Wall Street

Supra Goes Big In Japan Alright

by The Editors on April 29, 2014

Japan Supra

Things will happen while they can and Supra has launched their first Tokyo retail store (featuring a rooftop skatepark with a view). It’s easy when you’re big in Japan

Located in the bustling Diver City shopping plaza in Odaiba, SUPRA Tokyo is a bright, wide open space reflecting the Southern California aesthetic of SUPRA’s birthplace. The new store offers a full selection of footwear and apparel for men, women, and children with the addition of special releases exclusive to Tokyo. “After overwhelming support of the SUPRA Tokyo Pop Up store in Shibuya, we wanted to offer all of the loyal clients a permanent shopping destination,” said Angel Cabada, SUPRA co-founder.

The new store is loved at Diver City Tokyo Plaza, 1-1-10 Aomi Koto-ku, in Tokyo. Follow the jump for the official word from Supra. [click to continue…]

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

Electric CEO Response On Facebook

by The Editors on April 28, 2014

Electric Facebook

In a post on the Electric Facebook page company CEO Eric Crane said the following to what appears to be employees of the company:

An unmistakable similarity of our logo to a logo used by an extinct racist/nationalist group has been brought to our attention. We first becme aware of this comparison through a post to our Facebook site, it then showed up on a few other blog threads. Although it is not a registered hate symbol, the logo appears on an 80 year old pamphlet in a photo depicting a man dressed in racist garb.

In no way is ELECTRIC connected to, or inspired by anything related to discrimination, racism, or otherwise . . . and we will never be. The ELECTRIC mark’s resemblance to something that was used by a select few in an ugly part of America’s heritage is purely coincidental. Our logo was developed as a product of design refinement of the original volt, with simplification as the goal.

The ELECTRIC brand has been built over the last 15 years using the image of a lightning bolt to represent the positive and creative energy harnessed in the products we make. The logo has come to represent the shared passion of our international team of athletes, employees, and ambassadors to improve the experience both in and out of the water, on and off the mountain, and life in between.

The ELECTRIC brand stands for so much more than just a logo, or someone’s perception of what we are about. The energy and effort that have gone in to the company over the years have been extraordinary, we have a lot to be proud of.

Please reassure all that any connection implied of ELECTRIC to anything racists is preposterous and at best unfortunate. We have been discussing the issue internally each day and addressing the few inquiries we have gotten from our family, friends, and customers. Please don’t let this get you down!

If you or anyone you know has any questions regarding this issue, please feel free to let me or your manager know.

And yes, it all sounds reasonable though unfortunate.

[Link: Electric Facebook]

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

Dave Lester Named GM Lost Surfboards

by The Editors on April 24, 2014

Image004-5
Lost’s Mike Reola, Dave Lester, and Matt Biolos in front of a quiver to die for.

Lost Surfboards‘ Matt Biolos and Mike Reola have named former Quiksilver VP Global Wetsuit Division Dave Lester (above middle) as the General manager of Lost Surfboards.

“Dave will be overseeing all aspects of our surfboard business with his major focus being on sales, shop relationships, production, operations and marketing,” said Reola.
. . “Dave has so much experience in the business and is such a core surfer. His skill set, relationships and experiences are just what we were looking for in a General Manager,” said Biolos. “He is going to help us organize and streamline our surfboard business so that it runs more efficiently.”

It’s always nice to see people leave the fashion industry and get back to surfing. . . For the official word from Lost, follow the jump. [click to continue…]

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

Investors Call Potdevin “Dumpy”

by The Editors on April 23, 2014

Lululemon1You may remember Laurent Potdevin. A while ago he was the President of Burton Snowboards. He did that job for five years then went on to be the CEO of Toms Shoes. Most recently, Mr. Potdevin was named CEO of Lululemon (the yoga pants company started by Westbeach founder Chip Wilson). Things at the suburban mom shaping factory haven’t been going that well for Mr. Potdevin and some investors feel that has to do with Laurent’s pot belly, according to a story in the NY Post.

Meanwhile, some investors who attended the meeting said they were surprised to see that Potdevin, in his first major public appearance since he took the helm in January, didn’t exactly look the part of a fitness mogul. . . “He was kind of … dumpy,” one shareholder said, noting that Potdevin wore baggy clothes with an untucked shirt that failed to hide a bulging stomach . . “If he’s a competent leader, he’s a competent leader,” another investor said. “But you’ve got to ask whether this guy is really in touch with the mind-set of his core customer in the athletic space.”

Make a presentation on a bad day and the stock falls five percent. Being the CEO of a publicly traded company must be really fun.

[Link: NY Post]

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

Mervin Manufacturing Slims Staff

by The Editors on April 16, 2014

44604Sequimlibtech1Mn4-16-14Mervin Manufacturing, the snowboard company formerly owned by Quiksilver and sold to Altamont Capital Partners (owners of Dakine) last fall, has cut a full 20 percent of its staff according to a story in the Sequim Gazette. The employees were notified on March 30, 2014.

Pete Saari, co-founder of the Carlsborg factory-based company, confirmed that they restructured and cut 20 percent of their staff in late March after shifting from a public to a private business model in November 2013. . . “As part of a larger restructuring initiated by our return to a privately held business model we have renewed our commitment to a healthy build-to-order-manufacturing strategy,” Saari said. “An unfortunate result of this was a one-time adjustment to our staffing in our Carlsborg manufacturing facility.”

Most of the employees who were cut were described as “weekend employees of the snowboard division.” Just one more page in the seemingly unending story of Pete Saari and Mike Olson’s constantly evolving snowboard company. Yet still, those two remain. Thankfully.

[Link: Sequim Gazette]

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

IASC Summit Early Bird Registration Ending

by The Editors on April 15, 2014

iasc_header

The International Association of Skateboard Companies would like to remind you that early bird registration discounts for their Skateboarding Summit on May 14-16, 2014 in Costa Mesa, California are ending on April 18, 2014. In other words, if you’re planning on going you should register today (or in the next three days) by clicking here. Like right now.

The IASC Skateboarding Summit is a 3-day experience that brings skateboard industry leaders together in a non-competitive atmosphere to educate, connect, inspire, and broaden perspectives. Enthusiasts are encouraged to spread knowledge and relay a positive sense of community within the active sports world.

For the official word from the IASC, including a list of speakers and events follow the jump. [click to continue…]

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

Tim Windell Finds A Summer Camp Exit

by The Editors on April 2, 2014

We-Are-CampMt. Hood summer camp consolidation is well underway as Windells Camp and High Cascade Snowboard Camp join forces as We Are Camp, LLC. After shaping the world of snow summer camps and creating one of the most popular youth sports training brands in the world, former pro snowboarder Tim Windell appears to be taking a break.

“Combining the two camps has been a dream of mine since 2003,“ said Tim Windell, legendary world-champion snowboarder and Windells Camp founder. Windell will serve on the board in an advisory capacity to the company during the transition. Together, the brands offer an unrivaled summer snowboard and ski camp experience with three private terrain parks, Oregon’s best indoor and outdoor skate parks, two high-speed quad chairlifts, four surface tows, four BagJumps, two mini-pipes, and North America’s only Olympic-sized 22’ Summer Superpipe, which serves as the summertime Olympic training facility to the U.S. Snowboarding team and all major contending countries.

We’re stoked for Tim. Job well done! For the official word from We Are Camp, follow the jump. Or click here for an interview with Tim Windell and We Are Camp CEO Kevin English from Yobeat.com. [click to continue…]

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

Kelly Slater Changes His Shorts

by The Editors on April 1, 2014

Slater

Kelly Slater has left Quiksilver and few are surprised. The most surprising thing to us (aside from the April 1, 2014 roll out) is that news went out in a press release from the ASP. Why is Kelly Slater leaving Quiksilver an ASP news item? Oh yeah, that’s because Kelly owns has extremely close ties to the owners of the Association of Surfing Professionals.

Mr. Slater, however, was a true professional with his exit letter:

There is little I can say that would give the credit due or cover the debt of gratitude I feel on a personal and professional level to Quiksilver. As a brand and on a human level, they have been a part of my life, career, and personal relationships for more than 23 years now, well over half my life. They’ve supported me through good times and bad, personal hardships and competitive triumphs, and never wavered in backing my choices and desires in all that time.

Quiksilver founder Bob McKnight was equally professional and warm.

“Kelly has been a part of the Quiksilver family for over 20 years. It’s been an incredible journey watching him grow from a young surfer with great potential, to the 11-time World Champion he is today. We wish Kelly all the best as he enters this next phase of his career.”

Yes, it went on for a long time (23 years) and they created some iconic images together, but it was just a clothing sponsorship, and Kelly was just a model, and Quiksilver is just a giant clothing company dead set on selling swimsuits to the mall moving masses so we’re sure they’ll find cheaper, younger, more handsome men to model their products in the future. And Kelly, well, he’s moving on up to model for a huge French Fashion conglomerate (that owns Gucci, Alexander McQueen, Puma, and Volcom/electric]. Because if you’re going to model, it might as well be for the French. They invented it.

[Side note: we searched Kering’s site for “Kelly Slater” and the site replied: “Did you mean ‘helly later’?” Yes, that’s exactly what we meant.]

[Link: ASP]

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

Gary Vanyerchuk To Keynote Skate Summit

by The Editors on March 27, 2014

iasc_header

The IASC today announced that VanyerMedia’s Gary Vanyerchuk will be presenting the keynote address at the 2014 IASC Skateboarding Summit May 14-16, 2014 at the Westin South Coast Plaza Hotel in beautiful downtown Costa Mesa, California.

“Gary’s passion for his business and entrepreneurial spirit directly translates to everyone that works in our industry,” says Josh Friedberg, Executive Director of IASC. “The fact he has built up a following of smart marketers from within skateboarding is a testament to the universal strength of the information he shares and the strategies he lives and breathes.”

We guarantee that attending this keynote will leave you entertained, enlightened, inspired, and maybe even annoyed, but don’t let that stop you. Oh, and the event will also host the 2014 Skateboarding Hall of Fame induction of Gregg Carroll, Jim Muir, Steve Olson, Lance Mountain, Natas Kaupas, Laurie Turner DeMott and Ellen Oneal Deason. Yes, that Ellen Oneal. So you won’t want to miss that either.

For the official word from the IASC follow the jump.

[click to continue…]

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

Spy Sales Up 8 Percent In 2013

by The Editors on March 20, 2014

2013-SPY-LOGO-tm.jpgSpy released more mostly good news today while reporting financials for the year ended December 31, 2013. The company reported sales of $37.7 million. And that’s up $2.6 million over 2012.

“With continued strong SPY® brand sales and an annual SPY® brand growth of 8% for 2013 over 2012, we are happy to once again generate annual growth and achieve our 11th quarter in a row of year over year growth of our SPY® brand products. What is also noteworthy is we had income from operations of $0.4 million during 2013 compared to an operating loss of $5.0 million in 2012,” said Michael Marckx, President and CEO. “We not only managed to significantly reduce our operating expenses for 2013, but also increased our margin to 50% in 2013 from 46% in 2012, which is a dramatic positive shift for us. This directly reflects the strong demand for our product offering as well as the operational and manufacturing efficiencies that we have achieved over the past year.”

They also cut their net annual loss in more than half be going only $2.9 million into the red compared to $7.2 million in 2012. Nice work all around. For the official word from Spy, follow the jump. [click to continue…]

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

← Previous Entries

Next Entries →