SGB Apparel

EXEC: Black Diamond Making Progress with Repositioning Despite Top-Line Weakness

Black Diamond’s sales again fell sharply in the second quarter but management of its parent, Clarus Corp., told analysts the brand is making progress rationalizing its product lines under a “fewer, bigger, better” emphasis and reducing promotional pressures amid the continued slow stabilization of the North American wholesale channel. Neil Fiske, president, Black Diamond Equipment, still cautioned that the overall outdoor marketplace won’t fully recover until 2025.

Fred Segal Closes Remaining Store Locations

Fred Segal, the Los Angeles, CA luxury boutique, closed its remaining two stores and also shut down its website. Fred Segal Home, the brand’s luxury furniture store, will remain open in Culver City, CA, and the fredsegalhome.com website will continue.

Black Diamond’s Q2 Weakness Weighs on Parent; Pieps Up For Sale

Clarus Corp. logged a Q2 loss as sales sunk 2.4 percent. A 13.6 percent sales gain in its Adventure segment was offset by a 9.7 percent slide at Black Diamond that was blamed on weakness in North American DTC operations and softness in Europe. Clarus lowered its full-year earnings guidance to reflect weakness as well as investments in its Adventure segment while indicating it’s exploring a sale of its Pieps snow safety brand.

Chipply Beefs Up Sales Team

Meghan Brazzelle was hired as a senior territory manager and Patrick Tolivar as a territory sales rep. Brazzelle and Tolivar will report to Grace Schettler, SVP of sales for Chipply, the online store software supplier for team dealers.

EXEC: BOA and PrimaLoft Deliver Healthy Double-Digit Growth in Q2 for CODI

Citing the benefits of inventories rebalancing in the marketplace, Compass Diversified (CODI) reported BOA’s sales surged 42.1 percent in the second quarter while PrimaLoft returned to growth with a 14 percent gain. Said Elias Sabo, CODI’s CEO, on a call with analysts. “We believe both businesses are positioned for a strong back half of the year.”