Looks like Vans is doing a lot to garner more market share. I wonder how much this is costing them.
SANTA FE SPRINGS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 7, 1998--Vans, Inc., (Nasdaq:
VANS) today announced it has signed a lease to open the largest, most technically advanced
skate park in the country by the end of the year, in Orange, California.
"We see this as a very exciting extension of our retail operations that should be very positive for
both the VANS brand and our bottom line,"(1) stated Gary H. Schoenfeld, President and Chief
Executive Officer. "With the input of more than a dozen of our top professional skaters, this has
evolved into a truly unique facility."
The park is planned as a 46,000 square-foot facility with 34 foot ceilings and 6,000 square-feet
of outdoor space. It will offer a top-of-the-line 80 foot vert ramp, an extensive 20,000 square
foot street course for the beginner to the professional, two cement skate pools built in-ground,
and a retail store for the skate enthusiast. Additionally, the park will offer a "pee wee" area that
will include the largest, most challenging ramps and street courses for young kids. All will be
visible from the 5,000 square foot mezzanine being built for viewing. This will also allow the park
to be the site for many special skateboarding events of all sizes including the Vans/Hard Rock
Cafe World Championships of Skateboarding.
The skate park will be located at the new 800,000 square-foot open-air entertainment and retail
center in Orange, California, to be known as "The Block", also scheduled to open at the end of
the year. The Block will be Orange County's largest outdoor entertainment and retail center, and
will offer high-energy entertainment and dining as well as family oriented community events and
will include a 30-screen movie complex, surf shops, GameWorks(R), Dave and Busters(R), in
addition to about 200 other unique retailers and restaurants.
The retail center directors will formally announce these plans this afternoon at a "Block Party", to
be held at the location site, One City Blvd., in Orange. Vans will join in on the festivities by
providing a vert ramp in the parking lot for athlete demos.
Neal R. Lyons, Vans' senior vice president of retail stated, "We are thrilled to open our first-ever
skate park in the city of Orange where Vans began. This is where our roots are and this gives us
a chance to give back to the community." Vans' plans also include making the park a safe, family
environment where parents will feel comfortable watching their children participate in the sport of
skateboarding. Vans says further details are being discussed and additional information will be
released at a later date. Construction is now underway and Vans will host a grand opening
celebration in late November.
Vans, Inc. is a branded manufacturer, wholesaler and retailer of active-casual footwear, clothing
and accessories and performance footwear for enthusiast sports. Products are sold through a
network of independent and national retailers, internationally through distributors for 80 countries
and Company subsidiaries in the United Kingdom, Mexico, Brazil and Argentina, and through 95
Company-owned stores and factory outlets.
(1) This sentence contains a forward-looking statement about sales and earnings. Actual sales
and earnings results for the Company could vary and may be impacted by a number of important
factors, including but not limited to: (i) the occurrence of downward trends in the U.S. economy,
foreign economies and the footwear industry, or the occurrence of events that adversely affect the
world economy in general; (ii) changes in the fashion preferences of the Company's target
customers and the Company's ability to anticipate and respond to such changes; (iii) increasing
competition in all lines of the Company's business from both large, well-established companies
with significant financial resources and brand recognition, and smaller niche competitors who
market exclusively to the Company's target customers; (iv) the cancellation of orders which could
alter bookings numbers; and (v) the fluctuation of foreign currencies in relation to the U.S. dollar.
These factors, and others, are discussed more extensively in the Company's Annual Report on
Form 10-K for the year ended May 31, 1997, which is filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission. |
