Vendor News...6/27/05 <br /><br />JUNE 27, 2005 -- Dana Designs Discontinued, Marmot To Make Bigger Push In Big Packs <br /><br />K2 Sports has moved to discontinue Dana Designs, but plans to use the brand's technology and heritage to make Marmot a bigger force in the big packs category.<br /><br />For spring 2006, Marmot packs will officially replace Dana Designs. The new Marmot collection is being reengineered to be simpler, lighter, cleaner and more focused than the Dana Design collection. However, the collection will still include the “DNA” of Dana Design, including familiar Dana components like Arc Flex and Arc Energy and Dana styles like the Terraplane, Glacier, Bridger and Bomb.<br /><br />John Cooley, Marmot's spokesperson, said Dana Design, which had its heyday from the mid-eighties to mid-nineties, had “truly languished” since being acquired by K2 Sports in the late nineties. Founder Dana Gleason had left the company; manufacturing had exited Bozeman, MO.; and overall product and marketing efforts had stalled.<br /><br />After being acquired by K2 Inc. last year, Marmot was given the task of reviving Dana Designs.<br /><br />Cooley said that Marmot soon realized the inefficiencies and confusion created by having its rep force of nearly 100 people selling two separate brands in the marketplace, including packs by both brands. Internally, there were costs in operating separate trade show booths, and other inefficiencies related to sales, design and marketing of two separate brands. <br /><br />“You're having the build and add on a substantial amount of work for everybody in trying to revive a brand,” said Cooley. <br /><br />At the same time, management saw the opportunity for Marmot, which has done well in smaller packs, to capitalize on Dana Design's heritage in big packs.<br /><br />“We had run at big packs a couple of times, but had not done it successfully truly for the lack of a frame system that worked,” Cooley said.<br /><br />After mulling over combinations such as “Marmot/Dana” for the combined collection, the company decided to focus on the Marmot name and incorporate Dana Design technologies into the collection. Cooley used the example of a performance chip in a computer such as “Intel Inside” to speak to how Marmot's bigger packs will have “Dana Inside” in incorporating components like Arc Flex and Arc Energy and styles like the Terraplane and Glacier.<br /><br />Cooley also said part of the reason Marmot decided not to use the Dana name is because it's lost some of its appeal among the younger generation. <br /><br />“If you talk to a 20 year old, not many have heard of Dana,” Cooley said. “If you talk to a 50 year old, people have heard about it.”<br /><br />But Cooley said using the underlying components and styles from Dana Design provides “an instant legitimization of a Marmot big pack” among those in the know. <br /><br />“It remains one of the most, if not the most, comfortable big packs out there,” said Cooley.<br /><br />Regarding the Dana Design name, Cooley said Marmot has no plans on selling the name or trademarks in the near future, although it does open up a number of possibilities, such as a sub-brand.<br /><br />From a design standpoint, the new Marmot big pack collection will be “simpler” than recent Dana Designs updates. Cooley said the packs had been “designed by Velcro” over the last few years, featuring too many useless embellishments as upgrades. <br /><br />“The key to a pack is simplicity and ease of use and versatility,” said Cooley. <br /><br />Marmot also took 8 ounces off the weight of the pack for the spring 2006 collection. It expects to be able to reduce significantly more in its bigger packs through the use of carbon fiber components and higher-tenacity nylon fabrics, yet still keep the core Dana Design's frame system intact. Cooley notes that Marmot has only been working on the redesign for 60 days. <br /><br />“They're going to be lighter, simpler and cleaner for Spring 06, but frankly that's just the start,” said Cooley.<br /><br />Dana Gleason Comments On Dana Design Discontinuation <br /><br />Dana Gleason, who co-founded Dana Design in 1985 in Bozeman, MO, seemed bittersweet about the discontinuation of Dana Designs brand, but still sees value in the brand name and logo.<br /><br />Asked if he would consider reacquiring Dana Designs, Gleason said, “Absolutely. If it was to be made available or in some combination that was right I would never say never. Dana is a name I'm very fond of.”<br /><br />He added, “The leaping fool logo that we came up with, which seems to be one of the prime bits of value left in the company; we would love to acquire. But the reality is some people feel they can start (in this business) from scratch and some people feel the value is in the intellectual property itself. I happen to be one of the people that starts things from scratch so there are certain limits to what that value is.”<br /><br />Gleason also agreed that he “would have to do a lot of repair to the company's reputation in the marketplace and that's an unfortunate thing.” <br /><br />Regarding Marmot's new connection to Dana Design, Gleason said that although Marmot's notion of “taking a company's DNA is kind of a slippery thing,” he praised Marmot as “a great company.” Ironically, before Dana Designs was launched, Gleason and his design partner, Renee Sippel-Baker, had designed packs for Marmot “talking a short period and twenty some years ago.”<br /><br />Gleason says no one was the blame for the loss of Dana Designs prestige in the marketplace.<br /><br />“What happens is the same thing that virtually every other company in the business has gone through and as for myself, we saw what the costs would be relatively early and I decided to leave,” said Gleason. <br /><br />After selling the business to K2 in 1995, Gleason and design partner, Renee Sippel-Baker left in 1999. Once a five-year non-compete agreement expired in 2000, they started Mystery Ranch Ltd., a backback company based in Bozeman, MO. Described by one outdoor writer as “the Humvee of packs,” the packs are known for their durability, capacity to carry heavy loads, and its high prices. The G-7000 - weight, 8lbs; volume: 7400 cu in - retails for $519. Mystrey Ranch is sold a few select outdoor specialty shops, as well as at Mystrey Ranch's store in Bozeman and its e-commerce site, www.mysteryranch.com.<br /><br />“Mystery Ranch has been very, very interesting, especially in identifying the current group of customers,” said Gleason. <br /><br /> Confluence Holdings To Shutter Trinity, NC Plant <br /><br />Kayak maker Confluence Holdings Corp. said it plans to close its Trinity, NC, facility on Aug. 19 as it consolidates all operations, sales, marketing and finance operations into its Easley, S.C., facility. The Trinity facility has 120 employees. <br /><br />Employees in Trinity will be allowed to apply for the positions in Easley, S.C. the company said. Confluence will consolidate its operations, sales, marketing, finance and manufacturing into its Easley, S.C., facility and close the North Carolina plant around Aug. 19.<br /><br />In May, the company bought the water-sports division assets of WaterMark Paddlesports, a kayak manufacturer with headquarters in Beaverton, Ore., and offices in Easley. <br /><br />"After extensive review, which evaluated the total operations, it became apparent that consolidating into the Easley facility was the best option for the company to grow and capitalize on the acquisition," said Rich Feehan, Confluence's CEO, in a prepared statement.<br /><br />Confluence manufactures and distributes water sports equipment under the Mad River Canoe, Wilderness Systems, WindRider, Voyageur and Wave Sport brands.<br /><br /> Rossignol Posts FY Loss <br /><br />Rossignol S.A., which is being acquired by Quiksilver, reported a net loss of 22.8 million euros for its fiscal year ended for the year ended March 31. Operating profit fell to 9.5 million euros from 24.5 million euros. <br /><br />The French company blamed exchange rate fluctuations and, to a lesser extent, by the provisions for risks and for inventory write-downs as well as the downturn in the snowboard business.<br /><br />The net non-recurring loss took into account provisions for industrial restructuring of 11.4 million euros announced on March 22 of this year. <br /><br />Consolidated sales of 477.4 million euros, were virtually the same as the prior year. At constant exchange rates, sales would have risen by 2.4%. <br /><br />Rossignol said it continued a trend, which began several years ago, of better rebalancing the seasonality of its business. The golf business grew to 25.4% of sales while winter sports equipment and textiles were 66.9% and 7.6%, respectively. <br /><br />Besides it's company name, Rossignol's brands include Dynastar, Lange, Look, Kerma, Cleveland, Hammer and Rispot. <br /><br />In winter sports equipment, the Group reported a drop in sales of 4.1% at constant exchange rates and retained its position as world leader for the 2004/2005 season, with a market share estimated at 23%.<br /><br />In golf, sales increased by 25.8% at constant exchange rates, in a market that was virtually stable, thereby substantially increasing the Group’s market share.<br /><br />Textiles saw an increase in sales of 9.6% at constant exchange rates.<br /><br />Rossi's debt load increased from EUR 118.4 million to EUR 136.6 million.<br /><br />In view of the subpar results, Rossigno said no dividend will be paid in respect of the year ended March 31, 2005.<br /><br />Quiksilver plans to close teh Rossignol acquisition during July.<br /><br />Thule Acquires Leading Belgian RV Accessories Concern <br /><br />Thule announced the acquisition of the Belgian leading European manufacturer of accessories for Recreational Vehicles (RV), Omnistor Accessories NV. Omnistor, with annual sales of 34 m
