Archives: Press Releases

April 22, 2025 – Bellevue, WA – This Earth Day, Ombraz Sunglasses, the Armless Sunglass vanguard, will pass a major milestone. In its mission to deliver a net positive impact for the planet, Ombraz, along with its tree planting partner, Accelerated Restoration Collaborative (ARC), will plant its two-millionth tree. Since launching on Indiegogo in 2018, the brand promised to plant 20 mangrove trees per pair of Ombraz sold. Over the course of one year, two million mangrove trees sequester up to 54 million pounds of carbon from the atmosphere, the equivalent of 44,000 flights from LA-NYC.

Through this brand partnership, ARC works directly with local communities in Madagascar, empowering individuals with sustainable livelihood options through mangrove restoration efforts. The Aranta – Sotema Mangrove Restoration Project near Mahajanga City covers 942 hectares of the Betsiboka Estuary. ARC, together with Red Island Restoration, employs locals to restore the estuary, boosting sustainable fisheries and community livelihoods while enhancing biodiversity through revived aquatic spawning grounds and wildlife habitats. The project also supports the Tahiriniala Nature Center, aiding endangered species and educating students and residents.

“Through our enduring partnership in the Aranta-Sotema Mangrove Restoration Project, Ombraz exemplifies how visionary businesses can catalyze profound environmental and social changes. Together, we are demonstrating that strategic restoration efforts can be a cornerstone for preserving biodiversity, fostering economic resilience, and building a more sustainable future for generations to come,” says Agnes Luceño-Fitch, of ARC.

Recently, Ombraz hired Greenticket to perform a third-party analysis of the brand’s carbon footprint and sustainable practices. The audit uncovered a staggering statistic. Through the tree planting efforts, 1713x more carbon is sequestered from the atmosphere than is required to produce and deliver a pair of Ombraz to a customer’s doorstep, making Ombraz the most carbon-negative product in the world.

From the beginning, Ombraz Co-Founders Jensen Brehm and Nikolai Paloni have focused on generating an aggressive net positive impact. “Since starting, we’ve had no interest in creating something that we didn’t feel had a substantial net-benefit environmental impact through our business operations.” says Brehm. “Hitting these tree planting milestones represents our sincere commitment to generating the most carbon-negative product in the world.” adds Paloni.

To learn more about Ombraz, its brand partnership with ARC, and its sustainability efforts, visit Ombraz.com or contact stacy@darbycommunications.com.

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About Ombraz Sunglasses

Ombraz Sunglasses is pioneering a fundamental shift in eyewear design. Since launching the Ombraz Classic in 2018, Ombraz’ armless sunglasses have solved what frustrates people about sunglasses. Whether on the river, trail, slope, climbing wall, or single track, Ombraz can be worn comfortably and securely all day. With no arms to break and a cord to keep them in place. Additionally, with the help of their partners, ARC Restoration, Ombraz plants 20 mangrove trees for every pair of sunglasses sold. Ombraz is a certified BCorp and member of 1% For The Planet.

About ARC

ARC is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization registered in the State of Oregon, USA dedicated to scalable solutions for sociological and environmental challenges, and empowering local communities by creating economic opportunities through forest stewardship, driving effective restoration. Currently, ARC has sites across 3 project nations in Brazil, Nepal, and Madagascar. ARC’s leadership team has over 50 years of combined field experience in forest restoration systems resulting in over 1 billion trees planted across the planet.

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (April 22, 2025) — With six weeks until its twice-annual Connect retail buying show, Grassroots Outdoor Alliance, the national organization dedicated to the health and growth of specialty outdoor retail, is reporting a 6 percent uptick in individual buyers attending the show, amidst flat vendor and retail business attendance. The Spring Connect Show takes place June 9-12, 2025, in Reno, Nev.

Grassroots Outdoor Alliance also released details on a number of education sessions geared toward retailers the day prior to the show on Sunday, June 8, Those include sessions on how specialty retailers can compete more effectively with national retailers, insight into the go-to-market process around how and when brands create their seasonal collections, and the role that small and emerging brands can play in the specialty retail curation process. There are also site visit opportunities to Cascade Designs and Patagonia, both of which operate production and distribution centers in Reno, and alpinist Conrad Anker will give a talk on 40 years of transformation in the outdoor industry.

Retailer and vendor attendance will be flat with 148 retail businesses and 147 exhibitors, while total buyers in attendance will be up 5.9-percent to 391, compared to numbers at last Spring’s Connect Show.

In all, Connect will provide a forum for 10,874 appointments between retailers and brands, a 7.5-percent increase over last year, and 8,229 hours of meetings, a 2.2-percent decrease. The Grassroots Outdoor Alliance team has tracked buyer engagement statistics since they began pre-scheduling all appointments for retailers and brands in 2016.

“Retailers being able to write well-informed orders for subsequent seasons requires a dedicated chunk of time with their core vendors at the right time of year, and these numbers tell us that Connect is still providing that as its core value proposition,” said Gabe Maier, President of Grassroots. “Along with that, we have a great lineup of education sessions this spring aimed at helping retailers grow their knowledge base, stay up to date on trends, and deepen their connections with the Grassroots community.”

Grassroots Outdoor Alliance will host 104 outdoor brands at Discovery Marketplace, an event that takes place the afternoon of June 8, the day before the Connect Show. While the Connect show focuses on line showings supporting long-established brand-retailer relationships, Discovery Marketplace offers new and emerging brands the opportunity to show product highlights to specialty retailers. For retailers, it offers them a chance to discover new and exciting brands and products.

Along with Discovery Marketplace, the following sessions take place on Sunday, June 8, prior to the show:

• How specialty outdoor retailers can effectively compete with large national retailers — This session, led by former Moosejaw CEO Eoin Comerford, now of Outsided Consulting, will explore strategies to leverage strengths, mitigate disadvantages and carve out a thriving niche in the market when competing again large retailer like REI, Backcountry, and Dick’s.
• A look behind the scenes at how brands manage the go-to-market process — The goal of this session is providing retailers visibility into the key moments of creating a seasonal product collection, offering clarity on when feedback is most impactful, and highlighting the symbiotic relationship between vendors and retail partners when developing a seasonal launch. Led by two executives from Outdoor Research, Andy Burke, VP of Commercial Sales, and Schuyler Schuster, Supply Chain Director, this will be a presentation with dialog and Q&A.
• Why small brands can yield big wins — This panel explores how carrying emerging brands keeps a retail product selection fresh, attracts customers eager for unique finds, and sets a shop apart from big-box retailers. Featuring insights from a small brand CEO, a specialty shop owner, and a specialty shop buyer, the discussion will focus on how small brands foster innovation and create a discovery-driven shopping experience.
• A site visit to the Cascade Designs factory in Reno — A unique opportunity to see how products are manufactured in the U.S., this session will also highlight Cascade’s manufacturing process around air mattresses, stoves, water filter, snowshoes and storage products. It will also cover the 50-year history of Cascade’s brands and product categories, how the company manages service and repairs, and how it can help dealers around that process.
• A site visit to Patagonia’s site in Reno — Following a presentation from the Patagonia team, retailers will tour the distribution center to see how products are picked, packed and shipped. They will also visit Worn Wear Repairs, which is the largest apparel repair facility in North America. There will be time for Q&A.
• Four decades of adventure with Conrad Anker — During a morning breakfast session on Tuesday, June 11, legendary alpinist and The North Face Captain Emeritus Conrad Anker will offer a compelling journey through 40 years of transformation in the outdoor industry. Anker will reflect on how gear, values, and culture have evolved — and how the power of the outdoors remains constant.

About Grassroots Outdoor Alliance

Grassroots Outdoor Alliance is a retailer-owned network of 100 independently owned outdoor retailers and 67 vendor partners, working together for the health and growth of specialty outdoor retail. Through data collection and analysis, direct member support, specialty events and deep vendor partnerships, Grassroots Outdoor Alliance is creating both a vision and roadmap for the long-term success of independent specialty retail. Grassroots Outdoor Alliance is recognized as a catalyst for the success of its retailers and vendor partners; an advocate for specialty independent retail; a promoter of education and community within the specialty channel; and a key influencer of the national outdoor industry. Grassroots Outdoor Alliance also operates Connect, a twice-annual legacy show experience that spans four days, offering an efficient and structured format for retailers to conduct pre-season line showings and business conversations.

 

April 22, 2025 – Earth Day is a time to come together, appreciate the natural world, and take action to protect it. At HEAD, we’re marking the event by launching our inaugural Sustainability Report (2024/25). By looking back at our recent past to examine key achievements, we can look forward to our plans of increased transparency, innovation, and climate responsibility across all divisions of the company—from racquet sports and winter gear to water sports. This wide-reaching report highlights major achievements, ambitious targets, and breakthrough products all aimed at a more sustainable future.

Download HEAD Group’s 2024-25 Sustainability Report here.

We Have Big Plans

To put it technically, our goal is to reduce scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2030¹ or, to put it more simply, we aim to significantly lower the organization’s direct and energy-related emissions to help combat climate change.

This requires implementing new strategies. We are developing products we believe have an eco-friendlier design to reduce environmental impact and contribute to the circular economy, (a system that minimizes waste by reusing, recycling, and regenerating materials to keep resources in use, wherever possible, for as long as possible).

Introducing: BOOM RAW

In honor of Earth Day, HEAD Racquet Sports is launching the BOOM RAW, a performance-driven tennis racquet made with bio-circular carbon fibers² derived from recycled waste materials. The BOOM RAW delivers the same explosive power, fun feel and easy playability as the original BOOM series—now with a more environmentally friendly construction.

In line with HEAD’s commitment to sustainability, our primary racquet manufacturer in China will transition to sourcing more green energy³ for our racquet production, including the BOOM. alongside updates across tennis gear including:

• Updated PENN Ball Cans now made with 35% pre-consumer recycled PET
• New shorter, removable sleeves with reduced ink and lighter colors for improved recyclability
• New can and lid caps now feature an organic carbon-based additive from Midori-Bio Inc, which accelerates the biodegradation process to about 3-5 years in the case that the can ends up in a landfill

Discover More about BOOM RAW here.

More Sustainable Winter Sports Products

In our Winter Sports Division, we’ve developed ski boots and bindings along with a new range of helmets, goggles and accessories, all containing more sustainable materials. This year we also launched the RENEW ski constructed with a combination of renewable and recyclable materials. This is a unique project, groundbreaking in the winter sports industry, and we are proud of that. What’s more, customers can return the used skis within 5 years of purchase and, we will renew the wood core, fiberglass layer and tip protector, recycling everything else, giving the skis a second life. Renewal of the ski can reduce its CO2 emissions by up to 26%⁴.

Find out more about HEAD RENEW Skis here.

Sustainable Strides in Water Sports & Beyond

Zoggs, Mares, and SSI—HEAD’s Water Sports Divisions—continue to release products made with sustainable materials while slashing packaging waste. All our divisions are working on reducing packaging and introducing more environmentally friendly materials for packages and boxes. In terms of social responsibility, all our divisions are well positioned, with a good balance of diversity and inclusion, educational roles and raising awareness on the importance of protecting the environment. We are also working hard to get customers more involved in our sustainability efforts.

April 22 is a perfect day to get involved in sports, whether it is outside in the mountains, in the water or on a court. Wherever you enjoy your activity, we hope you’ll join us in taking a moment to appreciate this fragile little planet where we ski, snowboard, swim, dive, and play racquet sports. Happy Earth Day.

¹Currently the aim is to reduce scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions without off-setting through the purchase of carbon credits.

²Circularity based on the mass balance approach, in which raw materials with certain characteristics are mixed with other raw materials in the processing and distribution process, from raw materials through to finished products.

³According to the Chinese government´s information.

⁴According to Green Vision Solutions GmbH calculations.

About HEAD

HEAD is a leading global provider of premium, high-performance equipment and apparel for athletes and players, at all levels.

We have five divisions: Winter Sports, Racquet Sports, Water Sports, Sportswear and Licensing.

We sell products under the brands:

HEAD (alpine skis, ski bindings, ski boots, snowboard and protection products, tennis, racquetball, paddle, squash and pickleball racquets, tennis balls and tennis footwear, sportswear and swimming products)

PENN (tennis balls and racquetball balls)

TYROLIA (ski bindings)

MARES, SSI and rEvo (diving)

LiveAboard (diving holidays, dive tours)

ZOGGS (goggles, swimwear and equipment)

INDIGO (skis, ski helmets, ski accessories, snowboards and other ski gear)

Since our launch in 1950, we’ve achieved a reputation for cutting-edge design, engineering excellence and a passion for championing all sport, everywhere. World-class performance demands the very best equipment and that’s why, at HEAD, our purpose is to give athletes and players at every level, exactly what they need to win.

 

April 21, 2025 – Boulder, CO – Skratch Labs, the Boulder, CO-based leader in performance nutrition, proudly introduces Skratch Labs Racing, an elite team of eight athletes pushing toward the top podiums in their respective sports. Celebrating its 13th year, Skratch Labs continues its commitment to fueling and inspiring endurance athletes of all levels, solving their unique nutrition challenges to help them perform at their best. That same dedication to innovation and personal excellence now extends to Skratch Labs Racing, the brand’s first official elite athlete team, featuring Adam Peterman, Alexis Magner, Caroline Wreszin, Haley Batten, Heather Fischer, Reid Burrows, Tara Fraga, and Tara Warren.

“At Skratch Labs, we go where the help is needed,” states Dr. Allen Lim, co-founder of Skratch Labs. “That’s always been our north star. Whether it was supporting athletes behind the scenes at global competitions or one-on-one through our athlete care program, we’ve been there, mixing bottles, giving advice, offering whatever we had to give. Now, we have the internal team and resources to go even further. We’ve built a team of athletes who are chasing the edge of possibility—those who carry purpose in their stride, who nourish their bodies and their communities, and who share our obsession with getting better. Because in the end, performance is just one part of the story. The bigger impact comes from how athletes inspire others to show up, work hard, and pursue excellence.”

Skratch Labs Racing brings together a dynamic mix of talent across road, dirt, and trail. The well-rounded team, comprising four cyclists and four trail runners, aims to redefine what it means to be versatile, dedicated, and deeply connected to the work it takes to grow in sport.

From Haley Batten’s commanding wins at the 2025 Sea Otter Classic Gravel, 2025 Fuego XL, and  2024 Olympic Silver Medal in XC Mountain Biking to Adam Peterman’s win at the 2022 Western States 100, the team roots itself in proven excellence and steady athletic progression. On the bike, Alexis Magner and Caroline Wreszin join Haley, focused on USA Road Nationals and building toward future Olympic opportunities. Heather Fischer brings a wealth of experience to the criterium circuit and a full gravel calendar, adding sharp instincts, leadership, and a steady presence to the squad.

On the trails, Adam Peterman returns to Western States after a strong season opener, claiming the course record at Gorge Waterfalls 100k and securing a spot on the USATF Mountain Ultra Team for the long-course. He’s joined by Tara Fraga, an emerging force with grit and heart, after a decisive course record and win at Yakima Skyline 50k—Reid Burrows, who has his sights set on the iconic Leadville 100. With her depth of experience and calm tenacity, Tara Warren will anchor the team at UTMB Val d’Aran.

Skratch Labs invites the endurance community to follow these athletes’ journeys as they push their limits. Expect to see more from Skratch Labs Racing through social media, brand activations, and events in the months ahead. For more information on Skratch Labs, Skratch Labs Racing, the Skratch Cafe, and the latest product releases and innovations, please contact Tim Nooney at tim@darbycommunications.com.

 

About Skratch Labs:

Born in Boulder, CO, in 2012, Skratch Labs is a performance nutrition innovator who helps athletes be better. Founded by two cycling pros who spent years on the Pro Cycling Tour watching teammates consume bad-tasting sports nutrition products that caused digestion issues, they created a “secret drink mix” composed of real sugar, salt, and fruit powder mixed in a 5-gallon paint bucket for their team. More than a decade later, Skratch Labs’ approach is the same: help athletes perform better by solving their nutrition problems without causing new ones, using real food ingredients. You can learn more at Skratch Labs, follow on social, join Skratch Labs’ Strava Club, enroll in the affiliate program, or visit the Cafe and Flagship Store.

 

 

RALEIGH, N.C., April 17, 2025—Shibumi the brand behind the world’s most innovative, wind-powered beach shade is leveling up the art of lounging with its first ever beach chair. Designed for effortless comfort and portability, this marks a natural evolution for Shibumi, whose shades have been redefining beach days for years. The comfort-first design invites beachgoers to sit back, sink in and lounge harder.

Founded in 2016 by two brothers and their childhood friend, Shibumi’s signature teal and blue fabrics dominate North and South Carolina beaches. With plans to expand to coastlines internationally, the brand recently announced new colorways for its beach shade and now, a beach chair that brings innovative design, comfort, and durability to the world of beach gear.

“Our team set out to solve the biggest frustrations with traditional beach chairs—uncomfortable design, subpar materials, and difficult portability. With the Shibumi Chair, we’ve reimagined every detail to create a chair that’s not only more comfortable but also more durable than anything on the market. From the breathable DreamWave™ fabric to the marine-grade aluminum NapCurve™ frame, we designed this chair to last season after season while making every beach day more relaxing,” said Scott Barnes, Shibumi Co-Founder.

More features of the Shibumi Chair:

• Four Recline Positions: Enjoy customizable comfort with four recline settings, perfect for lounging, reading, or taking a nap.
• Padded Backpack Straps: For easy portability, the chair features padded backpack straps, making it convenient to carry to and from the beach.
• Two Accessory Ports: Keep drinks and essentials close at hand with two accessory ports for added convenience.
• Marine-Grade Anti-Rust Frame: Built to withstand the elements, the chair’s frame is made from anti-rust, marine-grade materials, ensuring long-lasting durability.
• Weight Capacity: The chair supports up to 300 pounds, providing a stable and secure seating solution.

The Shibumi Chair is available now for purchase on the Shibumi website and at select retail locations.

About Shibumi

Founded in 2016 by two brothers and their best friend in North Carolina, Shibumi has redefined shade with its lightweight, wind-powered, easy-to-use designs. What started as a solution to improve the founders’ own beach experience has grown into a global sensation, with Shibumi Shades found on over 800 beaches worldwide. In 2025, Shibumi continues to innovate with its first-ever colorway collection, bringing style, sun protection, and relaxation to every beach setup. For more information, visit shibumishade.com or follow @ShibumiShade on Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.