Category: Spending Patterns

Twitter Takes Flight, Goes Public, and Effects On Youth Culture Markets

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Twitter went public yesterday (TWTR), Wednesday, November 6, 2013, offering 70 million shares at a price of $26 per share raising the IPO value to $14.1 billion. (In comparison, Facebook’s IPO last year was $16 billion.) But today, Thursday, on its first day of trading on the New York Stock Exchange, the stock increased in […]

Olympics’ Sustainability Movement Means New Requirements for Host Cities, Sports, Sponsors

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On Sunday, November 23, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) held a summit to discuss sports and the environment and the kick-off of the Sochi Games in February, 2014. Two of the key topics centered around bringing young people into sports and the role of sustainability. As we’ve noted before about the Olympics, they are not […]

Abercombie & Fitch Closes All Gilly Hicks Stores, Moves Brand Into Hollister

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Teen retailer Abercrombie & Fitch continues with their new plans at streamlining strategies and getting back to a core brand focus by announcing the closure of their Gilly Hicks stores by Q1 of 2014. Gilly Hicks as a brand however, will be relocated online and in their Hollister stores. At the announcement on November 6, […]

Sneakerboy, the Luxury Sneaker-Freaker Buyer, and Fresh Concepts in Retail

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While Nike tends to still hold fast to the notion that sneakers are not fashion, but are first and foremost about high-tech function, niche brands with a nod towards fashion have plowed their way into the cool aesthetics of a new culture of sneaker-heads. Not that Nike’s not on the leading-edge of sneaker style, because […]

Sustainability Round-up: H&M Open Invitation for H&M Conscious Foundation; Levi’s X Dyneema for Longer-Lasting Jeans; Patagonia’s Responsible Economy Program

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Sustainable solutions are key business strategies for many of the top global leading brands targeting youth culture these days. As we’ve noted in our various Sustainability and the State of the Future Youth Culture Studies, sustainability issues are vitally important to a new generation of young people who have grown-up with recycling as a part […]

Quiksilver to Sell Mervin Manufacturing, Owners of Popular GNU and Lib Tech, to Extreme Holdings In Latest Divestment of Non-Core Assets

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In their on-going efforts to streamline assets and reduce amounts drawn on its credit facilities, Quiksilver announced October 23, 2013 that it would be selling Mervin Manufacturing, owners of the popular snowboarding brands GNU and Lib Tech, to Extreme Holdings, Inc. an entity advised by Altamont Capital Partners, who also advised on the deal when […]

Retail Round-up: VF’s Q3 Results with Vans Up 16%, Plus Re-launch of Women’s Collection; Adidas Group Unites Adidas and Reebok Under One Management Team

VANS Women's Spring 2014 Presentation Hosted by Chrissie Miller, Heidi Bivens, Langley Fox Hemingway, Annabelle Dexter Jones, Coco Young, Georgia Ford and Luz Pazon

Once again, VF Corp’s Outdoor and Action Sports divisions are leading the charge for the mega-conglomerate with revenues up 5% to $3.3 billion and Vans up 16% in North America. The Q3 financials released Monday, October 21, 2013 indicate a strong quarter and changes including a 4-to-1 stock split. “VF is at its best when […]

Women in Sports and the ESPNW Women + Sports Summit—Defining the Market Opportunity

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From October 9-11, 2013, some 275 top influencers and athletes in women’s sports gathered for the 4th annual ESPNW Women + Sports Summit in Dana Point, CA.  The topic of conversation centered around women in sports and also the missed opportunities that women could bring to sports marketing and industry decision-making. In an excellent review […]

Retail Round-Up: Uniqlo, Fast Retailing Reports Fiscal 2013; Nike Projects $10B in Apparel, Pushes Ecommerce and China Markets

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Fast-fashion giant Uniqlo based in Japan has released their latest financials. The brand which is catching on quickly across youth culture markets in the United States (see also our Fall Youth Culture Study 2013), has also just released their puffy jacket campaign that showcases how these cushy, soft winter outerwear can fit into the size […]

TOMS Shoes Re-Thinks Business Model and Launches Production in Haiti

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At the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) Annual Meeting last month, one of the inspiring announcements came from TOMS founder, Blake Mycoskie, in stating that starting in January 2014, they would be manufacturing shoes and hiring local people in Haiti—one of several countries that TOMS supports with its buy a pair give a pair to a […]