We always thought that Swell.com was missing out on a large piece of the action sports fashion business by not setting up white-label sites that would allow smaller brands to easily sell direct by jumping on Swell.com’s quality distribution system.
They still haven’t done that, but with Coreshops by Swell they are branching out into an equally cool and potentially large side business, according to an interview with Swell.com CEO Stacy Clark on Shop-Eat-Surf.com.
CoreShops by Swell is doing two things: one, it is aggregating the branded apparel from these shops and offering it for sale on Swell.com. (Want a Whalebone Surf Shop T-shirt from Nags Head, NC? Click here); and two, it pulls together an easy to search listing of core shops from around the US that makes it easy for anyone to find a nearby core shop, event, or promotion.
This works out well for shops and for Swell.com according to Clark.
Yes, it will generate revenue for the shops as well as Swell. What we are most excited about is that it’s a brand differentiator that also helps strengthen a very important industry distribution channel that we do not compete in. Oversaturation by leading industry brands has forced us to think differently about how we partner to do business and create a unique customer experience online.
Truth is, there is really nothing more core in “surf fashion” than T-shirts from local surf shops and shapers. For the rest of the story and the press release, follow the link.
Snowboard rail slayer Lucas Magoon is in what officials call “serious condition, but stable” in the ICU of Reno, Nevada’s Renow Health Hospital after what is being reported as a fall while skateboarding.
A spokesperson for Renown Health said that Magoon is “not in a medically induced coma,” as was reported on Twitter earlier today. The hospital could not release any other information on Lucas without the proper password. . . which we didn’t have.
Other reports have Lucas in a coma, but say that the internal bleeding has stopped. We’re hoping for the best. . .
Two snowboarding companies relaunched their websites today: 686 and Burton. The sites both feature black backgrounds with red accents, both use Flash, both feature a lot of product, and yet they are perfect examples of completely different user interface philosophies.
One is a simple, clean, attractive, easy-to-navigate blog with all the social tools built right in. The other is an overly complex, heavily “designed” monster, that offers up spinning logos and new menus at every turn, and looks more like a CD-Rom game from 1996 than a website for 2010.
However, the more I studied the ocean, the more attuned I became to the peril in which we have placed it. I now work full time to protect our seas, waves, and beaches. I do it to honor my father, a native Hawaiian who introduced me to the sea when I was very young, and to honor all the others who have come before me. I do it for the benefit of those who will come after. But most of all, I do it to in some small way repay all the gifts that Mother Ocean has given, and continues to give.
“Well said,” we say typing one-handed while wiping a tear from our face.
We’re big fans of milk. So is Ryan Sheckler, apparently. We know thanks to his new “celebrity widget” which is basically a clever name for a 300×250 advertisement that America’s Milk Processors think kids will put up all over the web for free a.k.a. social advertising.
Kick flips, grinds and manuals – that’s just another day at the skate park for action sports phenom Ryan Sheckler. But to get serious air, Sheckler knows it takes training, determination and good nutrition to take home the gold. That’s why after training Ryan adds a glass of lowfat or fat free milk to his diet.
“Being recognized by Inc. Magazine is a great accomplishment, but getting today’s youth off the couch and into safe, engaging recreational facilities is the true reward, “said Kirsten Bradford, CEO of Spohn Ranch. “It’s great to see that even in an economic recession, cities are still committing funds to recreational facilities for the kids.”
The company did $4.8 million in revenue in 2008 with 25 employees. How is that for getting all respectable? Nice work.
Sewer trouble, b-b guns, and getting pissed on with Corey Duffel. Don’t know what it is, but we’ve always liked the guy. Got one of his boards under our feet right now watching some Cataclismic Abyss.
There is nothing that reduces marketing down to its purest level than selling a virtual, infinitely reproducible product. And that’s exactly what Quiksilver and Roxy are doing with their new deal with the X Box Live’s Avatar Marketplace. Users of X Box Live will be able to dress their online personifications with virtual clothing paid for with real money.
Now those people can buy and download special clothing and props for their Little Computer People. For 80 or 160 MS Points — that’s $1 or $2 in real money — you can buy your fake self a shirt by Adidas or sweater by Quiksilver.
While some would argue that the low cost of manufacturing in China has already turned the fashion business into a “virtual economy” there still is nothing quite as efficient as selling products made out of bits, not atoms.
According to the Santa Cruz Sentinel Seacliff and New Brighton state beaches have been closed “for up to seven days after visitors spotted a shark chomping on a porpoise off Seacliff beach about 3:10 p.m.”
“We have a confirmed predatory activity attack by a shark,” said Kirk Lingenfelter, superintendent with California State Parks, who ordered the closures when a four-foot long harbor porpoise washed up on Seacliff beach soon after the shark was spotted. . . Lingenfelter said researchers are still determining the size and type of the shark. Scientists with Long Marine Lab hauled the porpoise off for study Tuesday afternoon.
This is reportedly the first time in five years that a county beach has been closed due to a shark sighing. Marin County’s Stinson Beach closed yesterday after a sighting, but that seems to happen all the time.
The Association of Surfing Professional’s CEO Brodie Carr sits down with Surfing Life’s Chris Binns in Hossegor, France to discuss the rumors of the Kelly Slater Tour and about meeting with former boxing promoter Matt Tinley and Kelly Slater’s agent Terry Hardy. Brodies bottom line:
There are two schools of thought in surfing. One is that it needs to go more mainstream, the other is that what we have is pretty special, and going more mainstream is going to cannibalise that. You have to find the sweet spot in the middle so we don’t wreck what we have, so we’re not quick to jump away from what we already have unless it’s going to be great. We’ve taken 30 years to build the sport to what it is today, and yeah, the surf brands have been great and have made this what it is, as much as the surfers, so it would be irresponsible of us to make a decision quickly. We don’t want to rush anything, we want to take our time and assess everything and make sure we’re making the right decision for the sport, ’cos otherwise we might not be able to turn it back again.
While we tend to agree with “the other,” Carr’s level headed, logical responses to the questions show why he’s in the position he is. Read the rest for all the details.
We always thought that Swell.com was missing out on a large piece of the action sports fashion business by not setting up white-label sites that would allow smaller brands to easily sell direct by jumping on Swell.com’s quality distribution system.
