by The Editors on April 30, 2010
The Gumball Rally 3000 is a race in which a bunch of rich guys (some extremely annoying) race around the world in their six-figure cars and party every night with strippers and/or highly educated, intelligent, caring women who dress and act like them.
To honor these daring young men and their driving machines Nixon Watches has created a special timepiece and two headphone styles which will be sold beginning May 1, 2010 only in retailers that are on the Gumball route.
Created in collaboration with Gumball 3000, Nixon’s limited edition Rubber Player features a black silicone case/band with a custom gold caseback, crown and hands and co-branded artwork on the case and will retail for $200 USD. Joining the Rubber Player in the Gumball collection is The Whip and The Wire, two of Nixon’s most popular headphones. Each headphone model in this collection is available in a matte black finish with gold accents and custom Nixon x Gumball artwork and will retail for $60 USD (The Whip) and $75 USD (The Wire). All three products will be available and on-sale at Nixon retailers along the rally route in London, Amsterdam, Boston, Quebec, Toronto and New York City beginning May 1st.
There may be a worse reason to buy a new watch or pair of headphones. If we come up with it, we’ll let you know.
[Link: Nixon Now via Top Speed]
by The Editors on April 29, 2010
Hey, look: Volcom made boat loads of money in Q1. In fact, total consolidated revenues were $77.4 million with $42 million of that passing through as gross profit. Hot damn. It appears there’s a future in marking up China products. Q1 was so good that even CEO Wooly was surprised.
“Our results for the quarter were stronger than we had anticipated, representing a solid start to the year and continued strength for both the Volcom and Electric brands,” said Richard Woolcott, Volcom’s chairman and chief executive officer. “Combined with great product, focused marketing and solid distribution, we believe we are well positioned to capitalize on the many opportunities before us and pave the way for continued growth and success.”
Here is our favorite stat: “At March 31, 2010 the company had cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments totaling $109 million, and no long-term debt.” Read it again: no long-term debt.
To follow the jump, click it like you care.
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by The Editors on April 29, 2010
Anyone who watched Brazilian ASP Tour rookie Jadson Andre charging through the early rounds of the Billabong Pro Santa Catarina knows that he was not in it for second place. He’s grown up in these small, fast waves, he’s trained in them, and for the last few days he’s dominated them.
He didn’t slow down as he squeaked past Dane Reynolds in the last five seconds of semi-final 1, and he didn’t stop when the waves gave up in his final against nine-time world champion Kelly Slater.
“I’ve been waiting so long for this day. This is the best day of my life,” Andre said on the podium. “Thanks everybody: My family, my dad, my momma. This is the best day of my life.”
Kelly was mostly gracious in defeat. “These waves were made for Jadson. Obviously, no one was going to stop him here,” Slater said before adding a little competitive dig. “It will be interesting to see how he does when it comes to Teahupoo and Pipeline.”
We’re kind of wondering why we even write these things up, honestly. We must be on some kind of autopilot or something. Click the link for full results and quotes from the people paid by the ASP to present things correctly.
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by The Editors on April 29, 2010
On Saturday, April 24, 2010, Shane Wallace invited a few people to Rancho Cucamonga, California for the soft-launch opening of OK Skate’s first retail showroom. It was a chance to show everyone what he and the OK Skate crew have been working on for the past six months.
Located on a frontage street near Interstate 15 just North of Interstate 10, the warehouse/ office/ showroom combo is in that strange zone between the Eastern edge of Los Angeles sprawl and the Western front of the Inland Empire. The business park that houses OK Skate is a few blocks from the nearest retail center, but signs on the upstairs windows are visible from the southbound lanes of the freeway. Commuters who continue further south can’t help but notice the large Active Ride Shop warehouse on the opposite side of the 15. The location is likely no accident, though Shane says it was chosen based on “area demographics.”
OK Skate marks Wallace’s return to retail after the Active Ride Shop bankruptcy and subsequent sale pulled the rug out from under much of the industry last March. Between greeting friends at the door, putting final tweaks on the POS system, and watching kids skate the showroom’s mini ramp, Shane had time to sneak upstairs to his office above the shop for a short interview to discuss what OK Skate is, how it came about, and what they have planned for the future.
Follow the jump for photos and the entire interview.
[Editors’ Note April 30, 2010: After reading the interview for the first time online, Shane had a few things to add. We have placed those comments at the end of the interview.]
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by The Editors on April 28, 2010
by The Editors on April 28, 2010
Whistler-Blackcomb resort owner Intrawest (and its parent company Fortress Investment Group) has apparently swung successfully on the finance monkey bars once again and found a lender willing to not only pay off all their old loans, but also give them another four years to come up with $1.7 billion, according to a story on Reuters.
Details of the new loan were not released, but Intrawest, a unit of Fortress Investment Group (FIG.N), said on Tuesday that all prior lenders had been repaid in full and the new loan does not mature until 2014. . . Intrawest had been negotiating with lenders to refinance the $1.7 billion in debt taken on when Fortress purchased it in 2006. The earlier loans had been due in December.
Sounds like someone has a little more confidence than we do in Intrawest’s ability to turn resort real estate into cold hard cash. Hope there are some buyers, because they’re definitely not going to make up $1.7 billion with lift tickets and green fees.
[Link: Reuters]
by The Editors on April 28, 2010
Anyone who grew up listening to LA and Orange County’s World Famous KROQ radio station will agree that one of the best parts of the Kevin & Bean Show every morning was when Rockin’ Fig aka Rick Fignetti would call in with the morning surf report. Fignetti’s sing-song, surfer-dude whine is synonymous with Southern California surfing and yet, KROQ has apparently decided to switch to an “automated online forecast,” according to a story on OrangeCounty.com.
Local surfers and fans are bummed that Fig’s upbeat voice is no longer waking them up during his 30-second radio spot, the departure leaving a void in people’s early morning routines. . . “Surfing is bigger than ever, and I can’t believe they took him off the air,” said listener Bob Kizanis, who listens to the report during his morning drive. “We have to let them know that this is a tremendous mistake for their station.”
Guess if we still listened to radio, we’d be bummed, too.
[Link: Orangecounty.com via Surfline.com]
by The Editors on April 27, 2010
Iconix Brand Group Inc., the parent company of ecko, Zoo York, Op, and Ed Hardy to name a few, announced today that they have purchased the Peanuts brand from E.W. Scripps “in partnership with the heirs of Charles Schulz,” for $175 million according to a story in the Wall Street Journal.
The Peanuts licenses generate annual retail sales of more than $2 billion world-wide, according to Iconix. “This asset is a dream for a marketer,” said Neil Cole, chief executive of Iconix, who said his favorite Peanuts character is Charlie Brown. . . “Neil and his team have great respect for who the Peanuts characters are and they honor all we have accomplished, and the spirit with which we do business,” said Jean Schulz, Mr. Schulz’s widow.
According to the story “Iconix expects Peanuts to generate roughly $75 million in annual royalties.” Apparently, newspapers companies are looking for revenue where ever they can find it. We can hardly wait for the Zoo York x Pig Pen collab decks. . .
[Link: The Wall Street Journal]
by The Editors on April 27, 2010
Adidas Originals appears to have hooked up a little collab with Burton Snowboards that will bring Burton off the snow and Adidas Originals in with the shred kids, according to a story on Sports One Source.
The line, which will consist of 21 apparel pieces and seven styles of footwear, is expected to hit select Adidas Originals and Burton stores worldwide in November. It will sport Adidas Originals Trefoil and Burton branding and prices will range from $40 to $350 for apparel and $90 to $200 for footwear.
Adidas Originals’ VP Ben Pruess and Burton’s SVP & CD Greg Dacyshyn seem overjoyed with the deal. It’s two-two marketing plans in one.
Product photos on High Snobiety (via Empire Ave). Or, follow the jump for the entire release
[Link: Sports One Source]
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by The Editors on April 26, 2010
A press release issued by the Carlsbad, California based Simo Holdings, Inc. seems to suggest that Gatorz (the eyewear company) and No Fear (the brand) are somehow getting together in what the release terms a “reverse take-over of Gatorz by No Fear.” Here are a few of the details:
Pursuant to the terms of the Merger Agreement, among other things: (i) Simo Holdings will sell to Gatorz all of the shares of common stock it owns in No Fear Retail Stores, Inc. (“No Fear”), a subsidiary of Simo Holdings, in exchange for 99,075,001 common shares of Gatorz and 52,441,932 restricted common shares of Gatorz; and (ii) NF Acquisition Corporation, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Gatorz, will merge with and into No Fear.
As we have no idea what any of this means, we’ll skip the speculation and just direct everyone to the entire press release which appears after the jump.
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The Gumball Rally 3000 is a race in which a bunch of rich guys (some extremely annoying) race around the world in their six-figure cars and party every night with strippers and/or highly educated, intelligent, caring women who dress and act like them.
