Glasses on the run Newsletter #49
Hi,
I hope everyone is well and you will enjoy this short selection.
What was interesting in the business of running
Let's start with a few stories about Brooks. Brooks had a record breaking first quarter of the year with 9% year on year growth, driven by its global e-commerce business, which grew 22% (Yahoo Finance). Its new CEO Dan Sheridan gave an interview during the Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholder meeting. He talks about China and Europe being growth areas, supply chain challenges moderating, and the number of runners globally possibly doubling by 2031 (Reuters). And finally, Brooks launched a new campaign, unveiling a new tagline "Let's Run There", replacing "Run Happy", which has been its tagline for many years (Sports Business Journal).
Garmin had a very successful first quarter of the year as well. Its sales grew 20% year on year to $1.38 billion. Garmin's business is structured into five categories: fitness, outdoor, aviation, marine, and auto OEM. The auto OEM segment had the highest growth rate by 58%, followed by fitness by 40%. Gross profit grew the most in aviation by 75%, followed by outdoor with 66% (Bicycle Retailer, Garmin's SEC 10-Q form).
Puma, on the other hand, just about met its sales expectations for the quarter, as the Americas region returned to growth and Puma is taking advantage of the revamping classic shoe models from the 1970s and the 1980s trend. Puma's Q1 sales increased by 0.5% year on year to €2.1 billion, while its inventory levels improved, falling by 16.8% for the same period. The company is trying to boost its brand, investing in advertising, promoting its running shoe technology (Reuters, Puma).
An interview with Mitsuyuki Tominaga, Asics president and COO about Asics's ambitious growth strategy in North America. The brand is already number one in the tennis shoe market in the US and in Europe and is planning to maintain that position. It is also aiming to restore its leading position in the running shoe market in North America (Forbes).
And finally, these are two comparisons between Garmin Epix Pro and Apple Watch Ultra 2 during this year's London Marathon and while preparing for it (Tom's Guide, TechRadar). And an interview with La Sportiva's shoe designer about the new Prodigio trail running shoe (Gear Junkie).
As always, thank you for reading,
Momchil
