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Craft USA Making Bold Moves as a Rising Running Brand
By: Brian Metzler
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Although it flew a bit under the radar when it was launched two weeks ago on Boston Marathon Monday, Craft USA launched an audacious new campaign that has been indicative of its emergence as an authentic running brand.
The company’s Universal Health Wear campaign is meant to be a somewhat serious, somewhat irreverent commentary on the fact that the U.S. is one of the few developed countries without universal health care. The idea is simple: The subsidiary of the Swedish-owned brand is indefinitely offering 10.7 percent off its utilitarian Essence line of fitness clothing to U.S. customers as a nod to the fact that Swedish residents pay the same percentage of their paychecks to receive 100 percent health care coverage. (Watch this video for details.)
“I don’t know someone else in our industry or anywhere else that has taken up this cause – probably because it’s such a hot potato,” says Craft North American CEO Erik Schenker. “All you hear in the U.S. is that it will be kajillions of dollars and it will never be able to work. And we’re basically saying, it can work.”
Whether or not other brands join the cause as we’ve seen with the environmental and DEI movements, or if Craft remains an outlier is yet to be seen. But it’s with the same bold gumption that Craft USA is gaining traction behind its new line of running shoes. In 2021, it became the footwear partner of the Rock ‘n’ Roll Running Series, began developing footwear for the Spartan Race Series, started an elite running team and unveiled some of the hottest new shoes of the year.
Story Continues
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Lululemon shares are up 23% YTD and CEO Clavin McDonald believes that part of the company’s growth is due to its acquisition of Mirror last year. Many observers speculated that Lululemon overpaid when it spent $500,000,000 for a two-year-old start-up founded by a former ballet dancer. At the time, McDonald said: “This isn’t just about getting guests to buy apparel,” Calvin McDonald, chief executive of Lululemon, said in an interview. “This is about strengthening our community and our loyalty and our relationship with our guests and memberships, and it’s going to be its own revenue stream model, which we’re excited about.” A funny thing happened on the way to community nirvana. “The more that they engage and sweat with us, the more they spend,” McDonald told a financial reporter this week.
Planet Fitness will announce Q3 earnings next Thursday, November 4, before the market opens. The stock is up more than 30% over the past year as the company survived the closure of many of its locations during the pandemic.
Deckers, makers of outdoor brands like Teva and Hoka, announces its earnings today after the close.
Foot Locker shares are down slightly since announcing the launch of its own casual apparel line including hoodies and sweats last week.
Garmin stock dropped about 9% yesterday, despite announcing strong revenue growth in most of its active lifestyle segments. Garmin Q3 revenue grew 7% to $1.15 billion compared to last year’s quarterly results, but the company cautioned analysts that it would likely miss its earnins targets for Q4.
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Here’s your roundup of new private company deals within the health and wellness sector over the past few weeks.
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IRONMAN Group acquired virtual indoor cycling app FulGaz. The move signifies IRONMAN’s continued expansion from live, in-person events to virtual races and digital experiences. FulGaz has a deep library of more than 1,500 routes available to subscribers.
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Allbirds expects to raise approximately $270,000,000 in its upcoming IPO that will value the company at more than $2 billion. Investors are looking past the fact that Allbirds lost more than $15,000,000 in the quarter ended September 30, 2021, and are more focused on the 30% growth that produced more than $60,000,000 in revenue in Q3.
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PEAR Sports acquired Aaptiv, one of the most popular online workout apps with more than 12,000,000 app downloads since inception. PEAR will use Aaptiv to enhance its core business of online coaching. The price tag was not announced, but Aaptiv had raised more than $50,000,000 from its venture investors.
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Dance Church raised $4,700,000 in a round led by MaC Ventures. The company produces digital fitness engagements based on dancing.
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Power training hardware company Proteus Motion announced that professional golfer Bryson DeChambeau and several other seed investors participated in a $3,000,000 capital round. The investment values the company at $40,000,000. Proteus Motion uses magnetic 3D resistance rather than traditional weights.
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In a similar vein, LeBron James announced an investment in Tonal, the at-home fitness company offering both physical equipment and digital workouts. Prior to LeBron’s investment, Tonal was already valued at $1.6 billion. LeBron plans to heavily promote the company, leveraging his credibility as an aging athlete who has maintained top fitness levels.
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Vuori, the white-hot athleisure apparel brand, just raised $400,000,000 from SoftBank to continue its dramatic growth. The investment values Vuori at $4 billion. In addition to its strong DTC business, Vuori plans to open more than 100 retail locations over the next five years.
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Mindbody acquired ClassPass, the subscription service that gives its members access to a broad range of boutique fitness classes for one monthly rate. While ClassPass has focused on consumer services, Mindbody is more of a B2B model, helping gym owners better manage their businesses, for example. As part of the deal, Mindbody raised an additional $500,000,000 in a round led by Sixth Street, a large private equity firm with offices around the world. The charismatic founder of ClassPass, Payal Kadakia, will leave the company following the deal closing.
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Weight: Appx. 10.5oz (Men’s)
Appx. 9.3oz (Women’s)
Stack: 33mm/29mm
Drop: 4 mm
Category: Max Cushion/Carbon Plate
($200)
What’s New:
- Carbon plated midsole
- Sharptail heel for fast transitions
- A tad lighter than previous models
What You’ll Love:
- Top of class midsole comfort
- Carbon racer capabilities
- Maintains ability to pack in long miles
A few months back we took a look at HOKA's twist on a classic, the Bondi X. They took one of their most popular models and tossed a carbon plate in the midsole for fans looking to tackle distance with some pace. Early testers we read up on absolutely loved the shoes versatility when training. Taking it easy for a 10+ miler, or hitting a six minute mile this shoe was said to do it all with relative ease and style. Now being mass released some of the lesser known review sites were able to get their hands on some pair and some feet into soles. Our friends at HOKA graciously sent us a pair to see what the hype was all about and after a few runs were ready to give our thoughts.
First things first HOKA sticks the landing once again when it comes to crafting a shoe with top of the line materials, head turning colors, and an easy on the eyes silhouette and shape. Fit was pretty true to size and is consistent with other HOKA models we have been sent in the past. This being our debut pair of the Bondi we can only compare our experience with the Clifton, Rincon and other brand's highly cushioned models. Frankly, the shoe is such an original concept it would be hard to compare to anything really.
This is definitely a highly cushioned shoe first. The Rincon and Clifton were both pretty soft but the Bondi X is considerably more plush. A thing we loved about these shoes that makes it's way to Bondi is the smooth transitions due to a great shoe shape and stellar grippy outsole. We found ourselves not needing to consciously think about making a clean heel to toe strike, it just naturally happens.
Once you get going it's not hard to notice the burst you get from the carbon plate too. Whether conserving energy on a longer run or getting the most out of a speed workout, the carbon plate helped us get it done. It might not feel like you're being shot out of a rocket like other carbon plated models, but nothing has the combination of the plate and cushion.
In all, we it's hard to find anything we didn't love about this shoe. The look, the feel, the performance all pass with flying colors. I mean really max cushion plus speed is sort of what everyone looks for in a shoe right?
The Bondi X is available now on their site and at your local speciality run shop.
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VP of Marketing
Impossible Foods
 Redwood City, CA
Develop multi-channel strategy to communicate product developments and benefits with consumers. Research and pinpoint customer behaviors and who potential users might be.
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Director of Digital Media
Peloton
New York, NY
Manage a multi million dollar budget across a variety of digital channels driving campaign planning, strategy & owning both day to day team as well agency management.
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VP, Social Media
WHOOP
Boston, MA
Manage and build out WHOOP social media accounts. Create branded viral content, collaborating with key influencers & activating at events.
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Social Media Director
Backbone Media
Carbondale, CO
Be first responsible for all things dealing with social media. Teach clients new and emerging social strategies to help them maximize their brand's reach.
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1Estimated salary based on comparable positions and reported salaries in the industry.
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Update on In-Person Marathon Expos and Trade Shows
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Cool Down: Top stories from the past week that you shouldn't miss.
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