分类： 其他平台
2013-10-17 13:18:43
Flames were shooting from the roof of the Southwest Inn, along one of Houston most heavily traveled expressways, and black smoke was blanketing the area are firefighters tried to extinguish the blaze.Three firefighters were killed at the scene, while the fourth died at a hospital, according to the mayor office and local medical examiner. Five other people were injured and are hospitalized for chest pains or leg injuries."It a very sad day for the Houston Fire Department and the city of Houston as a whole," said Janice Evans, a spokeswoman for Houston Mayor Annise Parker.The blaze broke out just after noon Friday at a restaurant and club at the motel, then quickly spread to the section of the building housing the motel. About 150 firefighters responded and were able to extinguish the blaze within about two hours.
5 Key Quotes From Under Armour
Since Kevin Plank founded Under Armour in 1996, the outspoken CEO has seemed to embrace the role of the underdog.
That role has certainly served him well. Since its IPO in 2005, the young performance apparel company has managed to increase annual revenue from just $281.1 million to a staggering $1.835 billion in 2012.
"There's an entrepreneur right now, scared to death, making excuses, saying, 'It's not the right time just yet.' There's no such thing as a good time."
And Plank would know. He started Under Armour out of his grandmother's basement with $40,000 in credit card debt an admittedly risky move and $17,000 in seed money from a flower business he ran in college. Still, his "no excuses" attitude gave him the guts to pursue what he rightly believed was a yettobefilled niche in moisturewicking athletic gear, and that move paid off in a big way.
Under Amour CEO Kevin Plank. Image Source: Wikimedia Commons.
On pursuing sustainable growth
"One of our first customers asked me how big we want to be. I said I want to be really big. Later, it bothered me that I answered that way. Now I say I just want to be a great company."
It's safe to say Plank is well on the way to achieving his goal of making Under Amour really big; last quarter marked Under Armour's 14th consecutive quarter of maintaining at least 20% topline growth in its flagship apparel sales and the 12th consecutive quarter of more than 20% yearoveryear growth in total revenue. What's more, the company has maintained its goals of sustaining this 20% annual revenue growth for the foreseeable future.
The second part of that quote, however, is far more important to Under Armour investors. After all, it's a great feeling to know Plank recognizes that growth for the sake of growth can be toxic over the long run if he doesn't build a great business to back it up.
On diversifying revenue streams
"As we've grown to where compression was only 14% of our business in 2012,we've continued to move away from dependence on cold weather with more focus on providing a broad range of fabrication, and we even decided that cotton didn't have to be the enemy."
To be sure, Under Armour's "charged cotton" line of clothing surprised many people given the company's old "Cotton is the enemy" slogan. Still, the fact remains that it should help Under Armour's clothing to become more attractive to a wider audience without sacrificing its token innovation charged cotton clothing apparently dries five times faster than conventional cotton and wicks moisture by interweaving cotton with Under Armour's own synthetic fabrics.
