Kyoto Accord in Action

From the UK's Department of the Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs:

GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS - PROVISIONAL 2006 RESULTS

* It is provisionally estimated that, in 2006, emissions of the total 'basket' of six greenhouse gases1 covered by the Kyoto Protocol were around 15 per cent below the base year, down from 775.2 to 658.1 million tonnes carbon dioxide equivalent. (The base year is 1990 for carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide, and 1995 for fluorinated compounds.) To meet its commitment to the Protocol, the UK has agreed to reduce total greenhouse gas emissions by 121/2 per cent relative to the base year over the period 2008-2012.

* Net emissions of carbon dioxide during the year have provisionally been estimated at around 560.6 million tonnes, about 51/4 per cent lower than the 1990 level of 592.1 million tonnes. Carbon dioxide is the main greenhouse gas, accounting for around 84 per cent of all emissions in the "basket" in 2005, the latest year for which final results are available.

* The provisional estimate of 2006 carbon dioxide emissions is around 11/4 per cent higher than the 2005 figure. This increase was primarily as a result of fuel switching from natural gas to coal for electricity generation. This has also resulted in an estimated increase of 1/2 per cent in emissions from the total basket of gases covered by the Kyoto Protocol for the year.

* Aside from the Kyoto target, the UK aims to move towards its own domestic goal of reducing emissions of carbon dioxide by 20 per cent below 1990 levels by 2010. Under the Government's Climate Change Bill, which is currently at draft stage, it is now also proposed that the UK puts itself on a path towards a legally binding target of a 60 percent reduction in carbon dioxide emissions below 1990 levels by 2050. The Bill also incorporates an interim requirement of a reduction of between 26 and 32 per cent over the period 2018-2022.

The Problem with NASCAR

in North Carolina is that its everywhere. You just can't avoid it. People say that its gone more "upscale" in the past five years, but the majority of the "sport" still revolves around drinking and throwing fried chicken bones at whichever driver has fallen out of favor.

My bitterness is probably coming from our new neighbors. We just had one of the NASCAR teams move in next door with a shop and some kind of museum to one of their "legendary drivers." If you've never heard an un-muffled 600 HP engine revving at 9,000 RPM, I don't recommend it - especially during working hours.

Making Some Noise

An article Lou wrote in March's Outdoor Business is getting some attention.

LINK

He featured three PR firms that have experience working with retailers in a "tips from the pros" article on the strategy and implementation of a retail PR brand building campaign. It could have easily run for a few more pages...

Now This is interesting...

Lebron James Buys Stake in Cannondale

NBA star Lebron James has acquired a minority ownership of Cannondale, the Bethel-CT based manufacturer of high-performance bicycles. James' ownership stake in Cannondale was not disclosed... (3/26/2007)

LINK

This Week in The B.O.S.S. Report

TOP STORIES:
--------------------------------------------
o Yakima moves ahead with new leadership...
o Woolrich announces succession plans.
o New markets and acquisitions play a central role in
five-year growth plans.
o Forzani continues to see upside from repositioning
in spite of weather woes.
o Helly Hansen restructures North American management
team.
o Backcountry.com sees 56% sales growth in 2006.
o Cloudveil opens first retail store.
o SIA: Snow Sports sales declines level off in January.
o Other Stories include 3point5, ATTA, Burton, The Walking
Co., Cabela's, Ulu, Outdoor Industry Foundation, and many more...

Some Excerpts:

While Heinlen admits the company has seen some difficulties over the past
year, he is already seeing the benefits from these initiatives. “A lot of the story around the industry regarding Yakima in 2006 was that we hit some rough spots. I know that in the first half of the year there were some weak deliveries, some delayed launches, and some inconsistent product availability. The last six months of these initiatives has put us in an excellent position for 2007,” said Heinlen. “We made some changes in our logistics system and our transit times are shorter, and today I believe 75% or more of our products ship the same day. We’ve also cut our transit times in half...


LINK

At its peak, Simple was close to $40 million in revenues. In 2005, the brand did about $8 million. Since launching the Green Toe initiative, Simple has started to grow again with 2006 sales up 58% for the year...


LINK

One of the primary drivers of revenues for VF will be owned-retail. At the end of 2006 VFC had 538 owned-retail locations. Management sees the opportunity to add about 75 to 100 new stores per year over the coming years. Those new doors would mean that retail would grow from about 13% of total sales in 2006 to 18% or more in a few years. In 2007, VFC expects retail to contribute roughly $1 billion to the top line...


LINK

Backcountry.com 2006 sales increased 56% to $82 million from $52 million in 2005. The company recorded its busiest day on December 11, one week after Cyber Monday when the company shipped nearly 12,000 orders...


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Nau

NAU will be opening their first brick & mortar location this Tuesday, March 27 in Boulder...

VF CEO McDonald Receives $12.4M in 2006

LINK

The chief executive of clothing and jean maker VF Corp. received 2006 compensation the company valued at nearly $9.3 million, according to a regulatory filing Thursday.

Mackey J. McDonald got a salary of approximately $1.1 million and non-equity incentive plan compensation of some $1.5 million. He did not receive a bonus.

All other compensation totaled $80,510 and included $12,500 in matching contributions to a savings plan, $10,900 for financial planning, $18,740 for personal aircraft use and a $23,400 car allowance. Dues and subscriptions totaled $2,247, while tax gross up, which occurs when a company pays the taxes on an executive perks, came in at $12,723.

McDonald, 59, also received stock and option awards valued at about $6.6 million

This Week in The B.O.S.S. Report

o Canoecopia continues a spring tradition in 2007.
o Dick's SG posts first billion dollar quarter; beats
guidance.
o Polartec, LLC acquires Malden Mills' assets.
o Quiksilver shareholder group gets restless.
o SIA.08 dates overlap with ISPO.
o Zumiez fourth quarter net jumps on 12% comps gain.
o Pacific Cycle transformed into recreation brand.
o Eddie Bauer posts Q4 profit.
o American Recreation sees healthy Q4.
o B.O.S.S. goes one-on-one with Merrell Apparel
creative director Tobin Teichgraeber.

On Friday, March 2nd, a late winter storm dumped more than a foot of snow across much of the Midwest. Seven days later, on the first day of Rutabaga’s 26th annual Canoecopia show in Madison, WI, the temperatures reached 50 degrees. Even Mother Nature cooperates with paddlers.
Launched in 1981 and now called, “the world’s paddlesports expo,” the three-day event featured almost 200 boat companies, accessory brands, outfitters, tourism promoters and non-profit organizations. Teko, Sierra Club National Outings, Sierra Club River Touring and Sierra Magazine sponsored the 2007 event. By 9:15 am on Saturday, the convention center’s main parking lot was filled and parking attendees were directing a steady stream of cars to two overflow lots.
For the first time, attendees were introduced to carbon offsets. Entering the main show door, a large poster from Teko invited them to learn how to be carbon neutral traveler. Bush reports, “I received good feedback from vendors, but there is little consumer understanding about the concept.”

LINK

During an exclusive interview with The BOSS Report Spillane said that the biggest change will be shifting his mindset from running a troubled company to running a healthy company. “We completed 25 loan amendments in 27 months. That really tends to keep you distracted from running an effective business,” he said. “Now, we can move ahead with a strong balance sheet and focus on building the brand, research and development, and expanding our global platform.”

LINK

The letter also stated, “As skiers, we faced deep deception with the negative performance of the Rossignol management team created by Mr Mariette. Total lack of charisma, local political corruption in Moirans, non performance of the winter call-center, total retirement from prestige, brand promotion, racing effectiveness, quality advertising, product design, poor relationships with the European retailers, (and) weakness in new markets opening…”

LINK

Bravo!

A Must Read

This Just In...

...from the Sierra Club

"The Sierra Club applauds Reps. Markey and Platts for moving forward with a bill that will make our environment, economy, and the nation as a whole safer and more secure. Making our cars and light trucks go farther on a gallon of gas is the single biggest step we can take toward saving American families money at the pump, ending our dangerous addiction to oil, and curbing global warming.

"In January the President proposed increasing CAFE standards at a rate of 4% per year. The Markey-Platts bill does just that. The common sense approach of ambitious but achievable goals set out in the bill enjoys strong bipartisan support--including five original cosponsors who voted against increasing CAFE standards when the House last took up the matter in 2005. With even noted environmental critic Sen. Ted Stevens introducing his own 40 miles per gallon bill for cars in the Senate, it is clear that the time has come for Congress to raise fuel economy standards for the first time since it originally set them in 1975.

"This bill will not only save consumers money and help us fight global warming, but it will also help us break our addiction to oil. Within 15 years, this bill will save us as much oil as we now import from the Persian Gulf. Making cars go further on each gallon of gas is like drilling for oil under Detroit instead of our sensitive coasts and lands. Raising fuel economy standards is the cleanest, cheapest, and safest way for America to reduce its dependence on oil.

"It is time for automakers to get off their tailpipe and get into gear to do their fair share to curb global warming and our oil addiction. They need to take the technology gathering dust on Detroit’s shelves and put it to work to help America tackle some of its most urgent problems. Requiring the American auto industry to make more fuel-efficient vehicles is auto mechanics, not rocket science. It will force them to compete with foreign automakers like Honda and Toyota who have used hybrids and other efficient vehicles to remake their brands and cruise to record profits while the Big Three teeter on the brink of insolvency."

Quote of the Week

“I think the industry is very healthy right now. There are always exceptions regionally and there are really different ways to measure health. This time of year, the most significant measurement is how many people we have on credit hold because the winter is ending and all of the bills are coming due. The credit hold list we have this year is tiny, I mean I can count the number of retailers on one hand. So I think the health of the business is good in terms of retailers managing their businesses efficiently.”

Peter Metcalf

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly...

All wrapped up in one conference call...

Head N.V. reported their fourth quarter results, and apparently they were below what their shareholders expected. During a conference call with Analysts, shareholders and the media that I covered this week, Head's CEO, Johan Eliasch butted heads with a few shareholders...

Rupert Heinrich Stahler

Yes, I do have a couple of questions. First, greetings to Mr. Eliasch and Mr. Bernhardt. My name is Rupert Heinrich Stahler. So before I'm going to ask a couple of questions, I would like to thank all of the successful top professional athletes of Head. I ask you Mr. Eliasch, do our athletes deserve that the annual report of Head is prepared unlovingly and colorless like it was the last two years. What I mean, for a Company which wants to be successful in the leisure and sports business, an annual report without a single picture is embarrassing and, in my opinion, nearly ridiculous. So Mr. Eliasch, will you improve our annual report 2006, or must we understand it in such a way that you perhaps don't appreciate your shareholders very much? So that is my question, my first question, please.

Johan Eliasch

Well, the answer to that is that if you go onto our website, there are plenty of athletes and all kinds of information. And in today's world, people usually go onto websites to look at annual reports.

Rupert Heinrich Stahler

So, then I have but one more question, Mr. Eliasch. Do you really think that we had a strong year? Of course, there was a certain improvement in terms of operating profits, but we still have an EBIT margin of only 5.45%. So in my opinion, that is rather weak, for sure it is not strong enough. So my clear question is what is your personal goal for our operating profit margin for 2007 and, of course, for the next years to come, please?

Johan Eliasch

Well, I don't have a crystal ball, so I can't give you -- I can't give you a clear statement on that. And also there are legal boundaries which restricts that kind of information. That is the first thing. Secondly, I think you probably heard my statement with regards to 2007, and that is that it is going to be tough conditions. It is too early to tell and it is not possible to speculate at this early stage what the rest of the year might have.

After a series of other questions that dug into Head's independent auditors, sales by region, and stock options, the same shareholder asked one final question...

Rupert Heinrich Stahler

Okay. Next question. It is what it is. Very interesting. Question number seven. I have one more technical question to Mr. Bernhardt. In August 2006, the Company transferred some 237,000 shares with an original cost of -- let me have a look -- EUR 0.5 million -- to Mr. Eliasch and family. Did we obtain any capital gains from this transaction?

Johan Eliasch

This administers the total of the option plans of the participants and of the stock option plans. It is not...

Ralf Bernhart (Head NV CFO)

This stock thing does not belong to Mr. Eliasch or his family.

Johan Eliasch

Yes, it does not belong to me -- if you read the annual report -- but maybe you haven't read it because we haven't put pictures into it...