Archive for the ‘SG Industry News’ Category
Outdoor Retailer Moves to Larger Location
April 7th, 2013 by sourcedPETERBOROUGH, N.H., April 2, 2013 — /PRNewswire/ — Eastern Mountain Sports, one of the nation’s largest outdoor retailers, will host a grand opening of its new store in Nashua, NH on April 12-14. Located next to Bob’s Discount Furniture at 281 Daniel Webster Highway, the 22,204 square foot space is more than twice the size of the company’s previous location across the street.
Read more here: HeraldOnline.com
Play It Again Sports Opens 2nd Store in McKinney Texas
March 24th, 2013 by sourcedFor store owner Jason Heisser, his son’s football and basketball coach in his spare time, it was more an official stamp on a business he’s been in for nearly a decade.
The new sports store is part of the brand’s expansion that looks to add more than 40 locations around Texas. In the last year, Winmark opened more than 50 new stores and now has 300 stores in 48 states and Canada, according to a release.
The store is located at 1434 N. Central Expressway, Suite 109 in McKinney, TX. Their phone number is 469-424-1715.
Read the rest of the article at Star Local News.
Golfsmith Opens New Stores in North Carolina
March 17th, 2013 by Cale Loken
Golfsmith is now North Carolina’s largest golf retailer with the addition of stores in Charlotte and Greensboro. The new experiential Charlotte and Greensboro stores each have four high-tech, golf simulators where customers can experience the latest equipment right in the store. The new stores also feature GolfTEC, a state-of-the-art in-store improvement center, with PGA teaching professionals and certified coaches to help golfers improve their game.
The Texas-based golf retailer will continue its expansion in 2013 with eight other new stores planned throughout the US.
The new Charlotte store is located at 9571 South Boulevard in Carolina Pavilion. While the Greensboro store is on 4217 Wendover Avenue at The Shoppes at Wendover Village.
Nike Vapor Laser Talon Football Cleat: Wave of the Future?
March 13th, 2013 by Dave HoldenIn a history-making debut, Nike revealed the Nike Vapor Laser Talon Football Cleat, which incorporates an avant-garde 3D printed plate, designed to attain speedy acceleration. The laser talon 3D plate weighs a slight 5.6 ounces, allowing athletes freedom to achieve optimal traction on the field.
Other athletic shoe manufacturers, such as Adidas, Converse and Reebok have previously used 3D printers for designing footwear prototypes. What makes the Nike Vapor Talon revolutionary is the utilization of 3D printing during the manufacturing process. Without a doubt, Nike’s switch to additive-enhanced technology will raise the bar for competitors.
Not only is the 3D printed plate in the new laser talon featherweight, it contains explicit geometry to aid football players in reducing 40 yard sprint time; making it easier to sustain their drive stance during “Zero Step.” The Zero Step is a pivotal point that determines how quickly the athlete can gather speed during the first significant10 yards of the 40.
In Nike’s press release, dated February 26, 2013, Michael Johnson, gold-medal sprinter says about Zero Step: “…mastering the Zero Step can mean the difference between a defensive lineman sacking the quarterback or getting blocked.”
The Nike Vapor Talon is the first cleat constructed using Selective Laser Sintering technology (SLS). This cutting-edge technology is accomplished with lasers, which fuse small elements of materials to form a 3-D shape. With materials exclusively owned by Nike, designers developed a working model of the first-of-its-kind cleat plate and traction system.
Nike Footwear Innovation Director, Shane Kohatsu commented on the Nike blog, ” SLS technology has revolutionized the way we design cleat plates – even beyond football – and gives Nike the capability to create solutions that were not possible within the constraints of traditional manufacturing processes.”
The Nike Vapor Talon black and green plate features an exclusive design that permits the plate to be both practical and resilient. The astounding difference is that the 3D plate is super light in comparison with conventional plates.
At the present, two elements of the total process remain unknown. Which 3D printer is Nike utilizing for this innovative technology? What kind of material are they using?
Speculators would have it a 3D systems printer. As for the kind of material(s), the Nike website simply eludes to a “proprietary” material.
Will the new Nike Vapor Talon challenge ancient beliefs that there is nothing new under the sun? No doubt Nike would say so!
Nike Vapor Laser Talon Football Cleats
FIFA Commits to World Cup Goal Line Technology
March 12th, 2013 by Cale LokenA milestone decision to use goal line technology at the World Cup in Brazil was prompted by recent goal-line controversies. Sepp Blatter, FIFA president rescinded his long-standing resistance toward goal technology after a blatant human error disallowed Frank Lampard a clear goal against Germany in the 2010 tournament.
Disallowed goals have blemished soccer for decades. The goal is awarded only in the event the entire ball crosses the goal line. As far back as 1966, the game where England was awarded the coveted World Cup title, via a goal in overtime, is still being majorly disputed.
Soccer has long been a holdout of advanced goal technology systems that help to determine if the ball crosses the goal line. In the US, Major League Baseball, the NFL and NBA, as well as the NHL use goal line technology.
For ages, in the United States, the NFL has turned to the instant replay as the final authority for debatable calls by referees. The NBA draws on goal line technology in determining whether or not a basket beat the buzzer. Tennis relies on an automated line-calling system developed by Hawk-Eye.
FIFA now committed to introducing goal line technology at the 2013 Confederations Cup and if successful, in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, solicited tenders from various goal line technology companies. The first accepted tender was Hawk-Eye System, presently owned by Sony Corp. Cricket has embraced their system for a decade. Hawk-Eye has been utilized foremost in tennis tournaments.
To accommodate soccer, Hawk-Eye will provide six cameras at each goal to record the ball’s location. Sophisticated software surveys the flight of the ball. An encrypted radio signal will be received by the referee via a special wristwatch, if the entire ball crosses the goal line. All this transpires in less than a second!
Next selected bid was from GoalRef Technology who imbues magnetic sensors in each goalpost, along with chips implanted in the ball that emanate electronic signals. Of the two, GoalRef is the least expensive system to install.
CAIROS Technologies AG, is the 3rd FIFA licensed goal technology provider. The GoalRef and CAIROS technology are similar.