by The Editors on January 28, 2010
In a filing today with the SEC among the list of purposes for Quiksilver’s next shareholders meeting (March 26, 2010) was item number three (directly following a proposal to increase the number of authorized shares of common stock by 100 million):
3. To consider and vote upon a proposal to approve the grant of 3,000,000 shares of our restricted common stock to Kelly Slater as part of his sponsorship agreement;
Getting Kelly Slater to buy-in on the future of the company is a pretty good idea, actually. Few things are more motivating than the idea that you could make $20 million (or more) in the next couple years if Quik’s stock ever climbs up out of the dumps. Nice thinking.
[Link: SEC]
by The Editors on January 28, 2010
Eddie Wall has signed with Bond Outerwear and Weekend Snowboards according to an announcement that went out last night just in time for day one of SIA Show in Denver.
“Our whole philosophy with our brands is to work with people, whether they are reps, riders, or our accounts, that get what we are doing and have the same passion for it that we do,” stated Dan McNamara, co-Founder of Bond Outerwear. “Eddie is a great fit for us because he is one of us, and having him as part of the family means the world to Christian and I.”
Eddie joins Heikki Sorsa and TJ Schneider on Bond and Mark Carter and Heikki on Weekend Snowboards. Sounds like the Laguna Beach, California scene is back on the up.
Follow the jump for all the details.
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by The Editors on January 27, 2010
For the past 20 years brothers Tim and Tracey Canaday have been making snowboards in Denver, Colorado. When Snowsports Industries of America decided that 37 years in Las Vegas was enough Canaday and the rest of the Never Summer Industries crew thought the show was finally going down in the right town, according to a Colin Bane story in Denver’s WestWord.
“I think a lot of people in the industry see leaving Las Vegas and coming to Denver as a sign that the party’s over, and maybe that’s a good thing,” Tracey Canaday says. “Vegas is a great place to have a show, for obvious reasons, but I would love for it to work and be successful here in Colorado. It makes sense on a lot of different levels to have the SIA show here. It’s a lot cheaper for our company, for one thing! But it’s also the perfect place for the snow sports industry to get down to business.”
For the rest of the Never Summer and Denver SIA story, click the link.
[Link: Westword]
by The Editors on January 26, 2010
Seems everyone just got back from a SIMA Surf Summit, but that’s not stopping anyone from getting back on track. This year’s Surf Summit, scheduled for May 12-15, 2010, will be for both surf manufacturers and retailers (if there are any left).
This year the annual Surf Summit conference will be taken to the next level by unifying the SIMA and BRA conferences into one event that will truly encompass and showcase the entire surf industry. With a larger manufacturer and retailer presence and a stronger representation of the industry’s top leaders, Surf Summit 13 will be a more complete union of the tribe. . . “Surf Summit can only be made better by including the Board Retailers Association members and staff,” said Doug Palladini, SIMA President and VP of Marketing for Vans. “I’m really pleased that the BRA leadership agrees in all the mutually beneficial gains that can be generated by combining our forces for this important leadership event going forward.”
Wonder if they’re going to invite any members of the independent boardsports media? Follow the jump for more info.
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by The Editors on January 26, 2010
Verizon Wireless has signed on as title sponsor of Fuel TV’s Daily Habit according to a press release.
Aside from “branding in all show graphics, as well as online banners and a unique brand page on the FUEL TV website” the company is also buying lots of coverage for their athletes.
Many of Verizon Wireless’ sponsored athletes will appear on “The Daily Habit,” including surfer, musician, and “Drive Thru” star Donavon Frankenreiter; surfer and “New Pollution” host Matt Beacham; surfer Sterling Spencer; freestyle motocross rider and three-time X Games Gold Medalist Kyle Loza, six-time X Games Medalist Todd Potter; three-time X Games Silver Medalist and 2008 Red Bull X-Fighters Series champion Mat Rebeaud; legendary skateboarder Omar Hassan; two-time X Games Gold Medalist and three-time AST Dew Tour winner BMX pro Daniel Dhers, and others.
We’re having a hard time getting used to the new face of sponsored editorial, but it looks like it’s here to stay.
[Link: Fiercewireless]
by The Editors on January 25, 2010
Seems like the Frends logo has been everywhere lately. On the snowboards of Mason Aguirre, Luke Mitrani, Danny Davis, Kevin Pearce and on some get well signs we’ve seen at the bottom of the pipe lately. Now, the whole Frends crew is beginning to make sense. Frends today announced the roll out of a line of six styles of electronic accessories that look amazing.
Our products are inspired, designed, engineered, field-tested and built to meet the same parameters we have for each other. Just like our friends, we want our gear to be strong, reliable, original, fun, dependable, and interesting. Frends has taken the time to build our gear from the ground up using our crew as the inspiration. For us attention to detail isn’t just a slogan we saw on one of those inspiration posters with a bald eagle carrying a baby goat in its talons into the sunset—we actually mean it.
The music listening devices will be available this spring and will retail from $33 to $88. Knowing the people behind the business end of Frends we’re guessing this could be pretty huge. Follow the jump for photos of the first three products off the line.
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by The Editors on January 25, 2010
The crew at IllicitSnowboarding.com has created a beautiful little “infographic” that illustrates how a few corporations run most of the brands in action sports. It makes a nice little quick reference card for those times when you’d like to do business with a small guy.
[Link: IllicitSnowboarding.com]
by The Editors on January 20, 2010
Creditors have foreclosed on Intrawest and are auctioning off equity in the company on February 19, 2010, according to a story in The Globe & Mail.
Banks have seized Intrawest Holdings, the owner of the Whistler ski resort that’s hosting the Olympic downhill races next month, after the resort operator missed a big debt payment, and now plan to auction the company off right in the middle of the games. . . Intrawest’s owner, Fortress Investment Group, lost control after missing a big interest payment to its lenders. The lenders, which include Lehman Brothers and Davidson Kempner, plan to auction off ownership of Intrawest on Feb. 19, according to a notice published in major newspapers. The first events of the games are scheduled for Feb. 12 and the closing ceremony is set for Feb. 28.
[Editors’ note: The following was our original post from earlier today] Investors who have loaned Intrawest close to $1.4 billion dollars say they may foreclose on the resort operator next week according to a story in the New York Post.
Sources tell The Post that creditors holding $1.4 billion of debt on Whistler owner Intrawest are planning to foreclose on the company within the next week and a half, casting a shadow on the resort, which will host the alpine events of the 2010 Olympics. “It will probably happen within 10 days,” a source said. . . The showdown comes amid an impasse between the estate of fallen investment bank Lehman Brothers, Intrawest’s largest creditor, and Intrawest owner Fortress Investment Group, the publicly traded hedge fund run by Wesley Edens. . . By forcing Intrawest into bankruptcy, Lehman and other creditors could raise several billion dollars repossessing Intrawest and selling off its various resorts.
Luckily, all the snowboard events are taking place at Cypress Mountain. . . where last week they closed because there is no snow. But not to worry. They still have 23 days to load up.
[Globe & Mail Update: Creditors have foreclosed on Intrawest (Thanks, Skin)]
[BusinessWeek Update: Creditors to auction off Equity in Intrawest Resorts on February 19, 2010]
[Link: New York Post]
by The Editors on January 20, 2010
It would appear that the days of buying Von Zipper shades just to knock out the lenses and replace them with prescription glass are over according to a new section of the Von Zipper website.
Von Zipper Optical is bringing the focus back to the eye chart. So, lock and load your pocket protectors, pack up your scientific calculators and light up the Busen burner. . . Mixing geek chic contemporary looks with renegade sheik forwardness, this collection has every angle on your protractor covered to get you through all the fine print for life.
The new frame launch goes down in March 18-21, 2010 at Vision Expo in NYC.
[Link: Von Zipper Optical]
by The Editors on January 20, 2010
Ever since Jeff Clark was removed from his position as contest director of the Mavericks Surf Contest (an event he founded) we figured it would all end up in court eventually. Now, according to a press release sent out yesterday, it has.
The lawsuit comes one week after an already re-scheduled mediation was canceled by MSV attorney Paul Marotta and CEO Keir Beidling, claiming the Mavericks Surf Contest would be held that week. It was not. . . “I’ve waited patiently and remained quiet in an effort to settle our issues in private, without casting a shadow over the contest that I founded. But it’s obvious MSV has no intention of working this out. They have forced me to file suit in order to move on with my life,” Clark said.
Clark’s complaint, filed in Superior Court in San Francisco, and states that Mavericks Surf Ventures “breached its contracts with Clark, withheld payments on those contracts, and breached its fiduciary duties to shareholders by the Board’s self-dealing, squandering of corporate assets and failure to disclose even basic financial and other corporate information. The suit claims that, in breaching their fiduciary duties, MSV and its current directors acted with oppression, fraud and malice.”
Sounds like this one is going to go the distance. . . click here for all the back story.
[Link: ESPN and Global Surf News]
In a filing today with the SEC among the list of purposes for Quiksilver’s next shareholders meeting (March 26, 2010) was item number three (directly following a proposal to increase the number of authorized shares of common stock by 100 million):
