He tendered his resignation after a tumultuous two years at the post, where he worked to further a Trump Administration agenda that was frequently at odds with the priorities of conservationists and the outdoor industry.

As expected, the Amer board has formally greenlighted the €5.6 billion transaction, including the assumption of €950 million in Amer debt, as the Anta-led group prepares to issue a formal tender offer on Dec. 20 that will lead to the acquisition of at least 90% of the shares as a condition of the deal.

YETI claims that the custom sports jersey and apparel maker is infringing on its trademark, which it has registered for clothing as well as for coolers and drinkware.

Adjusted sales for sporting goods/hobby/book and music stores continued their 11-month decline, falling 9% to $6,525 million last month from $7,155 million last year, according to Commerce Dept. data.

Profits were up significantly in the third quarter, with all five sectors improving on 2017’s weak results and total ROS returned to more normal levels at 9.0% against 6.5% as total revenues increased 5%, lapping a 4% gain last year. Total sales were $45,379.0 million against $43,149.8 million last year and aggregate net income surged 45% to $4,101.2 million from $2,822.0 million.

The buyer is FanzzLids Holdings, a holding company controlled by PE firm Ames Watson Capital, which also operates 120-door licensed apparel retailer Fanzz. Licensing juggernaut Fanatics, which was rumored as a potential purchaser for Lids, will take an unspecified minority interest in FanzzLids as part of a commercial arrangement with the company.

While the Rest of World segment includes 30 stores in Malaysia in addition to the 50 Bob’s and Eastern Mountain Sports stores in the U.S., the segment shrank its H1 loss ended Oct. 28 to £7.0 million ($8.8 mm) from £23.0 million in the prior year as sales for the segment rose to £100.7 million ($126.6 mm) from £78.6 million, which was attributed largely to improved sales at the U.S. operation.

Cherokee Brands net income was $63,000 in the third quarter against a loss of $2,520,000 on 25% lower licensing revenues of $5,842,000 down from $7,796,000 caused by the transition of the Tony Hawk, Cherokee, and the Liz Lange brands to a wholesale licensing model.

The North Carolina bankruptcy court approved the GOB sales on all the Performance Bicycle stores and set a Jan. 11 deadline for bidders to submit their bids with a final auction scheduled for Jan. 15.

Peter Ruppe is VP of footwear just for the Columbia brand. Mark Nenow remains as head of Sorel.