Plank Says Under Armour Must Find New Ways To Be Creative, Grow
 |
Plank Says Everyone Is Feeling
Effects Of The Economy |
Under Armour (UA) Chair & CEO Kevin Plank said the company must "find new ways that we can be creative to continue to grow" amid the current economic downturn. Plank: "Everyone is going to feel it because there’s an impact on our retailers. There’s an impact on the broader market out there. But what we like to say is that we like to control the controllables. We can’t impact the external market out there. So what we have to do is we have to react. ... We are a growth company first and foremost, and the way that we’re going to ensure that is there’s a couple ways: new products, new categories, new distribution, new geographies." Plank noted UA launched its new running shoe last quarter and said the shoes are "doing very well in the marketplace right now." When asked if he had any fear about entering the footwear market, Plank said, "Here’s what happens with companies' growth. We’re at this point in our trajectory as a business where you cross $500(M), you’re closing in on $1(B), and there’s a lot of uncertainty. And most brands, or you’ve seen a lot of brands in our space, ... all hit this $600(M), $700(M) level and then they kind of go away. ... The brands that make it through, that’s a critical time. This is a very important time for our business." Plank said of potential oversaturation of the UA brand, "Those would be the good kind of worries that you’d have at some point in time. I think, more importantly, we’re very focused on the brand that we can be and that means our vision is to be the world’s number one performance athletic brand" ("Midday with Dan Rodricks," WYPR-FM, 6/1).
|
