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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowProfit is booming at Escalade Inc. thanks to growing sales of archery equipment along with fewer discounts on other sporting goods.
The Evansville company said today that earnings shot up 105 percent, to $2.4 million, in the second quarter ended July 14.
Most of the increase was driven by archery sales, said Chief Financial Officer Terry Frandsen.
Margins are higher in archery than in pool tables, darts and other sporting goods the company makes because Escalade owns the best patents in the industry, he said. One example is the cams, or oblong wheels, at the ends of bows. The design of the cams sends arrows with more force-an edge coveted by hunters, Frandsen said.
Escalade also offered fewer discounts to big retailers. “Last year, we weren’t paying attention to the profitability of the sales we were making,” he said.
Frandsen filled in for former CEO Daniel Messmer after Messmer died unexpectedly in April. Messmer was replaced July 24 by Robert J. Keller, president of Philadelphia-based Disston Tool Co.
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