On this page of StockholderLetter.com we present the latest annual shareholder letter from ESCALADE INC — ticker symbol ESCA. Reading current and past ESCA letters to shareholders can bring important insights into the investment thesis.

 •  3/28/2025 Letter Continued (Full PDF)
 •  3/27/2023 ESCA Stockholder Letter
 •  3/29/2024 ESCA Stockholder Letter
 •  More "Consumer Goods" Category Stockholder Letters
 •  ESCA Benford's Law Stock Score = 74

ESCA Shareholder/Stockholder Letter Transcript:

ANNUAL REPORT
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Honoring the Legacy of
ROBERT EMMETT GRIFFIN
1935     2024
Bob Griffin was a humble, generous, and faithful
leader whose vision transformed Escalade into the highly
respected company it is today. Over the course of fiftythree years, he played a pivotal role in expanding the
company from its roots in archery into a multi-category
industry leader. Bob understood the challenges of the
sporting goods industry, recognizing that demand was
often seasonal, and trends were cyclical. Reflecting on
Escalade   s success, he once said,    We learned early on
that the demand for sporting goods is very seasonal,
and the popularity of certain items runs in cycles. There
are ups and downs you can   t control, so we began
broadening our product base to make sure that all of
our eggs were not in one basket.    His strategic foresight
ensured Escalade   s long-term stability and growth.
Bob   s business journey began with a bold move   he
placed a small advertisement in The Wall Street
Journal seeking an opportunity and stating,    Equity
ownership is more important than salary.    This statement
caught the attention of Robert Orr, a future Indiana
Governor and early venture capitalist, who shared Bob   s
entrepreneurial spirit. The two quickly formed a strong
partnership, leading a group of investors, including
Griffin and Orr, to purchase the Indian Archery and Toy
Company in 1962. This marked the beginning of an
extraordinary leadership journey.
Under Bob   s steady and strategic leadership, the
sporting goods business grew from $800,000 in
sales in 1962 to $155 million in 2015. Escalade, Inc. was
formed in 1973 with the merger of Williams Manufacturing
and Indian Archery. Bob later spearheaded Escalade   s
successful investment in the renowned Swedish table
tennis company, STIGA Sports, and developed a longstanding relationship with the Bandstigen family. Among
his proudest achievements was introducing the first
health risk-based insurance incentive program in the
United States at Escalade, a forward-thinking initiative
that reflected his commitment to both innovation and
employee well-being.
Bob retired as Chairman of the Board in 2015, but his
presence remained a cornerstone of the company. Even
after stepping down, he kept his little changed office
overlooking Maxwell Avenue and continued to greet
everyone by name each morning with a warm and
hospitable    Good Morning.    Escalade   s reputation for
quality, integrity, and innovation is a direct reflection
of Bob   s ethics, vision, and leadership. His influence
remains woven into the company   s DNA, inspiring future
generations to uphold the same principles of dedication,
perseverance, and forward thinking.
Bob Griffin will be deeply missed but never forgotten. His
unwavering commitment and certitude, strategic foresight,
and genuine kindness continue to guide Escalade. We
honor his memory by carrying forward the values he
instilled and building upon the strong foundation he left
behind. His legacy lives on in the success of Escalade and
the people he inspired, and we strive every day to make
him proud.
3I

2024 ANNUAL REPORT
Fellow Escalade ShareholdersOur company earned $.93 per share in 2024, up from
$.71 in 2023. While the 2024 earnings included a one-time
gain on sale, we also absorbed a commensurate amount
of one-time costs incurred to complete various right-sizing
initiatives which set us up for the future. Core earnings,
excluding both the one-time gain and non-recurring costs,
were up by nearly a third from the prior year. Perhaps the
most important result of the initiatives I will outline below
was the reduction of our bank debt from $50.9 million to
$25.6 million. Furthermore, we finished the year with $0
drawn on our credit line, leaving us with the low-cost term
loan we negotiated a few years ago at a 2.97% interest
rate. We are in no rush to pay this off.
2024 was a year of focus on the fundamentals and the
future. As the post-pandemic    return to normal    continued,
our talented, driven teams worked on the basics that form
the foundation for our growth and profitability in the years
ahead. During the year we made substantial progress
on our goals of increased asset efficiency, continued
cost control, accelerated innovation, and further talent
development.
Let   s take these one at a time.
In last year   s letter, I pointed out the tremendous effort
and resulting success in reducing inventories during 2023.
While the right inventory is a positive asset and necessary
to support our customers, too much inventory is a drag
on performance: consuming capital, taking up expensive
space, requiring time and effort to handle and stage, and
ultimately becoming obsolete as we continually introduce
new and improved products. I am pleased to report that
we built upon the achievements of 2023 and reduced our
inventories by an additional $16 million during 2024. This
effort is continuing in 2025.
I also wrote last year that we would broaden our balance
sheet focus to analyze all of our assets and evaluate the
ability of each to increase our Return on Assets (ROA).
During 2024 we sold our facility in Mexico for $6.6 million
which resulted in a gain of $3.9 million. Our Mexico
operation was a productive asset in the past, but changing
consumer preferences, production costs, and economics
led us to conclude that we could better utilize those assets
elsewhere. We consolidated the Mexico operations into our
domestic facilities in Olney, Illinois and Evansville, Indiana
along with partner factories in Asia.
In addition to the Mexico sale, we reorganized our Victory
Tailgate business which allowed us to terminate our longterm lease in Orlando, Florida. In doing so, we will save
over $1 million annually for the next eight years. Victory
Tailgate will be a smaller, but more profitable business
going forward.
We also moved our Cue & Case billiard accessories
business from Evansville to Bristol, Wisconsin and
consolidated it with our Brunswick and American Heritage
billiard table and game table businesses. This move gives
us a competitive advantage in being able to ship the
finest tables along with a broad range of high-quality
accessories on the same trucks to the leading billiard
dealers in North America or on the same containers to our
growing international dealer base.
These projects, all designed to ensure that we are allocating
our assets to maximize efficiency and ROA, generated both
the one-time gain and significant one-time expenses. As
a shareholder, you can consider these a wash in 2024, but
with substantial benefits in 2025 and beyond.
I often tell our teams that we want to be diligent about
cost control so we don   t have to resort to cost cutting.
Cost control involves both reducing waste and spending
where the return on investment is high. Our employees did
an excellent job in 2024 finding savings and eliminating
waste while not shortchanging our future. Six of the
companies in our peer group lost money over the past four
quarters. Only Escalade and two peers earned a profit. Our
ability to remain solidly profitable throughout the postpandemic downturn for discretionary recreational products

is largely due to our discipline and efficiency. We are well
positioned for the next up cycle for our categories.
In this annual report we showcase Escalade   s overall
corporate strategy: Innovate, Operate, Generate, and
Allocate. While each of our leaders is given the flexibility
to address their unique competitive environment and
opportunities to best serve their consumers and retail
partners, these corporate principles guide our overall
strategies and tactics.
In past annual reports we have talked extensively about our
decentralized structure (Operate), about Escalade   s longterm superior Total Shareholder Return (Generate), and
about our philosophy and execution of capital allocation
(Allocate). Now that we have cleaned up most of the
excess inventory that carried over from the pandemic era,
we are free to accelerate our new product development
(Innovate) to drive Escalade   s future growth.
Consumer demand is currently soft across many of our
categories, but we know that our economy moves in cycles.
The winners in the years ahead will be the companies that
offer innovative, exciting products that motivate consumers
to buy. We are continuing to increase our investments in
new product development and innovation for the next
generation of recreational items that bring families and
friends together while engaging in a healthy active lifestyle.
That is our mission. Led by consumer insights, we design
and test new items, build communities of passionate
enthusiasts, partner with our broad retail network, and
provide best in class customer service.
Among the many new products launched in 2024 and
planned for 2025 are a broad refresh and update of several
of our compound bows for Bear Archery, a complete
product line update of our Onix pickleball paddles focused
on both performance and style, expanded recreational
and tournament cornhole products in partnership with the
American Cornhole League, and the seventh generation
of the iconic Brunswick Gold Crown billiard table. The reengineered and state-of-the-art Gold Crown VII is being
launched with versions for professional tournaments and
for the home, as well as a seven-foot coin op model for
local league play.
Today, Escalade has the strongest brands in our 102-year
history. We also have the most talented team. Professional
development has been a priority over the past four years
and the benefits will pay dividends for years to come.
We have a great mix of experienced professionals and
passionate young people eager to make their mark.
When necessary, we look outside to bring in fresh
perspectives and new skills. In that vein, we are very happy
to welcome our next CEO, Armin Boehm, who joins us from
the Gibson guitar company with prior roles at Amer Sports,
adidas, Puma, and Levi Strauss. Armin has lived and worked
in Europe, Asia, and for the past 12 years in the United
States. He brings substantial experience around brand
building, consumer engagement, and designing go-tomarket strategies for multi-brand businesses like Escalade.
With all the work that has been done to strengthen and
solidify Escalade   s foundation, we are poised to grow under
Armin   s leadership.
In closing, we pay tribute to Bob Griffin who had a vision
over 60 years ago and built the tiny Indian Archery and
Toy company into what has become Escalade today. He
inspired, challenged, and led by example. We have missed
him since his passing in March 2024, but his spirit lives on
in the organization he created, the values he held dear, and
the many lives he touched.
Sincerely,
Walt Glazer
Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, and President
Escalade, Inc.
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 3/28/2025 Letter Continued (Full PDF)