For those not in the know, Johnson Outdoors is one of the few outdoor industry companies that you can find on the NASDAQ Stock Exchange (Their stock symbol is JOUT.O). Because they are publicly traded, they must provide quarterly financial updates which provide a unique look into the business of the outdoor industry as most other private companies hold these financial details very close.

Looking at their 3rd quarter report; on a whole their earnings were ok but their over all sales were way down compared to the same period last year.

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Petzl America is looking to hire a Headlamp Division Manager for their main office in Clearfield, Utah.

Looks good but the required skills is what is killing me:

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Richard, the founder of Scandinavian kayak company Point 65 runs a very interesting blog. He is one of the few outdoor industry owners who runs their own blog and he always brings an interesting perspective of life on his side of the desk.

Today he posted an interesting article that you should read. To summarize, it seems that a small Swedish kayak manufacture is threatening to sue another kayak importer because the stripe on their kayaks are too similar.

He doesn't name any names but you can read into it and probably hazard a good guess.

Of course every issue has two sides of the story so if anybody knows more details on this burning issue, I would love to hear it.

James Moss from Golden, Colorado has spent the last twenty-years practicing outdoor recreation law. His blog, Recreation Law quickly analyzes trends and issues related to outdoor industry accidents, and litigation.

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I really like small business news and marketing. In fact the business end of the outdoor industry is one of the things that enjoy watching.

As everybody knows, the internet is one of the most efficient and cost effective methods for marketing your paddling school or guiding company. Everybody has a website but just having it listed on Google doesn't automatically cause your phone ring off the hook with people wanting to throw money at you.

If your website isn't getting much traffic, it is time to start marketing. But figuring out which program to use or how to get started is sometimes more difficult then it is worth. Also, it can get expensive and with the razor thin margins of the outdoor industry, it can be a real risk throwing money into a campaign that might not get a good return on your investment.

I recently stumbled upon a great little article that looks at how small businesses on a very limited budget and can take advantage and succeed using social media networks. The article highlights eight great programs or companies that will help to drive traffic to your website. And the great thing is that the majority is free. If you haven't heard of Yahoo Answers, Digg, Delicious or StumbleUpon then you need to read it.

More Info: searchenginewatch.com

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Another shake-up at Confluence Paddlesports. Last month Sue Rechner was appointed as the new President and CEO. She come from being the president of Victorinox Swiss Army, Inc.

At the time of the announcement, Confluence said it had no plans to make other executive changes, citing the existence of "a solid and dedicated team."

Now, less than a month later, news has leaked that the paddling company's top sales and marketing executive, Kelley Woolsey has resigned.

No official word yet from Confluence but the Paddlesports Industry Association circulated a press release announcing that he has left effective of yesterday (January 8, 2008) but will still say on in his position as an at-large board member of the PIA.

More info: Confluence Watersports Appoints Sue Rechner as President & CEO

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For some reason, the outdoor industry has convinced us that business practices are all about being nice to each other and working together for the greater good. Of course, in real life it isn't really that way.

Over the past week, two interesting business stories have surfaced shows a small look into the business world of the outdoor industry and it's not always pretty.

Crocs Inc.
Kirby McInerney has just announced a class action lawsuit on behalf of Crocs Inc. Investors. The suit is claiming that Crocs Inc. issued false and misleading statements that failed to disclose distribution problems in Europe and Japan as well as drops in sales was starting to slow in regions with cold weather climates. The suit also claims that the Company's inventory levels were building far beyond historic levels as sales began to slow.

The lawsuit has just been filed so it will be a while until the issue will be resolved.

Garmin Inc.
Tech Dirt published a fantastic analysis of Garmin's battle against archrival, TomTom. Last year, TomTom agreed to buy mapping service Tele Atlas and many people thought that this would leave Garmin without available electronic maps to use in their GPS units.

In a very strategic move, Garmin bought up 5% of Tele Atlas' shares on the open market forcing TomTom to increase it's bid from $2.5 billion to almost $4.2 billion.

Business analysts were watching to see if Garmin would up the bid for Tele Atlas. They didn't and instead pulled a very interesting trick. First they signed a long-term deal with Tele Atlas' main competitor Navteq. This guaranteed that they would still have access to maps. Now they don't need to worry about losing map access as well as paying 3.3 billion to purchase Tele Atlas. The real gem in the whole thing is the process forced TomTom (remember, arch rival) to pay 1.7 billion more than they wanted to. Remember that 5% share purchase? They are going to make small amount of change off that deal as well!

More info:
Crocs Info: snewsnet.com
Garmin Info: techdirt.com

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Looks like Confluence is having problems with some of their Tarpon sit on top kayaks. They recently sent out this letter to some of their dealers in early May. They effect a small number of boats that issues with "unanticipated leaking".

Click on the graphic below for a larger view. More info at SNEWS.

Just heard the news from Jackson Kayak that their 10,000^th just rolled off the line. Congrats!

I was recently directed to a really interesting article at US News. It talks about the world’s largest GPS maker, Garmin. It breaks down their history as well as explains their business model and sheds some light into the highly competitive world of GPS sales.

It is quite an interesting read.

 

I just finished reading an interesting blog entry on the Scottish Sea Kayaking Photo Gallery about a mink eradication program in the Western Isles. It started back in 2001 and they want to get rid of the North American minks that escaped from fur farms back in the 60’s and 70’s. Looks they are looking for more people to help out with the cause.

On a different note, it seems that the printers have given a final date to the publishers (Pesda Press) for the new book Sea Kayak by Gordon Brown. They will start shipping it December 7^th. Just in time for Christmas. Get it on your list if you haven’t already.

I still haven’t figured out a security error that keeps popping up in the backend so I still can’t publish photos in the blog. It seems it messed things up when I changed domains. I will try to get it sorted out tomorrow.