"This was supposed to be Reebok's year," writes Chris Reidy
in the Sunday BOSTON GLOBE, but "it isn't working out that way."
Although the athletic footwear company remains "strong," it
"appears to be plodding along" in its quest to topple Nike on top
of the athletic shoe industry. Reebok Chair Paul Fireman's plan
of expanding beyond the women's shoe styles that made Reebok
popular, has "proved harder and more expensive to execute than
expected" while Nike has "aggressively" invaded Reebok's women's
market. Reebok has had to make $60M in spending cuts and
layoffs, and with the departure of three high level executives,
"it appears that Fireman himself will try to pull Reebok out of
its funk."
HEAD-TO-HEAD: Reebok has not moved as "successfully
into the men's market as Nike has moved into the women's
performance area," according to John Shapiro of Chieftain
Capital Management in New York. SPORTING GOODS INTELLIGENCE
Editor James Horan says Reebok's line "is not as good. They
have not made the same technical progress as Nike." Nike
also outsells Reebok by 4-1 at Foot Locker, a "problem
Fireman has vowed to tackle." But some analysts said Reebok
could benefit from the '96 Games, as close to 3,000 athletes
will wear their shoes. Still, Shapiro is "bullish on
Reebok's future," as new lines are up, stock repurchasing
has bought $1B worth of shares since '91, and Fireman "is
taking on a bigger role" -- all factors which could give
Reebok stock "a tremendous pop" (BOSTON GLOBE, 6/25).
IN THE RING: Super Middleweight Roy Jones, Jr. is in
talks with Nike to make him the first boxer to sign an
endorsement deal with the company. Fred Levin, Jones'
attorney: "It's in their ballpark. They're concerned by
the association with boxing, but I don't think they've seen
anybody like Roy Jones" (Greg Jones, N.Y. NEWSDAY, 6/25).
