by The Editors on August 22, 2012
In the quarter ended July 28, 2012 Pacific Sunwear saw an increase in net sales of $10 million over the same period in 2011, however, their loss from continuing operations was $17.5 million. But they have an excuse:
The loss from continuing operations for the Company’s second quarter of fiscal 2012 included a non-cash loss of $8.2 million, or $0.12 per share, related to a derivative liability that resulted from the issuance of the Convertible Series B Preferred Stock (the “Series B Preferred”) in connection with the term loan financing the Company completed in December 2011.
In other words, if it wasn’t for that thing they had to do to try to save themselves from bankruptcy they wouldn’t have lost as much money. CEO Gary H. Schoenfeld sees this as a good sign.
“Our 5% comparable store sales, 260 basis point increase in merchandise margins, and positive operating cash flow for the second quarter further demonstrate our belief that customers are beginning to rediscover PacSun, including our improved merchandising and brand mix, and our distinct Golden State of Mind brand identity,” said Schoenfeld. “Newer brands helped drive a 7% comp in our Men’s business, which represents our biggest increase in Men’s since 2004. Women’s continued to improve as well with a 2% comp and higher margins, and we also achieved a 15% increase in online sales.”
Nice to see a silver lining beginning to appear around the dark cloud that has been hanging over Pac Sun for years. If they stay at it they might even begin breaking even in five or 10 quarters. Follow the jump for the official info. [click to continue…]
by The Editors on August 20, 2012
DC Shoes co-founder and Gymkhana video star Ken Block has reportedly filed a lawsuit against Mad Media (the company that directed the first three Gymkhana videos) over their use of the word Gymkhana, according to a post on Jalopnik.
The lawsuit stems from the creation of Gymkhana.com, which focuses on rally, drift, and general car news. It features advertisements and includes links to Ken Block-related content, although it also carries the legal disclaimer “DISCLAIMER: This gymkhana.com website does not originate from, is not affiliated, connected, or associated with, and is not sponsored or approved by Ken Block or DC Shoes.” at the bottom of the page.
In the lawsuit, which was filed on Friday, August 17, 2012, Block’s lawyers claim that “By registering and using the domain name GYMKHANA.COM, Mad Media breached its contractual obligations to Plaintiffs to refrain from using the knowledge it gained from its contractual relationship with Plaintiffs to misappropriate, interfere with, or profit from opportunities and property in the GYMKHANA brand.” See, success ruins almost everything. Click the link for the rest of the story.
[Link: Jalopnik.com]
by The Editors on August 17, 2012
According to a story on Eonline.com, the Beastie Boys have filed a lawsuit against Monster Energy Drink “claiming the [company] tried to create “an association” with the Beastie Boys by using several of their hit tunes in a promotional campaign without properly licensing them.”
First up, the plaintiffs don’t want to see Monster Energy’s promotional video for its 2012 Ruckus in the Rockies event, which the suit claims was posted to the drink’s website in May, in its current incarnation ever again. . . According to the complaint, the video is “comprised substantially of excerpts from the Beastie Boys Sound Recordings and the Beastie Boys Musical Compositions totaling more than three minutes in duration.”
Looks like the group is sticking to the letter of Adam Yauch’s will in which he stated that “in no event may my image or name or any music or any artistic property created by me be used for advertising purposes.”
All this and being investigated by one state’s attorney general? It would appear that Monster is beginning to reap what it has sown.
[Link: EOnline, Boston.com and Forbes]
by The Editors on August 2, 2012
Click here for the complete photo gallery
For the past two days (August 1 – 2, 2012) the Agenda Show has packed buyers, brands, and the media into the Long Beach California Convention Center and dazzled them with a wild array of clothing, accessories, surfboards, and skateboards.
Because of its growing size it seemed like more than a few industry veterans still couldn’t help comparing the Agenda Show to the long defunct ASR Show. With the exception of a small area of tables (the Agenda Cafe) on the South East end of the center, the entire 224,000 square feet of floor space was filled.
Everything felt bigger. We had to park farther away. We walked in large groups from the parking garage. Inside on the Berrics Agenda skateboarding end of the show it was often difficult to walk down an aisle without having to say excuse me several times. It seemed too busy writing orders to even look up. And that played into the feeling of bigness even more.
“It’s really not that much bigger,” Agenda Co-founder Aaron Levant said. “We have about 50 new brands, but we also had a few brands that wanted to increase the size of their booths.”
Even with those increases, however, at least one of the brands who took more space this year believed they could have used even more. “We’ve been writing orders all day,” said a partner at one clothing brand. “And our sales manager came back to me and said if we had more room to show the line we could have written more orders.”
With that kind of thinking Agenda can only get bigger. But one thing is for sure: the Agenda Show is still virtually free of the bikini models that seemed to get so much play back in the day. “We did let one exhibitor have a model,” Levant said. “But that’s because they’re a clothing company that makes bikinis and buyers need to see how they fit.”
To check out the people and products we saw at Agenda click the link for complete photo gallery.
by The Editors on July 31, 2012
The action fashion and skate worlds convene in Long Beach, California beginning tomorrow (August 1, 2012) as Agenda and The Berrics Agenda show kicks off in the Long Beach Convention Center. Stay tuned here for full coverage (follow us on Instagram or Twitter @boardistan) or click the link for more info from Agenda.
[Link: Agenda Show]
by The Editors on July 30, 2012
Surfer Magazine gives the “for girls” publication genre another go with Salted, “a much-overdue homage to women’s surfing,” according to the release.
“There are so many amazing female surfers right now and so many interesting stories that aren’t being told,” says SURFER Magazine Managing Editor, Janna Irons. “It’s great to finally give them the attention they deserve—and to have a home for all the beautiful images we’ve collected. I’m so excited we were able to create something that celebrates all we’ve been missing out on.”
We’ll say this again: if advertisers want to keep spending money on magazines that their target market will never read, why should publishers get in the way. Take the money, make the profit, and move on. Salted will be on newsstands until October 16, 2012 and as an annual one-off we could see it working. For the official word from Surfer Magazine, follow the jump. [click to continue…]
by The Editors on July 30, 2012
We mentioned this several times, but the great thing about starting a business in 2012 America is that there will never be a worse time to kick one off. Brian Wenning announced over the weekend that he is launching a new skateboard brand called Lockdown. Jenkem Magazine has an interview with Wenning that includes all the details.
Why did Wenning start it?
Because when is this bullshit recession gonna end? And in a recession if you put in 14 hours of work or whatever I don’t think you are gonna waste your money buying a fucking Element board. There’s also good things about a recession, like there are so many good skaters right now that aren’t hooked up.
Click the link for the rest of the interview.
[Link: Jenkem Mag]
by The Editors on July 27, 2012
The SnowSports Industries America released their participation numbers from the 2011-2012 winter season and as you might imagine (given last season’s dismal snowfall) and aside from snowshoeing and Telemarking everything was down.
Overall, snow sports participation fell from 21M to 19.8M. An additional 8.8M people said they considered themselves skiers or snowboarders, but have not participated in the last two seasons, most often due to time constraints. Alpine ski participation fell 11% to 10.2M, snowboarding participation declined 8% to 7.6M and cross country skiing participation fell 5% to 4.3M participants.
We’re guessing splitboarding would have been up as well if it had been tracked. When financial times are tough, we would expect more people to be taking to the backcountry and skipping the $100 a day lift tickets. Follow the jump for the official word from SIA. [click to continue…]
by The Editors on July 26, 2012
After walking the packed aisles of the Agenda NYC show last week in Soho it is no surprise that organizers are now calling it the “most successful New York show since its inception in 2003.”
“The biggest highlight of this show is the new location,” said Aaron Levant, Agenda President. “This is one of the biggest fashion hubs in the world and being so central has really helped boost the attendance and importance. We’re just scratching the surface.”
All that and the Agenda Show in Long Beach, California beginning August 1, 2012. Click here to view photos from the show, or follow the jump for the official word from Agenda. [click to continue…]
by The Editors on July 26, 2012
The Barker Hangar, on the edge of the Santa Monica Airport’s tarmac, is a small, large space that seemed just right for GLM Shows (Surf Expo’s parent company) first step into West Coast fashion trade shows.
The Launch LA show, held July 25 -26, 2012, featured predominantly small brands that were not skate, not street, not only for men, and not overtly surf, though many leaned that way. The aisles weren’t packed, however, most booths saw a seemingly constant flow of interested people rolling through, catching up, and learning the stories of new new brands.
Launch organizers stated goal to expose small and emerging brands seemed to find traction. Some brands like Eric Wallis‘ &Work have never been to a trade show before. “This is our first show ever,” Wallis said. “We’re in shops in the Northwest, but we wanted to spread the brand message in Southern California. And this seemed right.”
Others have been doing shows for years, but thanks to recent projects their brand has been exposed to a whole new retail audience. “The work we’ve done with the One California Day hat (Mark Jeremias and Jason Baffa’s film) has opened us up into some shops that we’ve never been in before,” said Toes on the Nose’s John Allred. “And Launch is a neat opportunity to mingle in with some other brands.”
Allred was right. Launch LA was small, cool, intimate, and relaxed and we were pleasantly surprised. Click here for the full photo gallery.
In the quarter ended July 28, 2012 Pacific Sunwear saw an increase in net sales of $10 million over the same period in 2011, however, their loss from continuing operations was $17.5 million. But they have an excuse:
