In Portland, Steve Brandon reported that the Real
Madrid basketball team wants Blazers C Arvydas Sabonis to
return and play for it this season and reportedly is
"considering an arrangement in which Nike would pay Sabonis'
salary and Real Madrid would dump its shoe contract with
Adidas" (Portland OREGONIAN, 11/29)....In a USA TODAY Money
cover story, Melanie Wells writes that companies are looking
"beyond Madison Avenue" for advertising and marketing ideas.
For example, Reebok recently called Democratic political
consultant James Carville for help with its DMX running shoe
that it introduced this year (USA TODAY, 11/30)....Women's
Hockey Experts Int'l, Canada's "first and only hockey store
dedicated solely to women is going out of business." The
store declared bankruptcy six months after opening in a
suburban Toronto strip mall. Store Owner Sean Price: "We
didn't have any women coming in. ... I think we were about
5-10 years ahead of our time" (FINANCIAL POST, 11/28).
...BUSINESS WEEK's Larry Armstrong profiles outdoor-gear
maker North Face CEO James Fifield and writes that Fifield
is now "broadening the appeal" of his company's line to
mainstream America. But the "question is whether" Fifield
can do this "without alienating the outdoor retailers and
rugged hobbyists on whom North Face has long depended."
Morgan Stanley Dean Witter analyst David Griffith "expects"
the company's sales to increase 23% this year to $256M.
Fifield "plans to grow" the number of stores selling North
Face products after 2001 from 1,500 specialty stores to
4,000 retailers (BUSINESS WEEK, 12/7 issue).
