million.
According to Active’s books, the cost of all its inventory was approximately $5.2 million as of March 30, 2009. Because the inventory is dates, Active believes the inventory to be worth significantly less than cost. Active expects to determine the market value of its inventory by June 10, 2009.
Zumiez has expressed interest in 20 of the 21 stores, and the final bid will be filed on June 22, 2009.
Another stipulation of the deal is that Zumiez has requested to be paid a break-up fee of $250,000. This fee covers the costs associated with moving on a deal of this size in such a short amount of time.
patthetb
Monday, May 18, 2009
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Friday, May 15, 2009
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
May 12, 2009 Head Porter x Burton SS09 Backpacks
A collaborative effort between Japan's Head Porter and Burton Snowboard enterprise. Nice backpack that don't disappoint.fs
patthe
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Keep on rolling
The luxury carmaker launches a (slightly) cheaper model
DEEP in the West Sussex countryside, a stone’s throw from the horseracing at “Glorious” Goodwood, the elegant home of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, designed by Nicholas Grimshaw, seems a long way from the gut-wrenching turmoil in Detroit. But even Rolls-Royce and its wealthy customers—who in normal times wait up to six months for one of its handmade vehicles—are not immune to the financial crisis.
Last year was a record for Rolls-Royce since its reincarnation seven years ago under the wing of Germany’s BMW. Despite the recession, it managed to sell 1,212 cars. Tom Purves, its chief executive (pictured), says he still hopes to match that this year, but admits it is unlikely. Rolls-Royces are built entirely to order and production of the Phantom and its drophead and coupé derivatives has just resumed at a rate of 25 a week after a five-week halt. Another pause is due in June, which Mr Purves hopes will be the last this year, other than the usual shutdown in August.
In these hair-shirt times, selling the ultimate statement of automotive luxury is tricky. Rolls-Royce’s customers can still afford the £300,000 ($450,000) asking price. The problem, as Mr Purves acknowledges, is that for some buyers, the “atmospherics” of splashing out on such a conspicuous symbol of wealth do not feel quite right. The firm has data going back to 1904 that suggest there is no link between Rolls-Royce sales and either stockmarkets or GDP, but there is with property prices. In 2007 Beverly Hills was Rolls’s best market, beating London, Dubai and Riyadh. But last year Beverly Hills was relegated to fourth place behind Beijing, with oil-rich Abu Dhabi claiming top spot. Mr Purves says that America accounts for about 40% of Rolls-Royce sales, and California was one of the first markets to soften.
Significantly, Mr Purves chose last month’s Shanghai motor show to reveal that the new “baby” Rolls (bigger than any BMW 7-Series or Mercedes S-Class) will be known as the Ghost, after a car first produced in 1906. Stronger growth in emerging markets and the Ghost’s arrival are likely to be the main fillip to sales next year.
Bloomberg News
Now you’ve seen a GhostNot only is the new car in a different price category from the stately Phantom—it will go on sale for about £170,000—but it is also aimed at the keen owner-drivers to whom Bentley (owned by Volkswagen since 1998) has successfully appealed in recent years. That said, despite more than 20 years spent selling BMWs, Mr Purves is adamant that no Rolls-Royce should be overtly sporting. “The qualities we must deliver,” he says, “are silkiness and waftiness.”
If the Ghost is a success, production will ramp up quickly in the last quarter of the year. By the end of 2010, if the world economy is showing signs of recovery, cars could be leaving Goodwood at a rate of 3,000 a year, two-thirds of them Ghosts. Although Mr Purves will not reveal the financial targets set by BMW, Rolls-Royce should by then be at least self-funding.
Mr Purves is confident that Rolls-Royce can surmount the other obstacle in its path: public and regulatory disapproval of cars with hugely powerful engines. Unlike a Ferrari, for example, a Rolls-Royce is defined not by the sound its engine makes, but by silence and torque. Those, as it happens, are precisely the qualities of electric motors. A hybrid Rolls in the near future is a virtual certainty. Invoking the firm’s founder, Mr Purves smiles: “I’m sure that Henry [Royce] would not have minded.”
patthe
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Snowsports Sales Down 5%
SIA released preliminary end of season data in which it notes that sales were down 5 percent from 2.95 billion-dollars last season to 2.82 billion this year. Sales of snowboards dropped 34,000 units on the year and SIA predicts that these figures and the current economic climate will lead to “consolidation of retail shops, reduction in chain store fronts, and consolidation of brands.”
According to the release: Fear about economic security kept consumers, retailers and suppliers in a cautious mood this season. The impact of the economic downturn on the snow sports market was unprecedented. Analysis of historical data reveals that less severe economic events in the past have had little impact on the snow sports marketplace. However, significant reductions in wealth and job insecurity at the highest levels resulting from this particular economic downturn predicated a downward shift in consumer spending even in the highest income demographics. The peculiarities of this recession resulted in strangled credit markets, higher costs and reduced sales in the snow sports market that had significant negative impacts on both retailers and suppliers. Additionally, first indications of pre-season order activity for next season suggest that retailers are not betting heavily on increased sales for the 2009/10 season. As a result of this season’s lackluster results, we anticipate some consolidation of retail shops, reduction in chain store fronts, and consolidation of brands.
Current season equipment took the heaviest blow, 75,000 fewer alpine skis, 8,000 fewer Nordic skis, and 34,000 fewer snowboards sold this season. Carryover equipment sold well as retailers discounted prices and cut margins to the bone to bring in customers and move inventories. Apparel sales illustrate retailers’ discounting strategies; unit sales increased by 2% while dollar sales decreased almost 6% this season. Participants bought plenty of hats, gloves, helmets and wax before they hit the slopes at local resorts and accessories sales were close to even with last season. If there was a bright spot in this difficult season it was the Internet channel, it broadened while Specialty shop and chain store sales declined significantly.
“The end of the season was soft for us. Our focus was reducing inventory levels to get in a good position for next year. We also concentrated on delivering customer service and quality to the customers that we did have. Guests were buying the basics; just what they needed and little else. We weren’t on fire sale; we just worked hard on servicing our loyal guests. We have found that peopleare willing to spend more for addedvalue, service, convenience and expertise”, said DerekJohnson, Managing Director, Aspen Skiing Company.
Current season equipment sales declined 12% compared to last season and by March 31st inventories of unsold equipment had swelled almost 19% in dollars and 12% in units compared to end of season inventories last year. Retailers slashed prices on equipment to bring customers in and move inventory. In fact, consumers purchased more than 1/5 all alpine skis and snowboards sold this season at prices that were even with or below the average retail cost. Margins in specialty shops were slimmer across all categories this season and average costs increased more than 10% across the board.
“Overall, we did great on selling stuff; we just didn’t make enough money on it. Some retailers over bought, then panicked and put stuff on sale early. That was one of the problems. In March, we just ran out of customers. We did do well with selling median priced items like Burton and Rome boards, boots and bindings,” said Bill Langlands, Owner, Darkside Snowboards.
patthe
Friday, May 8, 2009
david edison
I had the chance today to discuss with David , he is a homeless jew. It's weird cause when you stop yourself for 2 seconds you can see that each day there is more people with no home in Montreal,a sad reality.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
DC X UXA (THE BIG APPLE)
DC & UXA has just released the limited edition Ryan Smith 2.0S “The Big Apple” collaboration. Designed by Peter Huynh, Jefferson Pang and Peter Bici. The mid cut pro shoe is inspired purely by skateboarding lifestyle in the Big Apple. The colors were drawn from the philosophy of form and function in which the thought that a good looking maneuver is not complete without a good looking shoe.
patthe
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
American broadcasting The not-so-big four
“IT’S amazing how little has changed around here,” says a character in the final episode of “E.R.”, which aired in America on April 2nd. Indeed, it seemed like old times for the hospital drama: 16m people tuned in, not many fewer than it drew a decade ago. But the impression of good times is no more real than a stage set. For programmes like “E.R.”, and for broadcast television itself, much is changing.
The recession has been cruel to a business that depends almost entirely on advertising. Local television stations, many of them owned by or affiliated with national broadcasters, have seen advertising revenue fall by as much as 40% as car dealers and other retailers cut back. Later this month the national networks will test the market for advance advertising. It should prove better than the local market, but still difficult. And this painful cyclical problem coincides with a bigger, structural one: the audience for the “big four” broadcast networks is eroding (see chart).
It is not that people are watching less television. In the last quarter of 2008 the average American took in 151 hours per month, an all-time record, according to Nielsen, a market-research firm. The trouble is the growth of choice. More than 80% of American households now get their television via satellite or cable. To them, the broadcast channels are just items on a menu containing hundreds of dishes.
The networks can still produce hits. “American Idol” and “CSI”, respectively an amateur singing competition and a forensic-science drama, routinely attract more than 20m viewers—three times as many as the most successful cable shows. But occasional triumphs do not add up to a sustainable business model.
Chris Silbermann, president of International Creative Management, a talent agency, says the big change is that mediocre television now struggles to attract a healthy audience. The ratings seem to back him up. Between the first 12 weeks of 2005 and the first 12 weeks of this year, the audience for the top-rated broadcast show (often “American Idol”) fell by 9%. But the number watching the tenth most popular show was down by 17%, and the audience for the 20th in the list was 18% smaller.
So far, the big broadcast networks have been able to persuade advertisers to spend more for each eyeball they reach. Although they can no longer round up huge audiences, they are still the best way of reaching very large ones. And advertisers tend to see broadcast television, with its consistently wholesome quality, as a safe place to promote their products. Cable is still viewed as a rather wild frontier populated by wrestlers and televangelists.
Yet this, too, is changing. Last year’s Emmy awards were dominated by cable shows. “Mad Men”, which is set in an advertising agency, was voted best drama. It was the first time the award had gone to a show on basic cable (it is shown on the AMC channel) as opposed to a premium network, such as HBO. Such acclaim changes attitudes to cable generally. Bruce Rosenblum, the head of the television group at Warner Bros, reckons the growing profile of original cable shows may gradually erode the huge premium that advertisers will pay for broadcast.
Cutbacks are already under way. The networks have commissioned fewer pilot shows than usual this year, many of them relatively cheap half-hour comedies. With its broadcast network faring poorly, NBC plans to run Jay Leno, a talk-show host, five nights a week at 10pm—the slot where dramas such as “E.R.” once reigned. Some broadcast networks look enviously at cable channels, with their steady streams of income from distributors, and ponder getting out of broadcast altogether.
Such a radical change would involve difficult negotiations with local stations. In the meantime, the broadcast networks should be able to drive harder bargains with both local stations and cable companies. Television producers will find new markets abroad. But the good times appear to be over. Sometimes an industry can withstand pressure for many years, and then collapse abruptly. Just ask a newspaper proprietor.
patthe
te
The recession has been cruel to a business that depends almost entirely on advertising. Local television stations, many of them owned by or affiliated with national broadcasters, have seen advertising revenue fall by as much as 40% as car dealers and other retailers cut back. Later this month the national networks will test the market for advance advertising. It should prove better than the local market, but still difficult. And this painful cyclical problem coincides with a bigger, structural one: the audience for the “big four” broadcast networks is eroding (see chart).
It is not that people are watching less television. In the last quarter of 2008 the average American took in 151 hours per month, an all-time record, according to Nielsen, a market-research firm. The trouble is the growth of choice. More than 80% of American households now get their television via satellite or cable. To them, the broadcast channels are just items on a menu containing hundreds of dishes.
The networks can still produce hits. “American Idol” and “CSI”, respectively an amateur singing competition and a forensic-science drama, routinely attract more than 20m viewers—three times as many as the most successful cable shows. But occasional triumphs do not add up to a sustainable business model.
Chris Silbermann, president of International Creative Management, a talent agency, says the big change is that mediocre television now struggles to attract a healthy audience. The ratings seem to back him up. Between the first 12 weeks of 2005 and the first 12 weeks of this year, the audience for the top-rated broadcast show (often “American Idol”) fell by 9%. But the number watching the tenth most popular show was down by 17%, and the audience for the 20th in the list was 18% smaller.
So far, the big broadcast networks have been able to persuade advertisers to spend more for each eyeball they reach. Although they can no longer round up huge audiences, they are still the best way of reaching very large ones. And advertisers tend to see broadcast television, with its consistently wholesome quality, as a safe place to promote their products. Cable is still viewed as a rather wild frontier populated by wrestlers and televangelists.
Yet this, too, is changing. Last year’s Emmy awards were dominated by cable shows. “Mad Men”, which is set in an advertising agency, was voted best drama. It was the first time the award had gone to a show on basic cable (it is shown on the AMC channel) as opposed to a premium network, such as HBO. Such acclaim changes attitudes to cable generally. Bruce Rosenblum, the head of the television group at Warner Bros, reckons the growing profile of original cable shows may gradually erode the huge premium that advertisers will pay for broadcast.
Cutbacks are already under way. The networks have commissioned fewer pilot shows than usual this year, many of them relatively cheap half-hour comedies. With its broadcast network faring poorly, NBC plans to run Jay Leno, a talk-show host, five nights a week at 10pm—the slot where dramas such as “E.R.” once reigned. Some broadcast networks look enviously at cable channels, with their steady streams of income from distributors, and ponder getting out of broadcast altogether.
Such a radical change would involve difficult negotiations with local stations. In the meantime, the broadcast networks should be able to drive harder bargains with both local stations and cable companies. Television producers will find new markets abroad. But the good times appear to be over. Sometimes an industry can withstand pressure for many years, and then collapse abruptly. Just ask a newspaper proprietor.
patthe
te
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Nike 6.0 And 3IOB Shoe Collab
Nike 6.0 Collaborates with 3 Inches of Blood from six0crew on Vimeo.
Nike 6.0 and Canadian heavy metal band, 3 Inches of Blood, have joined forces resulting in the darkest 6.0 shoe collab to date, the Blood Oncore High. “The collaboration idea came directly from a few of our athletes who are obsessed with metal and 3IOB. The band was down for anything and even flew out to an event for a secret show. The kids went ballistic in the pit and were beyond psyched to meet and hang with the band after their performance. It was amazing to be able to bring everyone together and create some chaos!”The band chose Nike 6.0’s NEW Zoom Oncore High to translate their soundtrack of mayhem. Inspired by Viking folklore and mythical carnage, 3IOB worked with the product team on custom materials and colors. The upper, constructed with premium distressed battle-worn leather is mixed with sanguine accents and the muted greens of rot and pestilence. Metallic side panels simulate armor and warrior-shields, while the blood-red outsole and tongue are an ode to the band’s name.
The Blood Oncore High drops May 1st at select retailers.
patthe
Monday, May 4, 2009
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Friday, May 1, 2009
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