Justin Heit has followed what seems to be a classic career path in the world of action sports: surfer, magazine designer, graphic designer, agency owner, and now, with RAEN a brand launcher.
According to an interview on Surfing the Mag, Justin certainly knows how to speak the language.
There is so much product out there that exists for the wrong reasons. Being a successful brand in this marketplace during this generation is more than creating a product to sell and be purchased. R A E N Optics strives to make an emotional connection with our demographic by creating a relationship touching on the ideal, yet realistic, lifestyle of our friends. We are not about excess. We are about giving people a timeless, tangible and quality item to function in their active lifestyle.
Damn, our heads are spinning. For more elevated aesthetics peep the rest of the interview.
We’ll say it straight up: there is still no real snow in California. The San Francisco Chronicle breaks down the NorCal bleakness (Mt. Shasta pictured right).
Temperatures as high as the 60s this past week at mountain resorts mean that most ski and snowboard runs are bare and the lifts deserted. But there are exceptions.
Those exceptions: Boreal, Heavenly, Mt. Rose, and Mammoth. Keep praying.
Help send Slap Skateboard Magazine off in its digital journey on Saturday night (December 6, 2008) at On Six Gallery in San Francisco. NorCal party of the season with John Cardiel mixing up some soundwaves.
Steve Jones is a former VP of visuals at Quiksilver and Pete Zehnder launched Alva Skates (with Tony Alva) back in the 70s. Now, according to a story in the OC Register, the two action sports veterans have turned to repackaging suburban homes in Costa Mesa under the name Better Shelter. Their latest project is called 12@ELDEN.
He [Steve] and Pete came up with the idea because Costa Mesa is the birthplace of the surf industry: Hurley, Quiksilver, Billabong, Volcom. “So you have all these amazing companies and in these amazing companies you have all these creative people. So if you’re a kid who works in the surf industry, like where would you want to live? That customer has been largely ignored in Orange County.”
In the spirit of keeping the houses “green” the builders preserved the original footprint of the house, rather than scrap everything and start over. The landscape is drought resistant. The floors are recycled hardwood or Forest Stewardship Counsel certified. Buyers can upgrade to solar panels.
The 12 “condo” units look really well kitted and are located in eastside Costa Mesa. The are priced in the mid- to upper $500k range. The 12@ELDEN launch party is tonight (December 4, 2008) from 6-8 p.m. Thursday at 2381 Elden Ave, Costa Mesa, California. Click here for photos of the entire project.
In the on-going South African legal feud between “wealthy Knysna socialite” Lesley Young and her former surfer boyfriend Ian Macdonald it appears that the surfer has ridden one wave to the beach. Macdonald, who co-founded the world famous Durban 500 surf contest in 1969, has won a defamation case again Young who “falsely accused him of poisoning her.”
After a seven-year romantic stint with her surfing beau, Lesley Young, a breeder of Arabian horses and widow of an apartheid-era homeland minister, must now pay Ian McDonald R160000 [$16,000], and legal and other costs.
But that’s not the half of it. Macdonald, whom Young dumped in May for 2006, is still suing Young for half of her R30 million [$3 million] estate and in another case has made a R280000 [$28,000] claim that Young has “wrongfully and maliciously … launching a false and unfounded application for a protection order … against him.” Which reminds us: money and power causes brain damage.
Billabong is letting investors know that for the second straight year their first-half earnings-per-share are going to fall according to a story on Bloomberg.com.
Slowing demand in the U.S. “has accelerated throughout November,” Gold Coast-based Billabong said in a statement today. The company cut its forecast for annual EPS growth between 6 percent and 10 percent in the year ending June, down from an October prediction for a rise of as much as 16 percent. . . . The reduced annual EPS forecast comes less than six weeks after Billabong raised earnings expectations citing a slump in the Australian dollar.
It appears the U.S. economy is causing more problems than a slumping Australian dollar can make up for.
The core mall retailer Zumiez came in a little ahead of the street on their November same-store sales numbers according to a story on Forbes.com.
Zumiez Inc. said on Wednesday same-store sales fell 15 percent in November, compared with an increase of more than 5 percent in the year-earlier period. . . . Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected sales to fall 15.3 percent.
Net sales, however, only fell 2 percent to $32.6 million and the stock was up on the day (not that the two things had much to do with each other).
It’s tomorrow night, it kicks off the Tampa Am. It’s the Annual Welcome to Tampa Art Show and Party. This year coming as a shock to no one the art part of the party is about beer. Here’s the word from Creative Loafing.
The exhibit, playfully dubbed 99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall, is the brainchild of Chad Cardoza, a local artist who’s been a player in some of the year’s most engaging art offerings. . . The collection of approximately 99 bottles — produced by roughly half as many artists — will go on display at the Skatepark’s recently revamped snack bar during the party. Cardoza expects each piece to sell for about $40, though some may be priced higher or lower, making the bottles an affordable entrée to collecting art.
The bottles shown were painted by Jimbo Phillips, Mike Aho, Durke Schmidt, Travis Millard, Ky Baker,Don Pendleton (two red and white abstract bottles), Mike Le Merde and Jennifer Alfonso. It almost makes us want to blow a Southwest free ticket and fly out for the art show and check out the Tampa Am on the side. The Castle is calling.
Thurs., Dec. 4, 8 p.m., Skatepark of Tampa, 4215 E. Columbus Drive, Tampa, (813) 621-6793,
Bruce Jenkins kicks down details from last weekend’s first winter swell at Maverick’s in the San Francisco Chronicle. With talk of perfect sunny skies, monster waves and Greg Long’s serious hold down, it looks like things are off to a good start.
By Sunday morning, crystal-clear with a stiff offshore wind, Maverick’s was a sight to behold. Giant waves pulsed through the reef without a drop of water out of place. “Maybe the most photogenic day we’ve ever had,” said Washburn, likening the scene to the weeklong swell in December of 1994 (the one that killed big-wave star Mark Foo two days before Christmas). “It was stunning all day, but when the wind dropped and the tide went out in the late afternoon, it was basically as good and perfect as anyone could recall.”
Justin Heit has followed what seems to be a classic career path in the world of action sports: surfer, magazine designer, graphic designer, agency owner, and now, with RAEN a brand launcher. 
