Plank Discusses UA's Efforts, Bullish On Continued Growth In '08
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Plank Bullish On Continued Growth
For Under Armour In '08 |
Under Armour (UA) Chair & CEO Kevin Plank, in a Q&A with the N.Y. TIMES' Elizabeth Olson for the paper's Saturday Interview feature, said, "To be the world's No. 1 athletic sporting goods brand, we need to be a player in footwear." Plank added, "We're in a growth and investment period right now, and we have five growth engines. The first is our core men's apparel, which was up 14[%] over the first six months of this year. A second is our core women's apparel, and that was up 27[%] in the same period. We also will grow our footwear business, and ultimately make it larger than apparel. Our international business is another component, and the fifth is our direct consumer business, including our Web site and factory stores." Plank said UA grew 53% in '06 and 41% in '07. Plank: "Our latest guidance says we'll grow another [26-28%] this year in a 95[%] U.S.-based business. We've felt the strain from the market, but we've continued to outperform all others in the spaces where we play." Plank said of UA's plans for retail and outlet stores, "We have a full-priced store that opened in Annapolis, and another just outside of Chicago that opened in May. We'll open a third outside Boston later this month. And we'll have 25 to 26 factory stores by the end of the year. We're moving forward" (N.Y. TIMES, 8/2).
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