Tony Hawk has a new watch sponsor and it’s Citizen, according to a story on Fast Company. It’s a smart watch, something Nixon never seemed interested in.
Hawk will be the face of Citizen’s second-generation CZ smartwatch, which was paraded out in Las Vegas at CES in January and is powered by research from NASA and artificial intelligence built with IBM Watson.
Space watch for the future that looks just like a watch. Nice work.
[Link: Fast Company]
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In one fell swoop, the entire surf industrial complex has disappeared from the world. Poof! All the stories, all the late-night parking lot parties and premieres, and all the dreams of kids from the dusty streets of middle America who longed to reach for the beach. Today, Jamie Salter’s oxymoronically named Authentic Brand Group has agreed to buy Boardriders (Quiksilver, Billabong, Roxy, DC Shoes, RVCA, Element, VonZipper, Surf Dive & Ski, and Honolua) from Oaktree Capital for a reported $1.28 billion, according to stories in the Chain Store Age and the Australian Financial Review. Here’s how Mr. Salter spins it:
Along with the great brands and impressive global reach that will come with this acquisition, we see Boardriders’ potential as a thriving online marketplace under Authentic’s ownership,” said Jamie Salter, founder, chairman and CEO of Authentic, whose brands include Reebok, Eddie Bauer, Nautica and many more. “With Boardriders’ proven retail playbook, we also see tremendous opportunities to accelerate the expansion of its shop-in-shops, branded retail stores, wholesale and e-commerce worldwide.”
By far the funniest quote is from Boardriders CEO Arne Arens:
We are proud of our deep connection to the global action sports community, industry-leading brands and world-class teams,” said Arne Arens, CEO of Boardriders. “Under Authentic’s ownership, Boardriders will be uniquely positioned to expand the reach of our iconic brands to millions of consumers, capture market share in our core categories and grow white spaces, including premium athleisure, training and lifestyle.”
We know Mr. Arens has to say this, but does anyone really believe it? We don’t. In the meantime, make sure you buy from. . . well, authentically authentic action sports brands that are privately owned and funded. If you know of any, please help us out and leave them in the comments.
[Link: Chain Store Age and Australian Financial Review]
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It begins with Ween and only gets better from there. Just a little reminder of how good Curren Caples is (as if we’d forgotten: thanks Gary). That’s all. Back to work.
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After 35 years in downtown Encinitas Mike McGill has moved his legendary McGill’s Skate Shop a couple blocks inland and sandwiched it right between Lazy Acres supermarket and Jersey Mikes at the northwest corner of Encinitas Blvd and the 5 (as they say in SoCal). The perfect spot if you’re looking for an organic salad to compliment your corporate sub and Birdhouse Skateboard. It was also the perfect spot for a 35th anniversary party on March 18, 2023 with most of the Bones Brigade and whole host of skate heads.
Everyone was there and thanks to Malik Jones we can see it all: Lance Mountain, Tony Hawk, Stacy Peralta, Hosoi, Stevie Cab, Kevin Staab, Grant Brittain, Paul “The Professor” Schmitt, Don Brown, Steve Van Doren, Alphonzo Rawls, and apparently of dumpload of professional autograph hunters doing business.
[Link: McGill’s Skate Shop]
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The US Postal Service is dropping in on Cowtown’s 21st Annual Phoenix Am Contest on Friday, March 24, 2023 to kick off the launch of their new Art of The Skateboard stamp series.
Fiercely independent and often rebellious, the skateboarding subculture crackles with raw creative energy. The bold artwork emblazoned on a skateboard deck is often as eye-catching and individualistic as a skater’s most breathtaking moves.
The stamps feature art by Crystal Worl, William James Taylor Jr, Federico “MasPaz” Frum, and Di’Orr Greenwood. For all the details (including special info for all you philatelists), please follow the jump.
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Pro skateboarder Terry Kennedy will be spending the few years in prison after being found guilty of “aggravated battery” in the death of 23-year-old skateboarder Josiah Kassahun. Kennedy also plead guilty to one count of threatening a public official which comes with an additional five-year sentence as well bringing the sentence to 10 years total, according to a story in The Daily Herald.
Kennedy must serve at least 50% of each sentence before being eligible for parole. He received credit for the more than 1½ years he has spent in jail awaiting trial and sentencing.
Guess that means he only has three and half more to go before a possible parole. Would be cool if he could make that work.
[Link: The Daily Herald]
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The word from Sporting Goods Business is that the hilariously miss-named zombie brand reanimator Authentic Brands Group (controlled by Jamie Salter) is closing in on a purchase of Quiksilver, Billabong, DC Shoes, Roxy, and Element parent company Boardriders, Inc. For those keeping track, this would make Salter the undisputed king of action sports. No one else is even close.
Authentic Brands Group has proposed a new term loan that it plans to use to support a potential acquisition of Boardriders, Inc., according to a report from Moody’s. . . Boardriders, owed by Oaktree Capital Management, has long been rumored to be on the selling block.
ABG already owns Vision Street Wear, Airwalk, and a very large piece of Volcom. And to think, he started out with the lowly Kemper Snowboards. Talk about tenacity in the business world. Someone hand Mr. Salter a medal!
[Link: SGB Online]
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Ever since Doug Palladini disappeared mysteriously and suddenly as Vans global brand president on March 17, 2022, we’ve had a nagging sense of “wonder what happened to Doug?” And not being close to Doug it was not a story we pursued with anything nearing tenacity. We’d ask here and there, some would make hints, but no one seemed to have the details, or was willing to share them with us.
Well, last month, on December 28, 2022 Doug shared his story with his Instagram followers. It goes something like this:
On December 28, 2021, I went to see the cardiologist with a strange “twinge” in my left shoulder. Two hours later, I was in the cardiac ICU and two days later I was recovering from quadruple bypass open heart surgery. Today, exactly one year later, as I watch the sun come up over the Sierra’s, I am overcome with gratitude: gratitude to still be here, gratitude for the doctors and nurses who literally saved my life, and gratitude for all of the friends and family who got me through a very difficult recovery. Because of your love and support I am today the healthiest I have been in 20 years, because without health, nothing else matters.
Great news. According to his most recent Insta post, Doug is now an adjunct professor at San Diego State University (his alma mater) teaching, no surprise, brand marketing and communications. As so many have pointed out, those seniors are lucky to tap into a wealth of in-the-trenches wisdom from someone who has done it all and done it well. Seriously.
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The San Francisco Standard has an interesting piece on Thrasher owner Tony Vitello made up of quotes from a September 2022 interview in which he discusses Jake Phelps’ fentanyl overdose and why Thrasher didn’t mention Phelps’ cause of death when the news broke. And, more importantly, why Tony was even willing to speak about Phelps’ death with The Standard in the first place:
“There was some concern about Jake’s parent’s reaction to how he passed. And my position was—and has always been—that his family’s word is the word I go by. And that’s why we’re here in this interview today because Marie [Phelps] told me that she wants to talk about it and that she thinks it’s important to talk about.”
This appears to be a follow-up/add-on of sorts on The Standard’s previous story by David Sjostedt titled The Killer of a Skateboarding Legend Went Unnamed for Years. Could Deaths Have Been Prevented?
No one is ever happy with these kinds of stories. And yes, it’s kind of sus to point the finger at anyone for how they handled a personal tragedy while they were in the middle of it. Drugs are bad, kids. Don’t do ’em.
[Link: The San Francisco Standard]
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Haven’t laughed this hard in a while. Thank you, Tony Hawk. Oh, and Aubrey Plaza.
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