by The Editors on January 28, 2009
Wasserman Media’s action agent Circe Wallace rolled out her new Circe Snow line of sophisticated outerwear for women to an intimate group of friends and retailers on the 62nd floor of The Hotel in Las Vegas last night.
Circe says she dreamed the line up after doing a deal for Travis Rice. “This whole thing came about because I did a deal for Travis Rice with Quiksilver,” she said. “I told Travis I wanted a signing bonus and I told him I wanted a Chanel one-piece ski suit but I couldn’t find one anywhere.”
After looking around for what was available for a more sophisticated snowboard customer Circe discovered that there really was nothing out there that she really wanted to wear. “I was going to make my own pattern and then I decided why not make something fun and fabulous for every one my age,” Circe said. “And from that spawned the idea of an interchangable adornment system.”
The line is made up three basic pieces: pant, jacket, and a one-piece suit. And they come in only two mix and matchable colors: champagne and black. “I’m all about the one piece,” she said. “I don’t think a women should ride in anything else ever. You can make a snow angel and it’s all good. Back gap is bad for girls.”
Follow the jump for the rest of the story and more photos.
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by The Editors on January 28, 2009
Pacific Sunwear has cut 11 percent of its headquarters and management staff by laying off 47 people, according to a story on Forbes.com.
The actions announced today are aimed at putting our company in a stronger position to weather the continuing challenges in the macroeconomic environment while enabling us to continue moving forward with the key strategic initiatives we have under way,” said Sally Frame Kasaks, chairman and chief executive.
Rough times for mall fashions, huh?
[Link: Forbes]
by The Editors on January 27, 2009
With all the rumor mongering going on about Quiksilver selling this or being bought by that, it is interesting to see that there is at least one analyst out there who is still rating Quiksilver a buy thanks to the company eliminating 200 jobs and a possible debt restructuring in February.
However, KeyBanc Capital Markets analyst Brandon J. Ferro said the news means “an outright sale of Quiksilver or one of its brands is much less likely now than it was when we initiated coverage in early December 2008, as it helps to indicate the Company has made significant progress in resolving near-term liquidity issues.”
We really don’t know who to believe at this point.
[Link: MSNBC]
by The Editors on January 27, 2009
It’s been available to team riders for years, but now Sole Tech is rolling out a full outerwear line in “finer snowboard shops next winter.” And we hope there are a few of them left in this economy (rim shot, please).
“ThirtyTwo saw a need for something different in the snowboard outerwear market, outerwear that guys want to wear again – no man-jamas or aspiring fashion models here. I feel that our outwear line listens to the call from those guys,” said Brad Alband, ThirtyTwo sales and design manager. “The line takes its inspiration from classic outdoor gear and this theme is reflected across the color palette of the collection.”
We haven’t seen the line but we’re looking forward to doing that just as soon as we get to Vegas; and that should be any hour now.
by The Editors on January 26, 2009
Last night when we said that Tuesday January 27, 2009 was “bring a box to work day” at Quiksilver we had no idea that so many boxes would be required.
Now that we’ve seen the press release on the Quiksilver site we better understand what was meant when we were told “the list is so long Bob doesn’t even want to look at the names.”
The company will eliminate 200 positions as part of the plan, including a reduction-in-force of approximately 150 employees which is expected to account for roughly one-third of the annual cost reductions. Quiksilver expects to record a charge of approximately $5 million in its first fiscal quarter as a result of these actions. . . Robert B. McKnight, Jr., commented, “All levels of our organization are affected by these actions as nearly 20 percent of the employees involved in the reduction hold manager-level titles or higher.
Now it sounds more like “bring a box to work week.” The worst part of all of this is that most of the people going to work tomorrow at Quiksilver have no idea if or when they will be called into HR, laid off, and given an exit interview.
Follow the jump for the entire press release and Bob McKnight’s memo to Quiksilver employees.
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by The Editors on January 26, 2009
We’re guilty. Like many others we spent most of Friday standing around in the isles of the ASR Show talking about how bad things are, how much worse they’re going to get, and whether buying or selling Quiksilver stock is a good idea. The opinions on the later were mixed, regardless of what personalized license plates may have been telling us.
Mixed in with all the gloom, however, were some words of encouragement. Ocean Minded CEO Gary Ward was walking the isles with his lovely daughter Shannon and when we hit him with the “how bad is it” question he set us straight directly.
“Let’s put it this way,” he said. “It’s ten times better than we thought it would be. This industry is a family and no one is stopping this family.”
We wondered if the “family members” who committed to the January ASR show might be benefiting a little from the fact that many of their larger competitors weren’t showing. “Are you kidding? Nauds is laughing right now,” he said of Billabong’s Paul Naude. “He’s had a great year and look at their booths; they are packed. For sure, the people who stuck it out are reaping the benefits.”
Follow the jump for the rest of the story.
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by The Editors on January 26, 2009
Find more videos like this on AdGabber
Bob McKnight is apparently using “technology” to help Quiksilver stay ahead of the “wolf pack” and surf a thrilling “tsunami” and still “rip it up” according to this new commercial for Microsoft.
Could the launch of this commercial possibly be more poorly timed? Microsoft does it again.
by The Editors on January 26, 2009
We’ve heard all the rumors that everyone has been quoting lately, and we’re not sure we’d put our money on their lines, but Citi is saying that VF Corp could be a good stock to purchase and they’ve reiterating their “buy” raiting on the stock with a target of $74.
Citi analyst says, “VFC may be close to acquiring skate brand DC Shoes from Quiksilver (NYSE: ZQK), according to WWD reports on Friday. We think this could be a positive acquisition for four reasons:
1) The brand fits well within VFC’s newly created Action Sports Americas coalition, and we think there are opptys to create synergies w/ its Vans & Reef brands, 2) VFC will leverage its global sourcing and distribution to further grow the brand like previous acquisitions; 3) VFC is likely to get an attractive price as a result of market valuations and ZQK’s balance sheet; and 4) We think the deal would be slightly accretive, w/out impacting VFC’s dividend or our est. of ~$200M in repurchases for FY09.”
Since we don’t buy, sell, or own action sports stocks we’re going to sit this one out from the sidelines. VF is up $1.24 right now, but the whole market is up.
[Link: The Street Insider]
by The Editors on January 25, 2009
Special Note to Quiksilver employees: Tuesday January 27, 2009 is “bring a box to work” day.
We’re not saying you’ll need it, just that it might not be a bad idea to be prepared in case you need to take a few extra things home at the end of the day: family photos, favorite staplers, Roxy hula girls, Signed skateboard decks, and other personal effects.
Hopefully, no one will need their box, but it’s better to have a box and not need it than to need a box and. . .
by The Editors on January 24, 2009
Mad Dog Concepts is voluntarily recalling 25,000 pairs of Tony Hawk Boy’s Pajama Sets made in Cambodia and sold through the Kohl’s Department Store chain “due to the potential risk of burn injury to children,” according to the U.S. Cosumer Product Safety Commmission.
This sleepwear fails to meet the federal children’s sleepwear flammability standard, and poses a risk of burn injury to children. . . .Consumers should stop using the recalled pajamas immediately and contact the firm for instructions on obtaining a full refund.
See the kinds of things you have to start worrying about when you license your name to clothing manufacturers?
[Link: USCPSC via Ridgefield Press]
After looking around for what was available for a more sophisticated snowboard customer Circe discovered that there really was nothing out there that she really wanted to wear. “I was going to make my own pattern and then I decided why not make something fun and fabulous for every one my age,” Circe said. “And from that spawned the idea of an interchangable adornment system.”
