PA-based Global Sports "expects to post net sales for
its branded shoes" of $43.5M this year, compared with $36.3M
last year, despite the recent sales woes of industry leaders
such as Nike and Reebok, according to Andrea Ahles of the
PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER. Global Sports manufactures Ryka
women's athletic shoes and Yukon men's and women's hiking
boots. Before Ryka and KPR Int'l, an "off price business
that bought discounted sporting goods and resold them to
retailers," merged to form Global Sports in December '97,
neither of the Michael Rubin-owned companies "posted a net
profit in the previous two years." Rubin, the 26-year-old
CEO of both companies, "brought all the outsourced product
design and development in-house and expanded the number of
employees from 75 to more than 200." Ahles wrote that Rubin
seemed to "have turned around his business" by merging the
two companies and acquiring Gen-X Equipment. Industry
analysts predict that Global Sports' sales should increase
from $73M in '97 to $118M in '98, and that they should turn
their $6.2M net loss in '97 to a $5M net income gain in '98.
Gruntal & Co. analyst Michael Conn: "[The company] is
definitely starting to do an increasing percentage of its
business with the major players in the industry." Partly
due to Consumer Reports naming Ryka's 10K Stability the No.
1 women's running shoe, Conn expects Ryka's sales to surpass
$25M in '99 (Andrea Ahles, PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 9/14).
BALANCING ACT: In Boston, Greg Gatlin reports that New
Balance's "sneaker-over-superstar image appears to be
gaining popularity," while the company's "Endorsed by no
one" slogan "has struck a chord with consumers." But Gatlin
writes that the slogan "is not entirely accurate" as New
Balance does pay some runners a stipend "in the range" of
$30,000 to $40,000 (BOSTON HERALD, 9/15).
