Sedition Surfboards (aka Cheapsurfboards.net.au), a shop on Australia’s Gold Coast owned by Neil Rech, 34, is reportedly selling China produced surfboards for $250 a pop and has understandably caused a bit of a stir in Coolangatta, according to a post on Businessweek.
Rival retailers averse to discounts and upset about local job losses questioned his patriotism, and even threatened violence, he said. . . “It’s quite heavy,” Rech, 34, said of the backlash. After teaching for two years in China before opening a store in Coolangatta, Queensland, “I realized how cheap you can actually get these boards so I thought it’d be a great opportunity to bring them here and sell them to the public cheaper.”
The best part of the whole story is Rech’s response that eventually the China pricing will be better for everyone’s business: “It’s like sticking a fat man on a treadmill,” he said. “First he doesn’t like it, but then he gets into it.” Apparently Rech is a glutton for punishment.
Launch LA the new west coast action fashion trade show from Surf Expo owner GLM Shows has announced the first round of companies that it’s “panel of advisory jurors has approved” to exhibit at their show in Santa Monica, California on July 25-26, 2011.
This Thursday, January 5, 2012, the action sports and street wear industries will gather in Long Beach, California for the January Agenda Show. For longtime industry heads this is a return to the Long Beach Convention Center after a eight-year absence and from the look of the list of the over 400 companies who will be exhibiting it’s going to be just like old times only better.
The message boards have been packed with this news for months, but yesterday (January 2, 2012) DC Shoes officially announced that they had made two “massive additions” to their skate program with Mike Mo Capaldi (formerly of Lakai) and Nyjah Huston (footwear free agent).
As usual, this announcement was followed by a flurry of comments from industry insiders and skate kids who don’t believe the publicly traded Quiksilver has skateboarding’s best interest in mind when it signs up major players.
One long-time skate industry head said:
Again skateboarders have sold themselves to a corporate giant who doesn’t care about skateboarding, just money. Happy 4 the skaters, though.
Another fired back:
. . . as long as that company funds skateparks, pays skaters well, makes cool videos and puts on cool events I’m backin’ it.
The first replied:
I know. Getting harder to hate buying credibility. I know it’s not rational but stills feel weird. Happy for skaters though.
Before getting all emotionally involved just remember: skateboarding and skateboarders are just the little donkeys who help drag the footwear marketing machine to the masses.
As if Mountain Dew’s caffeinated, carbonated high fructose corn syrup weren’t enough of a strain on the health of snowboarders and skateboarders, scientists are now suggesting further study of another of the soft drink’s ingredients brominated vegetable oil, according to a story on Scientific American.
Patented by chemical companies as a flame retardant, and banned in food throughout Europe and Japan, BVO has been added to sodas for decades in North America. Now some scientists have a renewed interest in this little-known ingredient, found in 10 percent of sodas in the United States. . . After a few extreme soda binges—not too far from what many gamers regularly consume—a few patients have needed medical attention for skin lesions, memory loss and nerve disorders, all symptoms of overexposure to bromine.
Hell yeah! Drink more Mountain Dew, kids. You may have all kinds of problems, but at least you won’t spontaneously burst into flames.
Guess we’re going to have to rename that action sports tour the “flame retardant, caffeinated, carbonated high fructose corn syrup tour,” or the FRCCHFCS Tour for short.
Sole Tech/etnies has lost another one as 2011 Street League champ Sean Malto officially moves over to Nike SB. Says Malto:
“I’ve always been a fan of Eric Koston and Paul Rodriguez. Being on the same team as them is truly amazing. Plus, Nike has always been the leading brand in sports, with the most incredible athletes past and present—including my favorites Michael Jordan and Kevin Durant. It’s just an honor to be associated with a company like Nike. I feel like we can do awesome things in and for skateboarding!”
Funny how long it takes for the rumors to be official. Guess all these contracts are on the calendar year. Follow the jump for the official word from Nike. [click to continue…]
The suits claim that all three companies continue to manufacture products that infringe patent (US D572,865 S) for a helmet with a small brim. The helmets Bern claims are infringing include the Red Mutiny, the Vans Pro-Tec Riot and the Salomon Ghost and Brigade Audio.
In their “Prayer For Relief” Bern lawyers from the Boston, Massachusetts firm Birnbaum & Godkin are requesting that Burton, Vans, and Amer Sports enjoin from further infringement and that Bern Unlimited, Inc. be awarded “damages in an amount to be proven at trial” and “multiple damages, costs and attorneys fees.”
The patent, awarded to Jonathan Baker of Thornton, New Hampshire on July 8, 2008, shows a helmet that looks much like a batting helmet with no ear covers and a shorter brim. It will be interesting to see if lawsuits based on helmet brim length do in court.
For a full view of the patent (and the lawsuit filed against) follow the jump. [click to continue…]
New Smyrna Beach, Florida’s Frictionsurf and skate shop is using Apple FaceTime technology to “bridge the gap” between online and brick and mortar shopping. Every day, between 12 – 7 PM EST, customers with an Apple device can speak directly with sales people on the floor.
“I’d been implementing social media and in-store / online connections for about a year at my other store before opening Friction,” Friction partner and executive buyer Evan Rebadow says. “To me this is the evolution of a concept where small boutique stores like ours can compete online by offering personal interaction. It’s one thing to read about a surf board on a static website, it’s something completely different to be able to dial us up on your iPhone from anywhere you have service and talk to us one on one about what kind of surf you’re going to be riding it in and how it performs for your skill level.
Seems like a phone call would be just as effective, but then that wouldn’t have caught our attention. Follow the jump for the official word. [click to continue…]
The first member of what we hearing will be solid skate team was announced yesterday when Praxis Footwear welcomed Karl Watson to the family.
“We at Praxis are excited to have a skate legend and pioneer like Karl Watson as the foundation of our team” comments co-founder William Rienzi. “We believe he is the perfect embodiment of the Praxis brand. Karl stands for both breaking boundaries and bridging communities in his daily life — this is theory driven action. We look forward to a long term partnership with Karl as we rise together to build Praxis.
We’ll all get a chance to check out Praxis’ new line of skate shoes at booth #E3 of the Agenda Show, January 5-6, 2011 in Long Beach, California. Follow the jump for the official word. [click to continue…]
Sedition Surfboards (aka Cheapsurfboards.net.au), a shop on Australia’s Gold Coast owned by Neil Rech, 34, is reportedly selling China produced surfboards for $250 a pop and has understandably caused a bit of a stir in Coolangatta, according to a post on Businessweek.
