Outdoor USA Magazine

Wolverine Worldwide has reported record financial results for the third quarter as ended September 10, 2011. Driven in part by success from the Outdoor Group, the company has seen double-digit growth in both revenue and earnings per share as well as record operating margin.

As they prepare for their annual back-to-school shopping trip, parents this year will make children scour their closets before agreeing to buy any new jeans, pencils or backpacks. According to NRF’s 2011 Back-to-School survey conducted by BIGresearch, families with children in grades K–12 will spend an average of $603.63 on apparel, school supplies and electronics, within a few dollars of last year’s $606.40 average. Total spending on grades K-12 is expected to reach $22.8 billion.

AquaHydrate sports water has recieved a capital infusion of $10 million from Ronald Burkle of The Yucaipa Companies investment firm. AquaHydrate, whose investors include actor Mark Wahlberg and banking firm Emerald Partners, continues its discussions with a number of strategic investors in order to secure a long-term partner that will advance distribution and enhance marketing capability beyond the more than 2,200 stores that currently carry the product. Discussions are also being held with major international beverage distributors for expansion into overseas markets.

Deckers Outdoor Corporation has released record financial results for both the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended December 31, 2010 showing that 2010 net sales broke past the $1 billion mark. Net sales increased 23.1 percent to $1.001 billion compared to 2009's $813.2 million.

According to data from OIA VantagePoint, the full 2010 fiscal year (ending January 29, 2011) saw sales of outdoor products increase to $10.85 billion, 4 percent over the 2009 fiscal total. January product sales have seen a 2.3 percent increase over last year’s levels, ringing up over $715 million in retail sales. The fiscal year was stronger than expected, suggesting that consumers are spending more optimistically. Outdoor specialty channels grew 7.3 percent to the $2.95 billion for the twelve-month fiscal period.

The Outdoor Industry Association has released its 2011 Manufacturer Financial & Operations Benchmarking survey, which evaluates cost norms and profitability ratios for participating businesses. The 2011 survey will update benchmarks to 2010 levels, and release consolidated results in the second quarter of 2011.

Manufacturers use the detailed financial and operating metrics in the benchmarking study to rank their performance among the industry at large. Participating manufacturers will receive the full analysis of the study, which details comprehensive industry-wide profitability groups, and allows them to compare their own metrics against relevant benchmarks to discover areas for improvement.

On a slow rebound from stagnant August numbers, outdoor product retail sales growth increased at 2.3 percent in September to $820.6 million compared to $802.3 million for the comparable five-week period last year. This study, based on point-of-sale data compiled for OIA VantagePoint, shows sales through outdoor specialty channels down slightly, while sales through internet/catalog and department store channels showed signs of increase. The year-to-date growth averages 4.2 percent.

The NPD Group, Inc., a market research company, has released their fifth annual study on the global sports market, which shows the first decline since 2005. A 2% decline from 2008 to 2009 brings the global sales of sports equipment, apparel and footwear to a value of 282 billion USD for 2009. The NPD Group predicts that the market will bounce back in 2010 with an increase of 1% globally. This study’s estimate of global sports is based on NPD Group’s consumer panel tracking data, statistical projections, and the company’s extensive sports industry expertise.