by The Editors on December 9, 2009
Yesterday, at the surfy-swank Shorebreak Hotel in Huntington Beach PacSun’s CEO Gary Schoenfeld reportedly filled his suppliers ears with words of “belief and passion for action sports brands” like a drowning man espousing the virtues of life rafts.
Okay, we made that last part up. We weren’t there. But luckily, Shop-eat-surf.com‘s Tiffany Montgomery had a front row seat and was kind enough to post a wonderful slideshow filled with photos of people so desperately hoping to sell more screen-printed T-shirts in America’s malls that they were willing to sit in a small room and listen to Mr. Schoenfeld for an entire hour.
[Link: Shop-Eat-Surf.com]
by The Editors on December 8, 2009
A contract dispute over who has rights to distribute Billabong in Indonesia is stalled in Australian court, according to a story on Goldcoast.com.au.
One Indonesian employee is currently on trial for alleged embezzlement of Billabong-branded advertising ‘light boxes’ while Gold Coast man Chris James is confined to Australia after an Interpol alert based on the same charge was issued for him by Indonesia earlier this year.
The contract dispute case was going to be heard December 8, 2009, in Supreme Court in Brisbane however, Bali-based Suzi Suweda’s barrister was not available, the story says. “Billabong is seeking a court declaration that the contract with Mrs Suwenda’s company was legally terminated.”
[Link: Goldcoast.com.au]
by The Editors on December 4, 2009
In a meeting with employees yesterday (December 3, 2009) in the offices of DC Shoes in Vista, California the parent company Quiksilver announced that they are moving the entire DC Shoe business to Huntington Beach, California according to sources familiar with company. The move will reportedly happen in the next six months.
This news has many San Diego County employees wondering how or if they’re going to be able to make the hour and a half commute once the move is complete. And to think, the new vert ramp that Colin McKay and the boys designed is only weeks away from being complete.
We’re sure there will be more to this stories. We’ll keep our ear to the grind and let you know.
by The Editors on December 4, 2009
When a Japanese company (Phoenix’s X-Nix) purchased the rights to dress the 1998 United States Olympic Snowboard Team Burton Snowboards thought that the whole idea of a “uniform” for snowboarders was a terrible idea. In fact, they said that it went against everything that snowboarding stood for.
Now that Burton is been the official snowboard team supplier for a second Olympics things are a quite different, according to a story in the New York Times.
“Board sports, for the most part, are about expressing individuality — that’s what makes them cool,” said Greg Dacyshyn, the company’s creative director. “So the whole uniform thing, you know, it’s a sensitive subject.” . . . “The inspiration was sort of that classic Americana look: the plaid blazer and old jeans,” Dacyshyn said. “Yeah, it’s a uniform, but it’s also an anti-uniform at the same time.”
But more importantly, the uniforms now sport a couple Burton logos. One thing is for sure: these uniforms are going to look real smooth behind gold medals.
[Link: New York Times]
by The Editors on December 3, 2009
A graphic from Billabong’s “comrade” T-shirt series is stirring up some trouble with a group of Australian Croats, according to a story on Javno.com.
The front of the disputed T-shirt contains emblem that combines the five-pointed star with what remarkably resembles the Croatian coat of arms. . . Behind the five-pointed star is a grain wreath that resembles the iconography which, in Croatia, is commonly associated with the communist Yugoslavia. Behind a checkered coat of arms is an eagle wing, which after a brief observation, may be correlated with the eagle on the Serbian coat of arms.
Natalie Drazic a spokeswoman for the Sydney’s Croatian Youth organization reportedly contacted Billabong but was not happy with the response she got from the company. “Natalie Drazic and the SCY management urged all Croats to boycott products made by the Billabong Company until further notice.”
A little controversy never seems to hurt T-shirt sales.
[Link: Javno.com]
by The Editors on December 3, 2009
Why pay full retail for snowboard gear this Christmas when (for those in Southern California) you can just shop a blowout warehouse sale and get your favorite (“non 09-10, old samples and old inventory”) gear and rock bottom gotta-go prices. Better yet, maybe a couple of them will get together and you can get all your holiday shopping done at once.
686, Modern Amusement, and Paul Frank Industries are throwing a huge party/sale this Friday and Saturday December 4-5, 2009 in Irvine, California. The sale also features a taco cart, DJ and “free giveaways.”
Warehouse Blowout Sale, 20 Goodyear, Irvine, CA 92618
by The Editors on December 2, 2009
Same store states at core mall retailer Zumiez fell 8.5 in November, according to a story on Reuters.
Analysts on average expected same-store sales at the retailer to fall 8.2 percent, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. . . For the four-week period ended Nov. 28, total net sales fell 1.8 percent to $32 million.
The stock closed up 20 cents today at $11.25.
[Link: Reuters]
by The Editors on December 1, 2009
These new Nixon headphones are called The Trooper and they look all gummy sweet and colorful. They’d probably make a perfect Christmas gift for someone in your life.
The Trooper is a collapsible headphone, making it ideal for travel and also features a custom, on-ear, full size volume knob. The new headphone addition will feature five new bright color options and Nixon’s signature aesthetic and custom design elements and will retail for $50.
And what makes these even greater is the fact that they are used by Nixon’s crack headphone wearing team which includes Mos Def, Trouble Andrew, and JP Walker. Nobody rocks headphones better than they do.
[Link: Nixon]
by The Editors on November 24, 2009
When Billabong announced yesterday (November 23, 2009) that it had “entered into a conditional agreement to acquire” online retailer Swell.com it brought to a close one of the most interesting action sports .com stories of the past decade.
Founded by former Salomon Smith Barney analyst Nicholas Nathanson and entrepreneur Jeff Berg in late 1999 following the first crash of the Internet economy, Swell.com tried nearly everything to find online success and burned through millions of dollars on the way. Management tried snowboarding editorial and e-commerce, skateboarding editorial and e-commerce, they formed a “strategic alliance with Primedia’s Surfing Magazine in early 2001 and yet nothing seemed to work. It was only after they got back to basics and became an online catalog fashion retailer in November of 2001 that the company appeared to stabilize.
Adding one more company to the list of his shrewd acquisitions over the past five years Billabong USA President Paul Naude spun this one nicely in the press release.
“We look forward to growing the Swell business and further developing it as a showcase online platform for the US boardsports industry,” he said. “The internet plays a significant role in the recreational habits of the youth market so it is important for our Group to ensure we provide them with a premium brand experience when shopping online.”
As hard as it is to believe, until this purchase, Billabong had made no real moves on selling direct online in the US. While Quiksilver hired Swell founder Nicholas Nathanson to build out their e-commerce platform, Billabong continued to sell online only through its retail network. More than anything, this purchase will allow Billabong to begin tapping into the higher margins that only selling direct can provide. That alone is a good enough reason for the purchase.
Billabong says Swell.com had an annual turnover of less that $16 million and that it would contribute less than 1 percent of the company revenue, according to a story on Goldcoast.com.au.
What will be most interesting is to see how many of Billabong’s competitors (i.e. Quiksilver, Volcom, RVCA, Rip Curl, O’Neill, Hurley) continue to do business with the online/catalog retailer after the sale is completed.
We’ve been covering Swell.com since the beginning in 1999. Follow the jump for a Sacklunch/Boardistan timeline of most Swell.com events of interest during the past decade (along with the commentary we wrote at the time) and relive all the .com good times.
[click to continue…]
by The Editors on November 21, 2009
The Burton Corp’s artsy, woodsy skateboard company Habitat is celebrating its 10th year in business by launching a line of skate footwear that is reportedly “designed by skateboarders for skateboarding.”
Consisting of six models, the line also infuses Habitat’s signature design principles — branded colorways, visual balance, and attention to detail. “After 10 years of building a solid presence in the hardgoods market, developing a footwear line was a new creative outlet for Habitat and a natural next step in the progression of the brand,” stated Joe Castrucci. “Footwear is a great platform for the evolution of Habitat. Pre-season sales have exceeded our goals and we are excited for the full product launch early next year,” added Chris Carter.
Guess there wouldn’t really be a worse time to launch a new shoe line. So at least they’ve got that going for them.
[Link: The Skateboard Mag]
Yesterday, at the surfy-swank Shorebreak Hotel in Huntington Beach PacSun’s CEO Gary Schoenfeld reportedly filled his suppliers ears with words of “belief and passion for action sports brands” like a drowning man espousing the virtues of life rafts.
