Meanwhile, in surf footwear news, Jeff Booth has been appointed the director of sales for Flojos footwear. The former top 5 pro surfer has made a career in the action sports industry working for former surf giants like Billabong, Quiksilver, and Oakley.
“I am very excited to have Jeff join the team at Flojos,” says Flojos CEO John Dickinson. “Jeff’s Surfing background and extensive sales experience bring us a strong skill set with his understanding of footwear and apparel along with instant credibility in the specialty market. He really understands the business and we feel he will be a great asset to Flojos.”
For the official word from Flojos, please follow the jump.
Admittedly, we haven’t been paying much attention to anything that doesn’t fall pre-packaged into our email boxes, but we did want to take a moment to remember all the good times we’ve had with Yobeat.com over the past 21 years. There are far too many to mention, but let’s just say that we were there at the beginning, we’re thankful for everything the site helped create, and we’re glad to still be here waving goodbye to the last great independent snowboarding website.
Here’s what Yobeat’s founder Brooke Geery had to say about the site’s demise:
Dear Dedicated Readership,
Twenty-one years. When I began this website on my AOL account, I never imagined it would last this long or take me to the places it has. But they say all good things must come to an end, and my friends, that day is today. The website you love to hate will not see any futher updates. It will remain online for the time being, but may be deleted at any time. I recommend you print out your favorite articles now or forever live in regret when they are gone.
This was not an easy decision to come to, and it was aided in large part by a legal battle with my former partner. As a result, the name Yobeat no longer belongs to me. For the record, the instagram @yobeat is no longer affiliated with this website and any merchandise you may encounter is not either. The media juggernaut and the T-shirt company have parted ways and I do not want to do anything to inadvertently promote the latter.
Instead, I aim to continue my efforts on a new platform under the name Blower Media. As of right now, it’s just a logo and some stickers, but it could be something amazing some day. Stay tuned.
Longtime snowboard industry head Randy Torcom is the latest (of a growing list) to join the legal weed movement by taking a job at C21 Investments, as Vice President of Marketing. The company is focused on “building and acquiring market leading marijuana brands,” according to a press release.
“Brand integrity and authenticity are critical for success in the cannabis industry,” said Torcom. “C21 Investments is committed to a strong national and international brand strategy that delivers a compelling proposition of high-quality products, with life-style and value delivery that consumers can have a deep and meaningful connection with that will stand the test of time.”
Like, uh? Whoa! Sorry, just spilled our Cheetos. For the official word from . . . like, wait, what were we just saying? Oh, ha, whatever. (We apologize for resorting to old, cliche stoner jokes in spite of the fact that marijuana is now a respected, mostly legal, and sometimes elegant form of adult relaxation.)
Element Skateboards has added Jon Sinko to the company as VP, Global Merchandising and Design, overseeing the brand’s product function globally. If you don’t know Jon, here’s his background:
Jon comes to Element after a 20-year tenure with adidas where he was most recently global head of product for Skateboarding and Snowboarding. Having been with the brand since their entry into the skateboarding industry, Jon has had several roles and led various businesses that broadened his experiences in both product and Go-To-Market planning and execution. Along the way, he helped craft strategy, lead both the apparel and footwear merchandising teams, worked across the business with design, sales, marketing and skate and snow teams to help bring the right concepts to market.
Congrats all around. For the official word from Element and exactly how Johnny Schillereff feels about this new hire, please follow the jump.
The Vail Resorts borg is apparently not satiated just yet as it “entered into a purchase agreement” with Triple Peaks, LLC the owners of Okemo Mountain, in Ludlow, Vt., Mount Sunapee, in Newbury, N.H., and Crested Butte Mountain Resort in Mt. Crested Butte, Colorado.
The sale includes the three ski resort operations, as well as Okemo Valley Golf Club in Ludlow, Vt., and Tater Hill Golf Club in Windham, Vt. As part of the transaction, Vail Resorts will also own the leasehold assets presently owned by Och-Ziff Real Estate. . . “Diane and I are incredibly proud of what we have accomplished at the three resorts for the last 36 years,” remarked Tim Mueller, co-owner and president of Triple Peaks, LLC. “We have had the great privilege of working with a lot of smart, hardworking, dedicated team members, as well as many other people in the local communities and the states where the resorts are located.”
Yes, young slider, soon you’ll only need one pass to ride them all. For the official word from Triple Peaks, please follow the jump.
Volcom has named long-time V-Co designer Jeffery James “JJ” Gonzales as their new global men’s design director.
“JJ has been a core member of the design team for years, developing and growing our bottoms business to be the industry leader, by far,” says Volcom CEO Todd Hymel. “He is a living and breathing embodiment of Volcom’s passion and dedication and I am excited for him to drive and elevate all of our efforts to bring a new level of creativity to our brand and product.”
For the official word from V-Co, please follow the jump.
Globe has appointed Eric Tomlinson as director of their North American Marketing team.
“We’re very excited to welcome Eric back,” said Gary Valentine, Chief Operating Officer, and President of Globe North America. “Eric is a multi-dimensional talent, that brings years of industry experience back to Globe and we’re stoked to have him driving our marketing efforts here in North America.”
Tomlinson was previously executive producer of content partnerships at Surline/Wavetrak, and before that served as Globe’s surf marketing manager. For the official word from Globe, please follow the jump.
More evidence that some brands never say die comes from a new collab between Maui & Sons and mall denim company American Eagle according to a story in Apparel News.
On June 1, the denim-focused American Eagle will debut a collaboration line, called American Eagle x Maui and Sons, with the heritage surf brand, said Blake Harrington, executive vice president of licensing and business development at Maui and Sons, headquartered in Los Angeles’ Pacific Palisades neighborhood. . . The collaboration line will be available exclusively at all American Eagle doors, which number more than 1,000 stores in North America, China and Hong Kong.
Seems like a really cheap way for American Eagle to get some quality retro, surf T-shirt graphics. Good on ya, zombies.
Tuesday April 24, 2018 is the day that Boardriders, Inc. (Oaktree Capital’s action fashion brand holding company) officially takes the reigns at Billabong. The company has wasted no time waving bye-bye to Billabong’s board of directors and others including Neil Fiske, Peter Myers, Tracey Wood, Jim Howell, Mara Pagotto, and Paul Burdekin. But that list is sure to get much longer of the next few weeks. And presented their list of new “appointments.”
“Today marks the beginning of what will be a turning point for our industry,” said Dave Tanner, Chief Executive Officer of Boardriders Inc. “With the combination of Boardriders and Billabong, we bring together the best of both companies, creating a dynamic enterprise under the Boardriders umbrella.”
At least we can agree with Dave on the whole “turning point for our industry” thing. Which way its turning will be up for discussion for years. We are happy to say that we still know two people at the new mega corp. If you’d like to check the list for your friends, please follow the jump. [click to continue…]
Meanwhile, in surf footwear news, Jeff Booth has been appointed the director of sales for Flojos footwear. The former top 5 pro surfer has made a career in the action sports industry working for former surf giants like Billabong, Quiksilver, and Oakley.
Element Skateboards has added Jon Sinko to the company as VP, Global Merchandising and Design, overseeing the brand’s product function globally. If you don’t know Jon, here’s his background:
The Vail Resorts borg is apparently not satiated just yet as it “entered into a purchase agreement” with Triple Peaks, LLC the owners of Okemo Mountain, in Ludlow, Vt., Mount Sunapee, in Newbury, N.H., and Crested Butte Mountain Resort in Mt. Crested Butte, Colorado.
Volcom has named long-time V-Co designer Jeffery James “JJ” Gonzales as their new global men’s design director.
Globe has appointed Eric Tomlinson as director of their North American Marketing team.
More evidence that some brands never say die comes from a new collab between Maui & Sons and mall denim company American Eagle according to a story in 
Tuesday April 24, 2018 is the day that Boardriders, Inc. (
