Quiksilver stock rocketed up this morning on rumors the company may be taken over by French multinational holding company PPR, according to Reuters.
French newspaper La Tribune reported that the owner of the Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent, Puma and Bottega Veneta brands is looking to buy a sports brand and could be attracted by the Huntington Beach, California-based seller of adventure sports apparel.
The stock was up nearly 18 percent on the news. The French certainly do love them some Quiksilver, don’t they?
Each December for the past 18 years 686 owner Mike West has been thown a holiday party for employees, friends, and family. This year his annual Black & White Party was held at Hollywood’s Bardot on Vine. By 9 PM there was a line 60 people deep all dressed in some kind of mix of darkness and light, and truthfully, not standing out a whole lot from regular Hollywood night visitors.
Inside guests were treated to caricature artists, DJ Barbie and DJ Quickstat, the requisite photo booth, not to mention the warm hospitality Mr. West always provides. At 9 PM models showed off 686’s next wave of outerwear. It was an amazing evening of holiday cheer that reminded us that Hollywood still isn’t overrated.
When Laguna Beach, California’s Thalia Surf Shop owner Nick Cocores’ discovered that the art gallery next door was packing it in he realized it was the perfect opportunity to not only expand his retail footprint, but also to partner with a popular brands.
“We approached Vans with the space coming available and asked them if they wanted to work with us,” Cocores said (pictured right with Steve Van Doren). “They were totally supportive and wanted to get on board. And so here we are.”
Thalia has carried Vans since the shop opened in 2001 but because the the cozy size of the shop the shoes were limited to a small wall section where Cocores was able to display 25-30 pairs of shoes. But now with close to 900 feet devoted to the brand he can obviously show more. “We can probably have 100 shoes in here now,” he said looking over the new Vans Thalia Surf Shop space.
SUPERbrand Apparel has hooked up Melbourne, Australia skater Kurt Winter to the team.
“Kurt represents everything we’re trying to do with our brand in general,” said SUPERbrand Creative Director Tony Larson. “He’s young, he rips and he’s got great style. And like the rest of the guys on the team, he’s just a great human. We’re lucky to have him.”
Denver’s Westword Weekly visited Cooper Mountain for post-Thanksgiving Leftover Yam Jam and talked to snowboarders about fashion. Here are two:
Mike Perle, 16, snowboarder “I like Volcom because they are the biggest company. I also like Quiksilver. Tight pants and tall tees need to go — I like normal clothing on skiers and riders.”
Andy Harris (pictured right), 22, snowboarder “I’m wearing Tech Nine. I like Big Clothes and like to look like a gansta. I think your gear needs to be steezy.”
These civilians certainly know what they want. Steezy, indeezy.
Quiksilver hasn’t wrapped up their final 2010 numbers, but wanted to let everyone know that things aren’t as bad as they thought they were going to be back in September 2010, according to documents filed today with the SEC.
Based on preliminary data, the company estimates that fourth quarter fiscal 2010 net revenues were between $492 million and $497 million, compared to net revenues of $538.7 million for the fourth quarter ended October 31, 2009, and that fourth quarter fiscal 2010 pro-forma Adjusted EBITDA was between 10% and 20% higher than pro-forma Adjusted EBITDA of $49.9 million for the fourth quarter ended October 31, 2009. . . These preliminary estimated results are higher than the most recent outlook provided in September, at which time the company had expected fourth quarter revenues to be down in the mid-teens on a percentage basis compared to the same quarter a year ago and anticipated that full-year fiscal 2010 pro-forma Adjusted EBITDA would be up approximately 25% when compared to fiscal 2009.
And that’s good considering that 2009’s loss from continuing ops was about $73 million. In other news, Quik is rounding up another €200 million in a private offering in Europe.
Yobeat.com, the snowboard site that has been “making fun of snowboarding since 1997” is taking their T-shirts to retail, according to founder Brooke Geery.
“Really, what it’s been about for me all along is having the opportunity to start the best T-shirt company in the world. I have seen so many t-shirt start ups come and go, all been because they didn’t develop consumer base beforehand,” YoBeat founder Brooke Geery said. “We’ve spent nearly 15 years developing a following so that when we finally offered our products to shops, people would want them. It was simple, really.”
That is apparently why this week is “T-shirt Week” on the site.” It’s a dream come true,” Geery said. “If there is one thing the snowboard industry needs more of right now it’s T-shirts, and we’re excited to be able to step in and fill that void.”
Anyone seen a perfectly good yacht that’s missing a few very important pieces? Capt. Burrow needs to find it, apparently. Is this what happens when surfers put fashion first.
“It is so rad that a young company like KLeN is given the opportunity to build a partnership with an industry icon such as Mountain High,” said Mark Froke, president of KLeN. “The entire team at the resort is super fun and positive about the whole plan.” One of the main assets to the entire idea is that Mountain High and KLeN sponsor some of the same athletes; Spencer Link, Cory Cronk and Kyle Loppicollo all are sponsored by both organizations.
We’re not exactly sure what the two new features will look like, but we have some ideas for their names: Clothes line? Wedgie? Sock drawer? For more details, follow the jump. [click to continue…]
Quiksilver stock rocketed up this morning on rumors the company may be taken over by French multinational holding company PPR, according to Reuters.
