For the past seven years Quiksilver has been in court fighting over the name “Roxy” with Kymsta Corp. makers of Roxywear. Quik has now announced thatis has “again prevailed” in Federal court. Bob McKnight is happy:
We are pleased with the decision of the court. As a matter of principle and financial responsibility, we are deeply committed to protecting and defending our trademarks and brands. We were always confident in our rights with regard to our longstanding usage and the fame of the ‘Roxy’ trademark. This victory protects our valuable mark, upholds our investment in the ‘Roxy’ brand, and protects consumers from confusion in the marketplace.”
For all the messy details of this on-going lawsuit, follow the jump. [click to continue…]
While we don’t really understand it, Benjamin “Benny Gold” Weiner, is building a design empire on his designs for Nike, Adidas, Stussy and Levis. Here he is profiled in the San Francisco Chronicle.
[It’s] about not losing sight of your youth,” Gold says about the derivation of his nickname. “It’s important for me to remain youthful as I grow. The reference to gold symbolizes success and achievement.”
Gold’s big break came in 2002 when he was hired to create a logo for Huf, a string of streetwear boutiques opened by professional skateboarder Keith “Huf” Hufnagel. Shortly thereafter, he became the lead designer for Huf, creating urban-inspired sneakers and clothing in limited-editions that quickly became coveted items.
Police in Grafton, New South Wales, Australia are searching for clues relating to a skeleton that Landcare workers found on Sunday August 24, 2003.
The skeleton was found in a pair of Levis brand stonewash denim jeans (size 35), a pair of Quiksilver brand blue shorts, and an ‘Ecko Unlimited’ brand shirt. . . . Police say forensic tests have revealed they are those of a man aged between 18 and 50.
Shop, eat, surf’s, Tiffany Montgomery attended the Quiksilver shareholders meeting on March 28, 2008 so we didn’t have to. Here are her take-aways. . . wait, she didn’t have any take-aways, just the facts:
Company goals include driving growth in apparel and footwear brands, divesting the equipment business, continuing its initiative to streamline global sourcing, cutting expenses, improving operating profit margins, improving cash flow and reducing debt. . . . Quiksilver now owns 406 retail stores, a $392 million business acounting for 20 percent of apparel and footwear sales last year.
Cullen Poythress, the new marketing manager at DVS Shoes is thanking Podium Distribution for moving him out to Cali when they did. Poythress, who previously worked for Surf Expo in Atlanta, moved out of his place one week to the day before the tornado destroyed his apartment at the Fulton Cotton Mills Lofts. “DVS saved my life,” Poythress said. “Literally.”
Poythress’ apartment window is the fourth from right in the bottom right hand corner of this Atlanta Journal-Constitution photo. “The tornado touched down on top of the place and ripped the whole roof off,” he said. “My new flat screen would’ve been laterd.”
As happy as he is with the new job, he’s also happy to have left the ATL. “We got out just in time,” he says. Now, lets just hope for no earthquakes.
Luxottica Group SpA, the world’s largest eyewear manufacturer suffered it’s first profit decline in nine years according to a story on Bloomberg.com. And they’re blaming Oakley.
Luxottica dropped as much as 5.7 percent after the company said late yesterday fourth-quarter net income declined 3.7 percent on costs to combine sports-eyewear maker Oakley Inc. with its other divisions. The stock was down 79 cents, or 4.7 percent, to 16.21 euros at 9:40 a.m. in Milan. A close at that price would be the lowest since May 20, 2005.
What a nice welcome to the family. We’re guessing we’ll all see some pretty big changes at Oakley in the coming year. We’ll keep you posted.
Just watched this video on Tony Hawk’s Shredordie.com. . . Apparently, Nixon is sponsoring former adult film stars and their cage-fighting boyfriends now (at least with trips to Tavarua).
Lots of changes going on in the Sole Tech web world lately, including this update to the Emerica site:
The Team page has a new look and, more importantly, some new sections. First, there’s Community, in which you can browse through all of the content recently uploaded by All Emericans; as well as search for specific news, photos, videos and even users in the search box at the top.
Right next to Community, there’s a new Channels section, in which you can stay updated on specific groups. Right now, there are only two channels available: Emerican Royalty (mostly skaters who work here) and Emerica Europe, but more will be coming soon!
According to the SnowSports Industries of America the SnowSports Industry is booming. Well of course it is. . . it snowed. As an old industry head once said: “We’re just snow farmers. When it snows we’re all geniuses and when it doesn’t snow, we blame the weather.”
For all the details from their recent press release, follow the jump. [click to continue…]
Quiksilver has not been having a great first quarter. Though their total revenue is up 14% over first quarter 2007, they are down nearly $20 million in profits compared to last year:
Consolidated income from continuing operations for the first quarter of fiscal 2008 was a loss of $14.7 million, or $0.12 per share, compared to income of $6.8 million, or $0.05 per share, for the first quarter of fiscal 2007. . . . Robert B. McKnight, Jr., Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer and President of Quiksilver, Inc., commented, “Although we are not satisfied with our financial results in general, we are pleased that our core apparel and footwear operations enabled us to partially offset the more difficult than expected results from our wintersports equipment business. As we go forward, we are energized to regain focus on our core opportunities. We are executing a variety of strategies to improve our gross margin, reduce our expense levels and generate cash flow to repay our indebtedness. We are resolved to continue to pursue strategic transactions to reduce or eliminate our exposure to our wintersports equipment business.”
