Skinners Footwear, a minimalist, protective footwear brand available throughout Europe, is entering the North American market this year. The Czechia-based brand introduced its Compression 2.0 and Walker series at the Outdoor Retail show this week. Skinners has already sold more than 700,000 pairs of its footwear designed for sports and travel, without the bulk and weight of traditional athletic shoes, in over 100 countries.

The NPD Group announced the winners of its third annual Outdoor Sports Retail Performance Awards this week, including On in the footwear category. The awards acknowledge the fastest-growing brands in the U.S. outdoor and snow specialty retail markets based on in-store and e-commerce sales revenue, according to NPD Retail Tracking Service data. The 2022 winners of the NPD U.S. Outdoor Sports Retail Performance Awards are: On, footwear; Thule, accessories; Picture Organic, apparel; Rumpl, camping; Stanley, equipment accessories; K2, snow sports equipment; Liquidlogic, water sports.

Sports & Fitness Industry Association (SFIA) re-elected Jonathan Ram, CEO of Clarks, Inc. as chairman of its board for 2023. The trade group is also welcoming new board members, Adam Franklin, president of Franklin Sports, and Richard Sullivan, president, and CEO of Asics North America to three-year terms. Ray Hilvert, VP for New Balance Sports, is among six re-elected board members. Meanwhile, existing SFIA board members Jennifer Bendall, VP of North America Government and Public Affairs for Nike; Dan Sheridan, president and CEO of Brooks Running; and Kurt Tanden, associate general counsel and senior director of corporate affairs for adidas are among 11 continuing members of the trade organization’s board.

Emerald Holding, Inc., owner of Outdoor Retailer, announced this week that it has acquired Lodestone Events, producers of the Overland Expo series of vehicle-based, adventure travel consumer shows. All Lodestone employees will join the Emerald team, with Lodestone founders Lindsay Hubley and Jessica Kirchner joining Emerald’s management team and continuing to lead the Overland Expo series. The Lodestone team will also oversee OR’s Outdoor Adventure X show, a consumer lifestyle event set to take place the weekend preceding Outdoor Retailer’s business-to-business (B2B) summer show in Salt Lake City.

Merrell has named Jessica Adler as the brand's Vice President of US Sales. She will be responsible for the evolution of Merrell's US wholesale strategy and advancing the brand's roadmap for future growth. Adler will report directly to Merrell's Global Brand President, Chris Hufnagel, and join the brand's senior leadership team. Prior to joining Merrell, Adler spent the past 10 years in sales leadership roles with lifestyle brands including Levi Strauss & Company, Psycho Bunny and Diesel USA.