by The Editors on August 21, 2009
Zumiez didn’t really have the greatest news to report yesterday during their Q2 conference call (click here for a complete transcript). Their same store sales were down 18.8 percent vs. last year, total sales fell $6.5 million, and they operated on a loss of $3 million ($.10 a share) for the quarter (down from a $2.7 profit a year ago). But, it wasn’t as bad as analysts thought, according to a story in Puget Sound Business Journal.
Over at Pacific Sunwear things were a little different. Their Q2 same store sales dropped 24 percent and they had a net loss of $14.2 million ($.22 a share) for the quarter.
Discussions on Twitter yesterday were asking why there was such a difference between two retail chains that basically sell the same product in the same malls. To us the answer is obvious. From the sales people at the mall all the way up to the executives running the company, Zumiez knows that first and foremost they are selling a lifestyle. And they know that in order to sell the style they need to be connected to the life. This shows in Zumiez promotions, branding, and especially in their employees. PacSun, on the other hand, appears to be simply trying to sell clothing.
This is why, more than anything else, we believe Zumiez is doing better the PacSun in what is a pretty dismal market. And with Zumiez stock up 17 percent this morning and PacSun is down 12 percent, it would appear that the street agrees.
[Link: Puget Sound Business Journal, Forbes, and Seeking Alpha]
by The Editors on August 20, 2009
Yep. Looks like Grant “Twiggy” Baker got a pretty good one on Sunday, according to a Pete Thomas blog post in the LA Times.
“Obviously this was a historic day for us at Dungeons, not just the size of the waves but also how clean it was and that it lasted an entire day,” said Grant “Twiggy” Baker, who is South Africa’s premier big-wave charger. “This is very unusual and the fact that we got to surf it for 10 hours straight meant we became very comfortable out there and managed to push ourselves that little further.”
That is a man-size paddle. . .
[Link: LA Times]
by The Editors on August 20, 2009
Today the two big action sports fashion mall retailers are going to kick down their quarterly earnings and make their pitches to analysts who have an inordinate amount of control over the companies’ stock prices.
Pac Sun will go first at 1:30 PST followed by Zumeiz at 2 PM. Both will likely be reporting more dismal news from the shopping centers of North America, but we never know. Back to school could be coming up hard.
Click the links below to listen in.
[Link: PacSun Conference Call and Zumiez Conferenc Call]
by The Editors on August 19, 2009
The Australian’s writier Fred Pawle just won’t let go of this “rebel slater tour” story. Today’s big story is that the main player won’t return his email.
Pawle says boxing promoter Mat Tinley won’t return answers to emailed questions, Kelly Slater didn’t reply to emailed questions, and Slater manager Terry Hardy “declined to be interviewed over the phone.”
Vans Marketing VP and SIMA President Doug Palladini, on the other hand, had no problem discussing the situation.
He said the rebel threat had helped the stakeholders of the existing tour, administered by the Association of Surfing Professionals, to work together. . . “Using the new competition to make the ASP tour stronger is the best possible outcome of the current challenge,” he said. “The brands that represent the tour are meeting now to discuss a priority of must-haves for 2010. I am not at liberty to discuss specifics at this time but fans can rest assured that the 2010 tour will see strong improvements.”
Some of those improvement include fewer surfers on the tour, according to ASP CEO Brodie Carr. But not until 2011. The person who put the entire Slater tour concept into the best persepctive was Hawai’ian Triple Crown’s Randy Rarick .
“I started adding up the numbers and thought, it doesn’t work,” he said. “I don’t see someone can sell enough advertising to merit this kind of outlay. Conceptually it sounds good but when you put it on paper the costs are astronomical. These guys are talking major, major bucks. I don’t care if they’re talking to Nike or whoever, they’re not going to put that kind of money up because they are not going to see a return on their investment. . . “I think the reality of financing this thing is just not coming together as they had hoped. I don’t think the money is there.”
And if anyone would know about surf event sponsors’ ROI, it would be Mr. Rarick.
[Link: The Australian]
by The Editors on August 19, 2009
It would appear that Greensboro, North Carolina based online and brick and mortar retailer Boardparadise.com has been forced into “involuntary Chapter 7 bankruptcy proceedings,” according to a story in The Business Journal.
Crossroad Sports Inc., the corporate name of Triad-based action sports equipment and apparel retailer Boardparadise, has entered involuntary Chapter 7 bankruptcy proceedings following complaints from four out-of-state creditors who say they’re owed more than $785,000. . . Burton claims it is owed about $563,000. . . Sole Technology Inc., based in Lake Forest, Calif., joined the petition Aug. 7, saying it is owed about $113,000. . . Robert M. Weinstein, a Greensboro attorney representing the four creditors, said Crossroad Sports has until Aug. 27 to respond, which the company had not done as of Wednesday.
And there are even more creditors interested in getting paid . . .doesn’t sound good.
[Link: The Business Journal]
by The Editors on August 17, 2009
The Maui News has just noticed that Kai Barger, 19, has been doing pretty well lately in the world of surfing and they’re telling their readers in story titled, Barger Riding Wave Of Success.
Kai Barger has been on a surfing cloud nine since graduating from King Kekaulike High School last year. . . The 19-year-old Haiku resident hopes the dream continues when he competes at the $145,000 Sooruz Lacanu Pro in France. The holding period for the Association of Surfing Professionals World Qualifying Series contest starts today. . . Barger’s dream run started when he was featured on the cover of surfing’s legendary publication, Surfer magazine, last October. In January, Barger won the $64,000 Billabong ASP Junior World Championship in North Narrabean, Australia, defeating Judson Andre of Brazil in the final. . . Barger continued his dream year in May, winning the $10,000 Oakley Junior Pro at Lower Trestles, Calif. . . .Then last month, it was on to Huntington Beach, Calif., the self-proclaimed ”Surf City USA” and the home of the U.S. Open of Surfing. . . Barger surfed four heats in overhead surf to win the junior pro.
Click the link for the rest of the story.
[Link: The Maui News]
by The Editors on August 17, 2009
Big hat company New Era Cap Co. Inc has reportedly purchased the Miami based apparel manufcaturer 5th & Ocean according to a story in the Buffalo Business First.
5th & Ocean, a privately held firm, is a minority-certified manufacturer of licensed team sports and private-label items ranging from fleeces and tank tops to hooded sweatshirts and athletic shorts. Its client list includes Major League Baseball, Victoria’s Secret/PINK, Disney Theme Parks, the Dallas Cowboys and K2 Sports. . . “To ensure the long-term growth of New Era in this changing economic landscape, we need to look for strategic ways to diversify our business,” said Chris Koch, New Era chief executive officer. “This acquisition of 5th & Ocean continues to move us forward with our strategy to become a well-rounded lifestyle brand. This was an opportunity we simply could not pass up.”
Big hats, big wallet.
[Link: Buffalo Business First]
by The Editors on August 17, 2009
Crazy what people will do for money, huh? After learning all the secrets of skateboarding, now it’s time to get our snowboarding minds tuned up.
Imagine that you begin training with these new techniques and within a few short days you step on the board and feel the immense sensation of unstoppable confidence like you can do anything. You start landing all the tricks you could do before with much greater ease and style. You begin to learn new tricks at an extremely accelerated rate and you are progressing far beyond what you ever thought possible. You are now a snowboard Prodigy. You now have the ability to stare down icy city handrails and monster jumps with total confidence. You’ll catch everyone’s eye as you roll through the park with ease landing all your tricks with confidence and style, leaving your friends to ask the question “How the hell did you get so good so fast?”
Ah, you paid $47 for all the secrets in the Snowboard Jedi series, of course.
[Link: Snowboard Jedi]
by The Editors on August 17, 2009
Don’t act surprised. Jamie O’Brien defeated Made “Bol” Adi Putra to win the Rip Curl Cup Padang Padang Invitational. Apparently, there were boat loads of barrells. . . .click here for a Surfline slideshow.
[Link: Rip Curl Asia and Surfline]
by The Editors on August 17, 2009
Zumiez didn’t really have the greatest news to report yesterday during their Q2 conference call (click here for a complete transcript). Their same store sales were down 18.8 percent vs. last year, total sales fell $6.5 million, and they operated on a loss of $3 million ($.10 a share) for the quarter (down from a $2.7 profit a year ago). But, it wasn’t as bad as analysts thought, according to a story in Puget Sound Business Journal.
