ROSEMONT, Ill. — August 26, 2016 — Riddell officially began construction on a new Kollege Town Sports facility and held a groundbreaking ceremony yesterday at the site in Sun Prairie, Wis. The special event featured Riddell and Kollege Town senior leaders and employees, as well as customers, development partners and public officials. The Sun Prairie facility will support all aspects of Kollege Town’s apparel business, while also housing their “fanaKTive” graphics-based product line. A division of Riddell since October of 2015, Kollege Town manages Riddell’s growing apparel category.

The joint Kollege Town and Riddell team, in conjunction with its development partners, initiated the exploration process of identifying a location for a new facility at the beginning of 2016. While the search covered the greater Madison area, Sun Prairie was selected given the ties to the local community, room for future expansion beyond the current footprint, and other logistical considerations. The facility project received vital support from many public entities including the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC), City of Sun Prairie, Dane County, and the Sun Prairie Area School District.

While the Sun Prairie project officially started this year, the plan for a new, state-of-the-art facility is many years in the making and was made possible through Riddell’s investment in our business,” said Tom Handlen, President of Kollege Town Sports. “It is very rewarding to know we will be providing our longstanding team at Kollege Town with a beautiful new facility to work from each day, which will help us continue to deliver the exceptional products and service our customers have come to expect.”

The Sun Prairie facility will span 102,125 square feet and will be located on over 13 acres adjacent to a developed business park. It will be responsible for sales, operations, production and warehousing for the apparel line and will host creative support and production for the wide range of fanaKTive products. Kollege Town will transition the activities of its current location in Windsor, Wisconsin to Sun Prairie beginning in the Spring of 2017.

“We have successfully leveraged Kollege Town’s significant expertise in the apparel industry to expand our capabilities and product offering since the acquisition last year,” said Dan Arment, President and Chief Executive Officer of Riddell and BRG Sports. “With the help of Kollege Town, we have strengthened our customer relationships and become better positioned to compete in the marketplace. The Sun Prairie facility will help us maintain this momentum and will be a welcomed addition to our operational footprint.”

The company’s key partners on the project include Avison Young (real estate consultant and construction manager), Incentis Group (public incentives consultant), Scannell Properties (developer), Heitman Architects (architect), and Wisconsin-based Sullivan designBUILD (design build general contractor) and Quam Engineering (civil engineer).

Posted August 26, 2016

Source: Kollege Town Sports, a division of Riddell

LONDON — August 26, 2016 — Amery Capital announces the sale of Long Tall Sally (LTS) to TriStyle Mode GmbH (TriStyle), backed by Equistone Partners Europe (Equistone), one of Europe’s leading mid-market private equity investors.

TriStyle, the German direct fashion retailer operating brands Peter Hahn and Madeleine across Europe, has acquired the Amery Capital backed tall women’s specialist, Long Tall Sally, in a deal valued at c. £30 million.

TriStyle was itself acquired by Equistone last year, and the business has been actively looking for other synergistic opportunities that can benefit from TriStyle’s strong operating, sourcing and financial stability, strength and momentum.

Long Tall Sally will continue to be operated independently from its east London offices with the existing management team led by Andrew Shapin.

Andrew Shapin, CEO, Long Tall Sally commented, “The tall women of the world have a strong desire to purchase well made, up-to-date fashion, and we are proud and passionate about working to provide them real choices. Our team, with the backing of Amery Capital, has transformed LTS from a £10 million UK retailer to an international, fast growing, profitable, digitally led £50 million (€60m, $68m) sales p.a. omni-channel business, with c.70% of sales online.  We are very excited about the opportunity to continue to accelerate our growth around the world with the backing of one of Europe’s leading direct to consumer fashion businesses.”

“We are delighted that Michael and Maurice Bennett will deservedly enjoy yet another successful return on the inspiration, wisdom, and laughs they have invested in Long Tall Sally over the past 10 years,” said Maurice Helfgott, Chairman of Amery Capital and Long Tall Sally.  “They join me in wholeheartedly thanking Andrew Shapin and our experienced teams and suppliers across the world for making Long Tall Sally such a success. I am very pleased to remain with the business as Chairman, and to reinvest with Andrew in TriStyle alongside such accomplished professional investors Equistone Partners Europe.”

Michael Bork Partner of Equistone and Head of the Advisory Board of TriStyle said, “I think Long Tall Sally, Andrew, Maurice and the team are wonderful and am excited and confident about their future together with TriStyle. We are grateful about the opportunity to work together in the future for the sake of our customers. As promised, we will add interesting businesses to the TriStyle Group to grow the business organically and by external acquisitions.  But, it’s not all just about growth.  The creativity, professionalism, understanding of customers, markets and product of both teams is outstanding and will result in a success story.”

“At TriStyle we are delighted to welcome Long Tall Sally to our group,” said Niels Degen, member of the TriStyle management team. “Together with Long Tall Sally and its fabulous management team, we will continue to strengthen our position as a leading women’s omni-channel fashion retailer. We will work together closely for continuous growth of the TriStyle companies Long Tall Sally, Peter Hahn and Madeleine.”

Posted August 26, 2016

Source: Long Tall Sally

CAPE TOWN, South Africa — August 25, 2016 — Leatt Corp. — a global developer, marketer and distributor of personal protective equipment for all forms of sports, and whose products include the flagship Leatt-Brace® — announced today the introduction of its new 2017 Bicycling Range, expanding its existing product portfolio of protection gear, backpacks and gloves to include all-new helmets and, for the first time, a line of cycling apparel designed for a wider group of mountain bike riders.

“The new bicycling products represent the latest in Leatt’s strategic initiative to expand its product catalogue into larger consumer markets and new categories, while maintaining its reputation for technologically driven innovative design,” noted Sean Macdonald, CEO, Leatt Corp.

“Leatt is addressing a new group of consumers,” Macdonald said, ”We have made the transition in bicycling products, from the Gravity-MTB niche to a wider all-mountain target group, while sticking to our roots.  We continue to offer highly functional gear with lab-proven safety features and technical innovation, but to a much larger, more global market and consumer base.”

“We are building on our areas of strength, in particular on our helmet lines, which have been well received in the marketplace,” Macdonald added. “We believe that our ground-breaking 360° Turbine Technology incorporated in the 2017 Bicycling Helmet Range surpasses anything else on the market in terms of advanced design, comfort and protection.”

Two models of the DBX 3.0 helmet are available, an All-Mountain half shell and an Enduro version with a removable chin bar that allows riders to easily go from uphill to downhill riding in two clicks.  The new 2017 DBX Enduro and All-Mountain helmets incorporate ground-breaking 360° Turbine Technology set inside the helmet and is made of 3D molded Armourgel® which stiffens on impact. The turbines deform to absorb both vertical and rotational impact forces during a fall.  In Leatt Lab trials this technology reduces up to 30% of head impact at concussion level and up to 40% of rotational acceleration to the head and brain. The helmets are further equipped with 18 ventilation vents, a magnetic Fidlock® buckle, easy custom fitting with the turn of a dial, and an adjustable breakaway visor.

Leatt’s 2017 technical apparel line features various styles, including four styles of jerseys, three styles of shorts and two styles of jackets covering a wide range of price points. The 5.0 All Mountain Jersey range includes features such as tape-bonded seams for maximum comfort, quick dry Miharo material, a neck collar designed for use with and without a neck brace, a silicone lined jersey designed to grip the wearer’s shorts and zipper pockets with microfiber goggle wiper.

Leatt shorts have a strong 3D pre-curved fit, cycling specific seamless crotch, and are also available in waterproof hard-shell versions.  The new hard- and soft-shell jackets utilize tech-fabrics developed by Leatt, all constructed to be used with and without a neck brace.

The existing gloves and backpack collection has also been expanded for 2017. Overall four glove styles offer different levels of protection, utilizing over-injected Armourgel® panels. Unique to all of them is a Nanogrip® palm made of fibers that are 7,500 thinner than human hair. Nanogrip® is very breathable and robust like a kevlar-blend and eliminates the need for rubber prints, as it grips well, even when soaking wet.

An all-new Hydration Cargo 3.0 DBX backpack offers ten liters of storage room, an additional three liters’ bladder, a CE Level 2 back protector, and Leatt’s unique chest harness system for a solid fit.

Posted August 26, 2016

Source: Leatt Corp.

NEW YORK CITY — August 18, 2016 — Saks Fifth Avenue OFF 5TH and Cotton Incorporated are excited to announce an end-of-summer denim drive in partnership for the Blue Jeans Go Green™ denim recycling program.  Customers are invited to bring pairs of old jeans to their local Saks Fifth Avenue OFF 5TH store for recycling  and, in return, receive $10.00 off a new pair of jeans, which can be redeemed on men’s and women’s jeans through September 25. The denim collected will be recycled into UltraTouch™ Denim Insulation as part of the Blue Jeans Go Green™ program. The drive will kick off on Wednesday, August 17 and runs through September 5 at all 101 stores across the U.S.

“We are thrilled to partner with Saks Fifth Avenue OFF 5TH for its first ever denim drive in support of the Blue Jeans Go Green™ program,” said Andrea Samber, Co-Director of Strategic Alliances at Cotton Incorporated. “We are very excited to introduce the program to new customers and loyal denim fans.”

“Together with our customers, Saks Fifth Avenue OFF 5TH is proud to be part of such a worthwhile campaign.  This partnership was a natural fit for us, allowing us to give back to the community and at the same time, deliver a service to our customers that rewards them as well.  It really is a win-win,”  stated Jonathan Greller, President, Saks OFF 5TH and Gilt.

Cotton Incorporated began the denim recycling program in 2006 to help benefit local communities across the United States. Over one million pieces of denim have been collected to date, and the insulation has been distributed to organizations such as Habitat for Humanity to help communities in need. Approximately 250,000 square feet of insulation are distributed each year and the Blue Jeans Go Green™ program has diverted over 600 tons of waste from landfills since its inception.

Posted August 25, 2016

Source: Cotton Incorporated