Glasses on the run Newsletter #24

Hi,

I hope May started well for everyone. It has been an eventful period in the business of running and here is my selection of what was interesting. Enjoy!

What was interesting in the business of running

A few editions ago, I shared a number of stories showcasing the market positioning and how it is changing for some of the oldest brands in running - New Balance, Saucony, and Brooks. New Balance and Saucony expanding their reach into the lifestyle market, while Brooks doubling down on the core running performance market. Here is more on this topic.

New Balance is working on at least two collaborations. And so is Saucony. All of those are lifestyle shoes outside of the performance market.

At the same time, Brooks's focus on the core running market keeps bringing it success. It posted a 20% revenue increase for the first quarter of the year with 32% growth in the Europe, Middle East, and Africa region. Its direct-to-consumer (DTC) online business grew 33% and it remained the top brand in the US retail in adult performance running footwear market. And in a sign of how protective Brooks is of its position on the running market, it filed a lawsuit against Skechers for infringing on its 'BEAST' trademark.

Adidas also posted its quarterly results. It had already warned on numerous occasions that there is a difficult year ahead and with revenues down 1% as compared to the same period last year and operating profit of € 60 million, it actually considers Q1 results better than expected. Adidas however continues to be chased by the ghost of Yeezy. It hasn't yet solved the problem with the huge pile of Yeezy shoes collecting dust and it is now being sued by investors over its Kanye West partnership.

Puma is another company that posted its quarterly results. A lot of interesting information in there. Puma's sales in North America took a hit, as it is trying to reduce the inventory levels with off-price wholesale retailers. But that was more than made up for by its other markets, with total revenues ultimately growing 14.4% for the quarter to € 2,188 million. 55% of that was shoes, which was also the highest growing with 28.8%. The wholesale to DTC split was 79% to 21%.

Other interesting stories

Data from Strava, VeloViewer, and Google Streetview helps cyclists prepare for Giro d’Italia.

Nike has signed a lifetime deal with Kevin Durant. He is the third NBA player to sign such a deal with Nike after Michael Jordan and LeBron James.

Interesting albeit not surprising research on Apple watch users - they are highly loyal.

Reviews

The preferred running shoes of the Runner's World editors.

DC Rainmaker on Suunto Coach.

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As always, thank you for reading!

Momchil