by The Editors on December 5, 2011
Nothing makes holiday revelers feel older than knowing they’re going to a party that’s been going on longer than most snowboarders have been alive. On the other hand, the 19th Annual Black & White Holiday Gig shows just how deeply 686’s snow roots go.
A crowd of nicely dressed invited guests cued up in front of Hermosa Beach, California’s Club 705 at 8:30 PM Friday, December 2, 2011 waiting to be let in to the 19th Annual 686 Black & White Holiday Gig. On the curb, and drawing a crowd from randoms was the new 686 x Scion Ultimate snow car.
Once inside it was classic 686 black and white: photo booths, caricature artists, a taco guy, Peligroso shots, a DJ, and an open bar. 686’s Mike West ran the party all night long making sure everyone had exactly what they needed (and then some). Happy Holidays.
Follow the jump for more photos from the night. [click to continue…]
by The Editors on December 1, 2011
Zumiez reportedly beat the street again in Q3 with net income up 14.8 percent to $14.1 million, according to a story on Wall St. Cheat Sheet.
Rick Brooks, Chief Executive Officer of Zumiez Inc., stated, “Our merchandise, new store opening, and commerce strategies once again allowed us to deliver on our goal of consistent sales and earnings growth. During the third quarter we continued to execute on key initiatives aimed at driving productivity, expanding our geographic footprint, and bringing our unique in-store experience to the internet. We are pleased with the current pace of growth for our business and believe our product assortment has us well positioned for the remainder of the holiday selling period.”
Now, 2010 was a really, really bad year in retails, but high fives all around anyway. Follow the jump for the official press release and all those confusing numbers. [click to continue…]
by The Editors on November 29, 2011
Last summer, OG pro shred turned businessman Travis Wood partnered with Ronnie Tambourine on DayTripperGear.com an online retail site specializing in bargain accessories. Now, they’ve launched a Day Tripper retail store Grass Valley, California to go along with the website.
“Sunglasses, goggles, watches, t-shirts, hoodies, gloves, sandals, boardshorts… these are the types of products we are showcasing, as these are the items that consumers, including ourselves, tend to buy often”, says Tambourine. . . “Product categories and brands are being added to the mix constantly and the received response to both our online store and the physical location has been tremendous”. We are excited to have these new opportunities,” added Wood.
Day Tripper is located at 158 Olympia Park Road, in Grass Valley, California. Follow the jump for the official word. [click to continue…]
by The Editors on November 28, 2011
Former Transworld Media employee Monica Campana is back at T-Dub as the Publisher of Transworld Skateboarding after leaving a similar position nearly six years ago.
“Rejoining TransWorld SKATEboarding at its 30-year anniversary is both sublime and surreal,” comments Monica. “It is with incredible excitement that I return to a title which is dedicated to excellence and progressivism within the skateboarding community. The pioneering and creative culture associated with TWSKATE’s brand is a well reputed and trusted one. I am honored to be a part of this insanely talented team.”
If there is anyone who can help bring back the magic, it’s Monica. Follow the jump for the official word from Transworld. [click to continue…]
by The Editors on November 28, 2011
The New York Post is saying that things at action mall retailer PacSun aren’t going as well as many at the company would like.
“Dude — if you can front us some dough to help cover the rent now, there will be a sweet payoff later.”
That, in essence, is the deal that surf-and-skate retailer Pacific Sunwear of California has been floating with private-equity investors as it scrambles for cash to pay the punishing leases for its struggling, mall-based shops. . . In addition to shuttering dozens of its more than 800 stores this year and haggling with landlords for lower rents, PacSun recently hired Los Angeles investment bank Guggenheim Partners to raise cash, sources told The Post.
Sadder news still is that it seems few investors are interested in chaining themselves to the PacSun anchor. Looks like it won’t be long now.
[Link: New York Post]
by The Editors on November 25, 2011
When shares of Billabong dropped 12.5 percent on Thanksgiving Day everyone was a bit surprised. In fact, the company has no explanation for it at all, according to a story in the Herald Sun.
The unexpected surge in trading volumes on Thursday prompted the Australian Securities Exchange to write to Billabong, asking the company if it had any undeclared information that could explain the activity. . . Billabong responded yesterday by saying it was not aware of any information significant to the company that had not been announced.
The sell off (which was reportedly the busiest trading day since August) saw 9.26 million shares traded and the Billabong stock to $3.64. Taj Burrow winning a contest didn’t scare people that much did it?
[Link: Herald Sun]
by The Editors on November 25, 2011
Never Summer Snowboards have always been outliers in the snowboard industry. And they’ve always seemed to like that. But in this profile in Entrepreneur Magazine we get the back story how they became one of snowboarding’s biggest little brands and how they reportedly “Shredded The Snowboard Industry With Innovation” while building boards in the USA.
It all started, appropriately enough, in a garage. The brothers, who lived in Fort Collins, launched Swift Snowboards with their friend Scott Rolfs out of their home in 1983, a year after they were introduced to the sport. Tim Canaday, just 14 at the time, and four years Tracey’s junior, built the first snowboard in his wood shop class. “Tracey and Scott were figuring out the business, and I was good at building things, so I gave them advice on how to build a mold that I just learned from my shop teacher,” he says.
Click the link to read the rest.
[Link: Entrepreneur Magazine]
by The Editors on November 17, 2011
On her appearance on one of the last episodes of Fuel TV’s now cancelled show The Daily Habit, Tara Dakides was wearing a shirt that said, “Omatic Not 4 Riders.”
Apparently, she’s not to happy with the way things went down at the snowboard company that she was at one time involved with. Here’s what Dakides said on her Facebook page:
Omatic used to be something I was proud to stand behind because for me it meant Pure Snowboard Love, Fun, Creativity and Rider Owned. We were little but strong until greed walked in the door. I walked away a few years ago with a fight, but that fight has come to an end. I am no longer owner of what Omatic used to be. After a year of Lawyers trying to settle, the fight is over. Good did not win and now Omatic is for Sale. Omatic is owned by an attorney who knows nothing about what true snowboarding is and a lot of good people who believed in Omatic where taken advantage of. . .
Strangely, Tara didn’t mention Todd Richards or Jason Kanes. Or course, it didn’t take long for Richards to add a comment on her post:
hey tara…did you pay hampus tara louie and chenille out of your own pocket ? i did you. . . remember there are two sides to every story and i lost a shitload of cash on omatic. i don’t really remember you putting any hard cash into the company…have a nice day.
It’s rough when a dream dies. But sometimes, “that’s just business.” For the rest, click the link.
[Link: Tara Dakides’ Facebook]
by The Editors on November 16, 2011
Action headphone maker Skullcandy is reportedly suing a company called Skelanimals because their logo is similar to the publicly traded companies skull face, according to a story in the Salt Lake City Tribune.
“The skull logos used by defendants … is likely to cause confusion … or to deceive the consuming public,” according to the trademark-infringement suit filed in U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City. . . “We have registered trademarks on that skull across the world, particularly in the headphone category. We are recognized globally for that skull,” said Tom Burton, associate general counsel for Skullcandy. “We try to resolve these issues through friendly negotiations but not everyone respects our intellectual property, and we have to protect it.”
Skelanimals says their design were copyrighted in 2008. Okay, so the eyes, nose and teeth, maybe?
[Link: Salt Lake City Tribune]
by The Editors on November 16, 2011
After six years as Marketing Director of the International Association of Skateboard Companies Laurie Bergthold has announced that she is leaving the skateboarding trade organization to join Tony Hawk’s motion media production company 900 Films. Bergthold said:
Thanks to everyone who has had a hand in such amazing projects as Go Skateboarding Day to creating the Skateboarding Summit. IASC is in great hands with Josh [Friedberg] and while the decision to leave was a difficult one, I can only hope that my nearly 6 years of service has helped pave the way for him to work toward a new and improved trade association for skateboarding.
Bergthold says she will be working on 900 Films new Youtube action sports channel Ride. The channel, part of Youtube’s new content strategy, is set to launch on January 16, 2012.
