Things Are Looking Up Again?

After reading Sports Executive Weekly and The B.O.S.S. Report this week, I was left with a long-forgotten feeling – optimism. Things are actually starting to look good for the outdoor and active lifestyle industry. After nearly a year of bad news coming from the publicly-traded companies, the first quarter of 2010 was pretty strong. Here’s a brief run-down:

• Columbia Sportswear: sales up 10.5%; profits up 33.8%
  • Mountain Hardwear sales up 10.3%
• Rocky Shoes & Boots: sales up 12.0% net loss cut in half
• LaCrosse Footwear: sales up 32%; $1.7 million in profits vs. a loss last year
• Deckers: Sales up 16.1%; profits up 46.8%
  • Teva sales up 21.3%
  • Ugg sales up 14.2%
  • Ahnu, Simple & Tsubo sales up 15.3% collectively
• Wolverine World Wide (Merrell, Wolverine, Cushe, Patagonia Footwear, Chaco & others): sales up 11.6%; profits up 162.0%

There are still more folks scheduled to report over the next few weeks, but the first week of earnings season is looking pretty darn good for the outdoor industry. We’ll have more results next week.