SOURCE 70 (apr/may) ENGLISH VERSION

BOARDSPORT

ISSUE #070. APR/MAY 2014. €5 BIG WIG INTERVIEW – QUIK’S ANDY MOONEY WHAT’S NEW IN SURFBOARDS SKATESHOE & SUNGLASS TREND PREVIEWS

E U R O P E A N S U R F / S K AT E / S N O W B U S I N E S S

SOCIAL MEDIA: BOOST YOUR SHOP’S IMPACT

PLUS: RIDE O’METER, BRAND PROFILES: ION, METRO & PENGUIN, TRADESHOWS, NEWS & MUCH MORE…

US

HELLO #70

Surf & French Editor Iker Aguirre iker@boardsportsource.com

Walking around the winter tradeshow halls, one couldn’t help but feel the snowboard industry really is waking up to new business realities. Last year it was all talk of recovery because the snow season was so good, but in reality the market was just as tough. But this year brands have accepted that the market is still weak and so have tailored their product offerings to meet this. Non-key categories have been axed and the number of SKU’s on offer dropped. This ‘facing the future’ rather then looking at the past was in evidence throughout all tradeshows and demos. Brands are now differentiating themselves as fast as they can from their competition and want their own USPs. Last year the mentality was very much “keep an eye on the competition and don’t leave the well trodden path”. This year it’s much more “I am on my own path and finding my own way and the competition can do what they want”. This is a return to the boardsports of old where brands - particularly in outerwear - were easily identifiable by their cut or their graphics and where the consumer was offered the excitement of choice and being different.

Exciting the consumer instead of playing it

Snowboard Editor Rémi Forsans remi@boardsportsource.com Skate Editor Dirk Vogel dirk@boardsportsource.com German Editor Stefan Dongus stefan@boardsportsource.com Content Manager Harry Mitchell Thompson harry@boardsportsource.com Design & Art Direction Owen Tozer owen@boardsportsource.com Design Assistant Roddy Bow production@boardsportsource.com Web Media Manager Denis Houillé denis@boardsportsource.com Proofreaders Harry Mitchell Thompson, Insa Muth, Marie-Laure Ducos Contributors Harry Mitchell Thompson, Dirk Vogel, Michael Reinwald, Asier Zabarte, Luke Van Unen, Lucy Paltz, Gordon Way, Fabien Grisel, Yuri Kolobov, Franz Holler, Frank White, Joey Jorgensen, Alex Crowe, Luke Van Unen, Miriam Deller, Patrick Colton, Lucy Stephens, Ross Robinson, Peter Warwick-Brown, Jade Persaud-Walters, Daisy Maddinson, Clare McInerney, Tom Wilson-North, Anna Langer, Holly Gear Advertising & Marketing clive@boardsportsource.com Accounts Manager accounts@boardsportsource.com To Subscribe www.boardsportsource.com subs@boardsportsource.com Publisher clive@boardsportsource.com Published by Extreme Sport Business 22 Friars Street, Sudbury Suffolk, CO10 2AA. UK Boardsport SOURCE is published bi-monthly © Extreme Sport Business All Rights Reserved

safe with standardization of products – now, there’s an original idea to stimulate the market. It’s time to really figure out what your brand has to offer the market. If you can develop your own unique strategy, there’s a good chance you can attract new consumers into the market place, hence moving the purchasing decision away from price and the never ending discount season.

The feeling is that skate and surf have already moved in this direction and it’s great to see snowboarding making a similar move. In reality there was no choice as the path we had been following as a herd was a dead-end for the industry. In a commodity driven consumer product market, where differentiation is non-existent, the power often moves to the retailers and in particular enables shop owned brands to carve out large market share. If we offer an exiting wide variety of choice then all participants in the market have to decide which segment to target and so levels the playing field. So “vive la difference”, it helps in many ways.

Always sideways.

SOURCE Editorial team.

CONTENT 11. CONTENTS

44. RIDE O’METER

12. NEWS

47. GREEN VINE

15. TRADESHOW REVIEWS

48. RETAILER HELP

17. ON-SNOW DEMO REVIEWS

52. BEST SELLERS

18. RETAILER PROFILE

55. BRAND PROFILE – PENGUIN

20. CONTROVERSY AT SOCHI

56. BRAND PROFILE – METRO

23. WHAT’S NEW IN SURFBOARDS?

58. BRAND PROFILE – ION

26. WOMEN IN BOARDSPORTS

60. NEW PRODUCTS

29. SUNGLASSES TREND PREVIEW

63. MARKET INTELLIGENCE

32. SUNGLASSES PICTORIAL

68. OPPORTUNITIES

36. BIG WIG INTERVIEW – ANDY MOONEY

70. EVENTS

38. SKATESHOE TREND PREVIEW

72. ONE EYED MONSTER

ON THE COVER: Kevin Olsen, owner of Plonka Surfboards, Hossegor green room this winter.

No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in any retrieval system of any nature without prior written permission, except for permitted fair dealing under the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988. Application for permission for use of copyright material including permission to reproduce extracts in other public works shall be made to the publishers. Full acknowledgement of author, publisher and source must be given. The views expressed in this publication are not those necessarily held by the Publisher. ISSN # 1478-4777 www.boardsportsource.com 11

INDUSTRY NEWS

FRY & RAPP ANNOUNCE AMUSE SOCIETY Mandy Fry and Summer Rapp have officially unveiled the name of their women’s apparel brand: Amuse Society. The pair also launched the brand’s Web site, www.amusesociety.com, and social media platforms on Instagram and Facebook. Their first collection will debut to buyers worldwide this summer and will consist of ready-to-wear, bikinis and beach knits. The brand is described as undeniably bold and rebelliously sexy, inspired by the art of travel and the pursuit of journey. In addition to establishing the brand’s creative direction and story, Fry and Rapp have been busy growing the internal Amuse team to fill their headquarters in Costa Mesa, California. Lydia Ballesteros has been named VP of Merchandising, following her latest position as head of Merchandising and Design at RVCA. Co-Presidents Fry and Rapp oversee product development, design, marketing, demand creation and e-commerce for Amuse Society, with Paul Naude serving as CEO. All operations will be managed through Naude’s parent company, Stokehouse Unlimited, which recently launched men’s surf brand, Vissla, and eyewear brand, D’Blanc.

David Pitschi has joined Salomon Snowboards as Global Brand Manager.

Pitschi rode for the brand as a pro, and had a role as European TM before moving to Billabong as Marketing Manager. Pitschi will operate out of the Annecy, France, headquarters for Salomon, and will work closely with the marketing team located in Portland, Oregon.

ACTIONSPORTSJOB.COM LAUNCH

RHYTHM MOVE EUROPEAN HQ TO BIARRITZ

www.actionsportsjob.com has been set up by Munich based Munchie Konsilium, one of Europe’s leading action sports agencies. Working closely with companies and distributors in the action sports sector Munchie Konsilium recognised the need for an all-encompassing platform for European action sports job and distributor offers. Many action sports are similar in nature, demanding the same qualities of future employees; therefore, a single site was a logical next step.

Additionally a novel freelancers section is being added so that brands can easily find the specialist skills they require for projects that they don’t require full time employees for. Source will be working alongside www.actionsportsjob.com in publishing each others job and distributor offers for boardsports.

Rhythm have moved their European HQ to Biarritz, France. The move will see Design, Sales, Marketing and Logistics all move under the same roof, a move by new International GM Joshua Barrett to increase the Australian brand’s back-end efficiency in Europe. All summer 2014 orders will be shipped from the new warehouse, and all reps and distributors will be invited to the Spring 2015 release in late May 2014.

STOKEHOUSE EUROPE HIRES FOR VISSLA & D’BLANC

SPY HIRE NEW EUROPEAN BRAND MANAGER Nicolas Saumur has joined the Spy Team as European Brand Manager following a long career in the optics industry, particularly in sports. He started as area manager for France based at Oakley’s European HQ in Paris. A few years later he was promoted to national Field Sales Manager and then in 2005 he joined Helly Hansen as key account manager. Saumur left to launch a distribution company in France specialising in premium eyewear brands including Spy. After a stint at Rodenstock the German lens manufacturer, Nicholas joined Spy.

UK JÄGERMEISTER ADVERT PROMOTES COLD WATER SURFING Jägermeister’s first television ad campaign to air in the UK features UK & Irish professionals surfing Iceland’s finest breaks, and acknowledges the strength of cold-water surfing culture. London based creative outfit, The Red Brick Road made the ad happen and have also been tasked with rolling out an ad campaign for Jägermeister over the next 12 months, the ad features surfers Richie Fitzgerald, Dave Blount, Owain Davies, Oli Adams and Ben Skinner.

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SALOMON SNOWBOARDS WELCOMES DAVID PITSCHI AS GLOBAL BRAND MANAGER

Christine Arrondeau has been appointed Financial Controller of Stokehouse Europe, while Adrien Waller has been appointed Brand Manager D’Blanc and marketing coordinator for Vissla. Both report to Stokehouse Europe General Manager Francois Carette. Christine previously worked at Grind Distribution (Globe distributor for France) and then filled the same role at a European level when Globe International bought that company. Adrien held various positions at VonZipper Europe since 2010, starting as a marketing coordinator for Europe, then taking an active role in product and sales management and ultimately working as Brand Manager for Europe over the past two years.

Stokehouse Europe has added Matt Stephen to the growing team for the launch of Vissla and D’Blanc in the UK as a master agent. In Spain Raul Garcia, with more than 30 years of experience in the surf and eyewear industry, including Team Manager and Sales rep at Electric and owner of “Special surf school” in Cantabria, joins the company as a sales agent. The Vissla and D’Blanc train will be rolling out in stores globally in USA, Europe (UK), Australia, Japan, Central America, Latin America and South Africa in April 2014.

OUTDOOR SPORTS VALLEY AND EUROSIMA JOIN FORCES OSV and EuroSIMA, two associations that represent the interests and the development of the outdoor and action sports industries, have taken their existing partnership to the next level by merging their services. This collaborative approach was implemented with the objective of offering a wider range of services to their combined 340 members and to continue providing active representation at a national and European level.

#70

GOOGLE SIGN WITH LUXOTTICA TO TAKE WEARABLE DEVICE MAINSTREAM

ELECTRIC APPOINT NEW GLOBAL LIFESTYLE & SURF MARKETING MANAGER

Google has signed a deal with Luxottica, parent company of Oakley and Ray-Ban, which will allow these two brands to design and produce eyewear designs that will incorporate Google’s wearable technology. For the moment the deal is limited to the US, and a release date is unknown.

But this takes Google’s technology a step closer to the high street.

Electric announced that Ian Foulke has joined the company as Global Lifestyle & Surf Marketing Manager. Ian brings more than 13+ years of experience to Electric, previously Orange County sales/event support at Ambiguous Ind., West Coast Marketing and Retail liaison for Z-Brand and most recently Founder of Blacksmith Mfg.

REEF REINFORCE EMEA

DESPOMAR ARE VONZIPPER’S MASTER DISTRIBUTOR EUROPE

Following a period of internal restructuring at VF, a dedicated management team has been created to ensure single brand focus for the Reef business. Leading the team will be Nathan Hill who has been recently promoted to General Manager EMEA from his previous post as Sales Director Reef EMEA. Effective immediately, Marco Mombelli, Marketing Manager Reef EMEA and Claude Cornu, Category Manager Footwear and Apparel Reef will report directly to Nathan Hill to ensure consistency of message and strategy throughout the brand. These steps have been made to ensure the brand can continue to develop its heritage within the surf industry, and to ensure this highly exciting period for the brand is sustained long term, starting with this year’s 30th anniversary celebrations.

NEW BRAND MANAGER FOR NIKITA CLOTHING AND BONFIRE SNOWBOARDING New brand manager Vicki Vasil will be based in the Portland, Oregon, headquarters and work closely with the design teams, including Nikita Founder Heida Birgisdottir, who is based in Reykjavík, Iceland. Vicki most recently led the marketing team at a digital agency, driving brand marketing, social media, public relations and content marketing services that served both Ecommerce and brick and mortar businesses and previously she served three years as Board Retailers Association’s director of marketing.

Vicki will be responsible for executing the Nikita marketing strategy, which focuses mainly on digital and social media in the North American and EMEA markets for both Nikita and Bonfire.

O’NEILL WETSUITS APPOINT NEW EUROPEAN MARKETING MANAGER Jan Michaelis has been appointed European Marketing Manager, replacing Steve Peters.

In his new role Jan will be responsible for managing the marketing strategy and the budget for the European market. He will be based at O’Neill Wetsuits European HQ in Midhurst, UK. Jan joined O’Neill two years ago as UK Marketing Manager for O’Neill Apparel, where he successfully implemented and managed projects like the O’Neill Shoreditch Showdown and the Working Artisans Club.

VonZipper have announced Despomar as their Master Distributors for Europe. Despomar currently have a portfolio spanning from action sports, fashion and lifestyle to specialty watch and optic channels in 3 different countries: Portugal, Spain and France. Ricardo Araujo, head of Despomar has built a new team to deal with the increased workload. One of the first and most successful VonZipper distributors in Europe, Despomar has a keen understanding of the brand, an intimate knowledge of their products, a broad base of relationships and a growing reputation in the European marketplace.

GSM MAKE NEW APPOINTMENTS Frank Voit is the new Element Global General Manager. Frank joined Billabong in 2001 and since 2007 he has been General Manager of Element and RVCA Europe. Under his leadership, Frank and the Element Europe team have more than doubled the business, putting the brand on a trajectory of strong sustainable growth. As Element’s Global General Manager, he will team up with founder Johnny Schillereff in driving the strategic direction and execution of the brand globally. Frank will have global P/L responsibility, while directing the design, merchandising and marketing efforts to achieve the brand’s vision and financial objectives.

Frank will remain located in Europe until mid-2015 and will continue to play a strong role supporting Element and RVCA Europe whilst travelling regularly to the US. During his transition, he will ensure a strong succession plan is in place in preparation for his permanent move to the US. In further appointments, Mark Weber joins Billabong from RAEN Optics where he was President and a member of the Board. Prior to RAEN, Mark was with Hurley for 15 years in senior roles in Sales, Global Brand Marketing, Global Commerce and Global Merchandising. Mark will report to Global Billabong Brand President, Shannan North.

RIP CURL APPOINT WETSUITS, WATCHES & SURFBOARDS PRODUCT MANAGER Borja Torres will take over Jo Cetran’s position who has decided to pursue another professional project. Borja has held many positions within Rip Curl Spain as he’s successively been Warehouse Manager Assistant, Area Manager, Sales Rep and finally Sales Manager Spain.

Torres is a passionate surfer who’s also taken part in the organization of many surf events. His excellent culture of the surf business should help him to take up this new challenge that starts early April.

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trade show review

TRADE SHOW REVIEWS ISPO, MUNICH, GERMANY, JANUARY 26-29, 2014 Let’s start with the figures, always impressive, by far the biggest winter sports trade show in Europe, if not the world. More than 80,000 attendees from 110 countries visited the show over the four days. 66% of the visitors came from abroad, most of them from Italy, Austria, Switzerland, France and the UK so maintaining the international flavour of the show.

Additionally there was a strong increase in visitors from other nations, such as the USA and Russia. A record 2,565 exhibitors from 51 countries were present and exhibitor space increased slightly to 104,720 square metres in total. Also this year ISPO 2014 kicked off the global winter sports trade show season for the first time as it was brought forward a week to January 26, ahead of the SIA show in the USA. The boardsports halls were as busy as always with the themed platforms bringing a sharper focus to what was on offer and enabling ISPO to develop new market areas. The freeride platform, Tailgate Munich, ISPO inspire with Brands For Good’s corporate social responsibility and GreenRoomVoice’s ecological responsibility, the Scooter Village, The Longboard Embassy and The SUP Area all successfully grew and made sure that these fields of special interest were properly represented. New this year, the Freeski Summit platform Located in the centre of A3 and organised by Distillery Concepts & Creation, was a great hit and gave this market an opportunity to demonstrate its own unique qualities. It wad good to see the return of some key skate players whose location close to the Volcom mini ramp provided a new skate hardgood focus. The hardgoods side of skate fits well under ISPO’s technical sports banner. The ISPO Action Sports Summit stage offered a full program of events meetings and presentations, as well as provided a focal point for ISPO’s new associated services including ISPO Academy, ISPO Beijing and ISPO Jobs.

The major players were there with a few exceptions and the show fulfilled its key role as the major flag waving exercise for

snowboarding and all the other winter sports. The flexing of this combined muscle indicates not only to our retail base but also to the sports industry at large that there is good business to be done in action sports. This is becoming more and more important as retailers are now driven more by economics then their passion for sports.

Outerwear collections were much more varied as each brand is now focusing on what it wants to do and not looking over its shoulder at the competition. Hardgoods offering have been trimmed back and non-critical categories cut, again focusing brand’s resources on their winners. The ISPO awards in action sports included: overall product of the year - Union Binding Company with the FC binding, the backpack and bags category winner was Picture Organic Clothing for the Rethink bag. The freeride boots category winner was Burton with the Viking, the Freestyle category boot winner was 32 with the Ultralight 2. APO took the binding category with the Dual Iconic binding. The joint splitboard category winners Burton with the Landlord spilt and Jones with the Ultracraft spilt, the material and construction category winner was Endeavor Snowboards with their seamless sidewall technology and joint winners in the goggle category were Gloryfy with its GP3 transformer and Anon with the Mig. After hours yet again the stand-out ISPO evening event was the 686 Lights Out boxing evening with winners, losers and the crowd all having a good time.

2015 sees ISPO returning to its traditional later date from February 5-8, so mark it in your calendar now. www.ispo.com

BRIGHT, BERLIN, GERMANY, JANUARY 15-17, 2014 This winter Bright moved to its third location in as many years. But this time they have the right venue in the right location. The new home to the show is the former Jandorf department store built in 1904, inside is a large exhibition area set on two levels with huge floor to ceiling windows creating light and airy spaces offering high visibility for all exhibitors. The new site offers much improved visitor flow when compared to the last venue with all the exhibitors congregated on the two floors. The new venue was universally acclaimed; certainly the best building Bright has been in since it moved to Berlin.

& Kangol. This year the Bright European Skate Awards was held at the House of Vans in front of a raucous industry crowd. It was no surprise that Polar picked up brand of the year again, with Street Machine from Copenhagen picking up Shop of the Year, and Youness Amrani taking Kingpin’s European skater of the year award. Other winners were Reader’s Choice: Eniz Fazliov, Charity of the Year: Uganda Skateboard Media ,Website of the Year: Live Skateboard Media , Magazine of the Year: Fluff, RedBull.com/skateboarding Videographer of the Year: Patrick Wallner and Photographer of the Year: Sam Ashley.

Located in the heart of Berlin Mitte only five minutes walk from Rosenthaler Platz, it’s close to many relevant retail stores and makes access to the other Berlin fashion week shows even easier. With BBB only 20 minutes away many seemed to have made the trip across to Bright. The show was busy every day with the organisers seeing a 30% increase in visitor numbers and of these half came from outside Germany. The brands list confirmed the shift in the brand landscape towards a more lifestyle streetwear direction with very little hardware on display. New brands to the show included Nixon, Burton, Diamond,

For the summer event demand for space has meant the organisers are considering opening a third floor. Hopefully this will happen as the popularity of the show will increase as it is now the key youth fashion event in the Berlin Fashion week particularly as BBB seems to be past its prime.

The next show is July 8-10, 2014. For more information go to... www.brighttradeshow.com 15

trade show review

JACKET REQUIRED, LONDON, UK, FEBRUARY 5-6, 2014 Since the demise of the UK’s only action sports trade show, the London Edge, the industry has fragmented into a number of different trade solutions which enable brands to find a solution that suites their particular needs and this seems to be the way forward for the next few years.

The skate brands now have a tour consisting of a South-West stop in Bristol held at Shiner, the new London Place and the existing Manchester Place show that also includes snowboarding. This provides localised opportunities for brands to exhibit but at a much more affordable price then the national shows. A number of brands chose to exhibit at Moda again but the action sports brands have now been completely integrated into the show rather then being in their own themed area. The number of streetwear brands from the action sports industry increased at the Jacket Required show in London and this seems the most likely destination for the clothing side of the industry now.

A bi-annual premium menswear casuals event, Jacket Required recently moved back for its sixth edition to the newly refurbished East London’s Trueman Brewery, where the tradeshow was originally based. The show is based on two floors with concrete floors and white walls and standard height ceilings. It’s a rack show with no purpose built stands, with brands all having roughly similar sized spaces with very little added decoration.

It works really well with brands able to focus on resources on selling product. The new location added space for an additional 50 exhibitors, enabling boardsports and streetwear brands to get involved. Brands at the show included: Altamont, Deus ex Machina, Carhartt, Dickies, Globe Element, Herschel Supply co, Lightning Bolt, Electric, WESC, Makia, Patagonia, Nixon, Carhartt, Polar, RVCA, Stance, Jimmy Z, Maui, Critical Slide Society and Wemoto. This summer’s show is July 30-31. www.jacket-required.com

SLIDE, TELFORD, UK, FEBRUARY 4-6, 2014 The UK’s annual winter trade show continues to be a rallying point for the industry and the one place where buyers can get a really good look at next year’s product without having to leave the country. The show was brought forward two weeks so it did not conflict with mid-term breaks and the mid-week slot, this time from Tuesday through to Thursday, was kept following its successful introduction last winter. Over 240 brands were represented, with virtually all the key outerwear players there, and brands continuing to be attracted to the show, with Zeal Optics and Picture Organic Clothing both exhibiting for the first time. This year’s Slide Award winners, judged by retailers and media over the first two days of the show were

Lucky Bums beginner toddler skis for hardwear, the Rojo Supanova Jacket designed in Australia with 10/10 product rating and limited edition art print for softwear and the Go Pro HERO3+ black edition for accessories. Brands were happy with the quality of the visitors but as always would like more of them. The Mexican Beach party created some sore heads for the following morning but with the UK market feeling some buoyancy at long last, it was time to celebrate. With the ISPO show moving back in the calendar it will be interesting to see where Slide’s dates move to for 2014. www.slideuk.co.uk

SPORT-ACHAT, LYON, FRANCE, MARCH 17-19, 2014 The 14th edition of the show held at Euroexpo in Lyon ended with a total of 3,966 visitors, an increase of 7.5% from the previous year. SportAchat is the final winter trade event in France with buyers able to attend a variety of other shows organized by Sport Air, which enables them to really focus their buying requirements by the time they arrive at the show. Even though a total of 1,637 shops sent representatives to the show, business has been affected by a chilly economic wind. The snow season in France was not the best this year, after a promising start to the season the general lack of snow and cold weather meant tough conditions but more importantly the general economy is really feeling the pinch, as people operating at a European level explain it, it’s rather like France is

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only just getting the economic crisis that the rest of Europe has been through.. So business is definitively harder but like in the UK, the French industry needs its own show to demonstrate its importance to the wider national market. 320 exhibitors and 620 brands exhibited in over 18,000 square meters of floor space in halls three and four with most of the key snowboard hardware and outerwear brands involved. On Monday evening Gore-Tex and Sport-Air organized a retailers and brands meeting party to give everyone the chance to relax after a hard day of pounding the aisles.

Sport-Achat summer edition is on September 8-9. www.sportair.fr

on snow demos

ON SNOW DEMOS

SHOPS 1ST TRY – ZAMS, LANDECK, AUSTRIA, JANUARY 12-14, 2014 This on-snow demo at Venet in Zams/Landeck is the most important pre-ISPO event for snowboard retailers in Germany and Austria. Now in its fifth year, 47 brands promoted their boards, boots, bindings, goggles, protection, gloves, bags and outerwear products. New brands to this year’s event were Rossignol and Technine. Some interesting figures were collected by Shops-1st-Try’s very own Candy 1.1 RFID product tracking system that provides daily reports on what has been tested. Results showed that hybrid boards were over 60% of the boards tested, the average number of tests per person was 11.55 and each board test took on average 55 minutes. 5,137 individual tests on all product categories were recorded by the system. The ISPO Academy discussion, dinner, and party on the Sunday night was held in the Landeck city hall. The topic for the ISPO Academy was ‘New people on board,’ looking at ways of

increasing snowboard participation. The discussions were led by Andy Speiss and the panel consisted of Andreas Weiss of K2 Sports Europe, Andi Rauscher from X-Double Snowboard shop Innsbruck, Matthias Baier from Shred-Kids Projekt, Boris Kilvinger from Snowboard Verband Deutschland, Benny Pregenzer from Fisser Bergbahnen, Bene Heimstädt from Pleasure Magazine and Manfred Reich from www.kidsonsnow. This year results of the BoardSport SOURCE/SHOPS 1st TRY Retailers Choice Design Award were Goodboards first for the second year in a row, second Ride with the Wildlife Marco Feichtner Signature Model and third the Nikita Sideway Sista. Monday’s dinner was followed by an AC/DC tribute band and things got hot and smelly. The Date and location for next year’s event are not yet fixed.

Go to www.shops-1st-try.com for more information

SNOW AVANT PREMIERE, LA CLUSAZ, AND ASAP ANNECY, FRANCE, JANUARY 12-14, 2014 Each year Snow Avant-Première continues to host more brands, and this 13th edition was no exception with 43 brands present including new exhibitors Rip Curl, Endeavor, Kali Protective and Technine. Snow AvantPremière is the most international of the on-snow demos and attracted retailers from England, Scotland, Switzerland, Nertherlands and Belgium.

A total of 415 shops attended over the three days and a total of over 3,700 hardgoods and accessories tests were performed over the three days. In addition to the stands some of the hardgoods brands built small showrooms inside the large tent, which also housed the outerwear and accessories brands. The event started in good weather but the final two days saw some snow roll in. A happy hour was held in the showroom tent

every evening in the centre of La Clusaz on the Sunday with DJ Philippe from Radio Meuh playing until the early hours.

ASAP, the Annecy Show Room Avant Première for outerwear brands runs over the same days as the on-snow demo. This year over 300 stores attended and 59 brands had open showrooms for them to visit. On the Monday night the traditional staged fashion show in the Imperial Palace hotel saw 40 brands present product. As always the combination of these two events makes it much easier for retailers to see most of what will be available in the coming season. For information on next year’s events go to www.sportair.fr

PRO SHOP TEST, BARDONECCIA, ITALY, JANUARY 19-21, 2014 Pro Shop Test’s fourth edition was held at Bardonecchia, a new location, which offers easy resort access, better test village logistics and accommodation for 300 of the attendees in just two hotels. The demo was blessed with sunny weather for the whole two-day period and the participants had perfect conditions for the product testing as the heavy snowfall from previous days meant unlimited freeride testing was available as well. 103 shops attended from 14 Italian regions to test products from 63 brands. 1535 products were available for test (542 boards, 489 bindings, 106 boots, 34 helmets, 89 goggles, 147 freeskis, 60 alpine skis, 6 splitboards and 64 other accessories). The participants also had the opportunity to enjoy the ISPO Academy workshop led by

Musuraca, a lawyer from the Bologna office of Martinelli Rogolino, the leading Italian provider of legal services to professional and amateur sport associations. The ISPO Welcome Party took place on Monday night at the Olympic Village lounge bar, and saw the presentation of the Snowboard Shop Awards. This time the Best Shop Award went to ‘Minoia Store’, while the two new award categories went to ‘100-one’ (Trento) for the Pointbreak Best Shop Activity for ‘Pimp my Riding, free courses for girls’ and then Angelo Vicini, founder and owner of the ‘Morgan’ shops received the Source Lifetime Achievement Award. The next Pro Shop Test will be at Andalo (TN) a new location and held just before 2015 ISPO. All the dates and details will be available soon at www.proshoptest.com

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retailer profile

GODZILLA SURF SHOP Godzilla Surf Shop sits on the Spanish island of Tenerife and therefore benefits from good weather year round.

Tenerife is fast becoming a hot surf spot and with tourism already an established business there, the guys at Godzilla tell us business is booming. Find out more about the Tenerife surf scene here.

Please could you tell us the history behind your store?

I started Godzilla Surf Shop three years ago with a plan to grow the store step by step. It’s difficult to start in a full crisis as I did, but with a lot of energy and work I grew the business year-on-year and I hope I will continue like this for a long time to come. The surf scene over here in Tenerife continues to grow and business is booming so I have no doubts over the shop’s future.

selling product for us has been our Godzilla t-shirts, which is obviously brilliant for us.

So, tell us more about the surf scene over in Tenerife?

The surf scene is great all year round here – it’s renowned all over the world for that. More and more surfers are finding out about our country’s many great surf spots. And with great weather all year round and cheap flights from all across Europe it’s very easy to see why it’s becoming such a popular destination for surfers.

What particular product has been the best seller? What’s working and what isn’t?

Westuits sell well for us all year round, as we offer a range of different thicknesses according to the season. The beauty of having our own store Godzilla brand is that we also have products that can sell throughout the year.

How do you make the ‘look’ of your store so appealing?

We keep our store looking pretty simple, and feature displays with the best brands we sell, and our products are the most competitive prices around. I think it’s very important to have a beautiful window display and we have seen that this can help increase our sales by over 15%. We also keep our logo simple to make it easy to remember and stand out.

What are the benefits of having a physical shop over simply having an online store?

I think the benefits of having a physical shop are quite simple, yet so crucial. A physical store allows the client to try products on and allow us to suggest the right one with out extensive product knowledge.

Here in Tenerife we benefit from customers who may have never even tried surfing/windsurfing and are simply on a beach holiday and fancy coming into find out more about the sport one day.

What kind of advice can you give other independent retailers who are trying to compete against the big megastores?

All I can say is that personal attention is key, great customer service is essential and we make sure we have all those special products in stock that the megastores can’t always get hold of.

Do you sponsor any local riders?

We sponsor Alex Mussolini, who placed 2nd in the PWA Windsurfing World Tour, as well as the “local hero” Bart David and the best young athlete here in Tenerife Tim Van Dam. With a cool name like that, why wouldn’t we sponsor him?

What are your favourite smaller/newer brands?

Our favourite brand is definitely our own brand, Godzilla. The best

Where do you see the store in five years time?

I hope that we can continue to grow our physical store and presence every year and I’d like to see the Godzilla brand becoming a linchpin within the local scene.

What makes your store different and in what ways does your store excel beyond your competition?

We work hard every day to come up with new ideas and different promotions to entice customers - whether that is local surfers or tourists. We will never stop trying new ideas.

What trends do you see upcoming?

Definitely the ‘secret’ brand, we have been selling a lot of that recently.

Do you have any events/promotion etc that you can tell us about?

We have three secrets project at the moment. You can find details on our internet site in a few weeks. We will organize the 2 Godzilla Young Guns 2014 (Windsurf World Cup event in Tenerife for kids).

GODZILLA SURF SHOP, TENERIFE 18

olympics piece

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olympics piece

CONTROVERSOCHI As the 22nd Winter Olympic Games came to an end, Source couldn’t help but reflect on the Games whose controversies never stopped raging. Nevertheless, further to the 40,000 spectators gathered on site, the opening ceremony was followed by some 3 Billion television spectators across the world. Beyond the various politico-economic-environmental aspects directly linked to the Sochi Games in Russia, what interest does snowboarding have in attending this planetary circus? Manipulated by the FIS and IOC? Accomplices for better or for worse? By Rémi Forsans

Snowboarding at the Sochi Games represented 30 medals out of the 98 events spread over 15 disciplines and seven sports (snowboarding is in the same classing as skiing!). That made a total of 10 snowboarding events (five men’s and five women’s) in this its fifth Olympics. The USA came top of the standings with five medals.

These Games were the most expensive in history: the bill came to 36 Billion Euros (the same as the previous six Winter Olympics combined)! Is this reasonable for a country whose standard of living is so unequally distributed (Moscow alone holds 22% of the Russian GDP which is eighth in the world). Should sport be representing this?

The controversial president Putin took his chance to broadcast his homophobic propaganda with a law against homosexual ‘propaganda’ punishable by prison or fines. Shouldn’t sport be spared from such issues?

Did the climate in Sochi really correspond to the image of a town hosting the Winter Olympics? At a Mediterranean latitude, this winter resort constructed without consideration for the natural surroundings that were destroyed doesn’t reflect your normal spot favourable for winter sports. The spring temperatures gave cold sweats to the organisers who had to stockpile a million cubic metres of snow as backup. A real ecological nightmare.

Does all this financial and personal mismanagement represent the reality of our sport?

Is it not ‘too much’ for a sporting event that only lasts 15 days every 4 years and that is often only a one-day event for competitors and so not always a reflection of the careers of the athletes involved?

Does snowboarding match Olympic criteria? This huge circus for the glory of Coca-Cola and MacDonald’s (amongst others) uses the strong mediatisation of our sport to generate considerable gains for the IOC and its FIS accomplices.

Neither the IOC nor the FIS developed the competition formats, neither asked athletes or event organisers to adapt the formats to the natural developments of the sport. Even less so when you consider that Slopestyle was debuting at the 22nd Olympics.

The IOC is biting chunks out of snowboarding and its emblematic riders with its sole objective being to feed television schedules in order to meet the needs of broadcasters who make the most of the 15-day advertising frenzy. Capturing the attention of television

spectators is the No.1 objective because of the exclusives the IOC granted in exchange for astronomical sums of money (the IOC granted NBC TV exclusivity for 3 billion Euros for 4 Olympic Games).

In Sochi, the Winter Games integrated over half of the X-Games programme. But at the same time the IOC has not won yet because the hostility towards the Olympic movement is strong and the opposition from sporting communities is relentless.

What benefits are there for the big snowboard companies? Beyond the joys of seeing your brand appear on the screen, it’s not that obvious because since snowboarding went Olympic (1998) sales have not risen, they’ve declined. The Olympics are not necessarily a vector of encouragement for sporting participation - you don’t become a snowboarder by watching the Olympics. The Olympics have made the sport more ‘mainstream’ but only in TV ratings.

What benefits are there for the riders? Two schools of thought clash, Terje Haakonsen’s on one side and Shaun White’s on the other. The first can look at himself in the mirror without blushing, proud of his convictions, loyal to his commitments but without an Olympic medal.

The second will be written into the record books of sporting history and will proudly show his medals to his children and grand children and will be invited onto TV to commentate on future Games. Do you remember who won the snowboard events in 1998?

How does the sport itself benefit directly from the Olympics? The IOC effectively finances the global sports movement. The organisation gives 90% of its revenue to National Olympic Committees, to international sports federations (including FIS) and to the Olympic Games organising committees. As well as corruption issues surrounding certain members, disputes divide the IOC because the American Olympic Committee alone receives as much as the 201 other national committees and this is because of the historical prevalence of the Olympics’ American sponsors.

Although in the near future we may be able to dream about snowboarding being emancipated and taking back a bit of Manna to finance itself, contribute to developing its instruction and help promote the sport, the potential losses for the FIS coffers is too great.

It doesn’t matter if the sport survives or not, lots of Olympic sports have participants consisting only of Olympians. Like other sports, snowboarding has become a cash cow for the IOC and the FIS are the first to profit from it.

“The IOC is biting chunks out of snowboarding and its emblematic riders with its sole objective being to feed television schedules in order to meet the needs of broadcasters who make the most of the 15-day advertising frenzy. “

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Pic: Kevin Olsen, PLONKA Surfboards

trend report

WHAT’S NEW IN SURFBOARDS? Talk about the crisis as much as you want, surf has never been healthier.

Hardware sales are rocketing and so are surfboard sales. By Iker Aguirre In 2008 the shit hit the fan. Ok. The surf industry suffered heavily; in many regards way more than others. But, hey, is that a reason to give credit to badly informed journalists that vaticinate the ‘end’ of the surf industry in Europe? Some (French) B2B magazines like to echo catastrophic news that nourishes uncertainty in the surfwear sector. Things are not easy. But, did you know the latest NPD study (2013) of the action sports market states that for youngsters (12 years and under) and adults (25+) we are back to 2008’s market size or even beyond? Did you know that NPD anticipates the 15-25 segment will follow suit in 2014? Well, the surf market is still there and very determined to stay. And if you still doubt it because you can only see the mandatory economic restructuring the industry has had to go through, you are simple turning your back on the beach, where real surfing happens. Because surf is simply going off the hook!

For the last six years, hardware sales have been rocketing and reaching never-seen-before levels. How’s that for a bad sign? Surfing has never been that popular. Those who managed to embrace the trend were even capable of fighting the crisis and surviving, as Mark Price, CEO and founder of Firewire Surfboards states: “Those retailers who have maintained a focus on hardgoods through the GFC have done

better than their more clothing-centric counterparts.”

In France alone last year there were an estimated 500,000 surf lessons given and the trend is identical all over Europe. Thousands of newbies are entering the sport and Cedric, CEO of Viral Surf (Pukas, Lost, Al Merrick, Future Fins), in France, explains it like this: “Surfing is very trendy right now. Major suppliers (cars, perfumes, etc.) are using our sport as a vehicle for their messages and therefore broadcasting it to the mainstream. Society itself relates to the deep values of surfing. In a deep crisis, the pleasure and the values of surfing are the perfect answer to people’s frustrations. On top of that surfing remains a financially accessible sport. You add this to the ever growing quality of wetsuits, wavepools such as Wavegarden and the quality of surf schools and we are set for a decade of growth.”

The surfboard market, even if growing, seems to be stigmatized by a typical sign of consumption habits during crisis periods. The popular product categories are on both ends of the price spectrum. Mark from Firewire confirms: “The surfboard market is now largely polarized between lower price point and premium priced boards. The middle ground is a challenging space to be.” All surfboard brands sitting in between suffer from poor sell through and Darren Broadbridge, from

“Those retailers who have maintained a focus on hardgoods through the GFC have done better than their more clothing-centric counterparts.” Mark Price, CEO and founder of Firewire Surfboards 23

trend report

“surfing remains a financially accessible sport. You add this to the ever growing quality of wetsuits, wavepools such as Wavegarden and the quality of surf schools and we are set for a decade of growth.” Cedric, CEO of Viral Surf

Euroglass (Quiksilver, MR, Simon Anderson, Bradley), explains these [middle ground] brands are “lesser or not recognized, and have less selling potential.”

Originally, boards made in China generated a profound debate, to say the least. With prices sometimes up to 40% cheaper, they were a serious disruption to the market. Highly disapproved as a commercial soulless perversion, they ended up being a good thing. Cedric from Viral, puts it like this: “I was totally against those products but they played a good role, helping democratize the sport.” Euroglass’s Darren agrees: “Originally many freaked out but it brought a lot of people into the sport.” Mark Price adds: “Good quality, entry level product introduces people to surfing in a positive way.”

But Cedric looks further and anticipates: “This type of [China made] product is slowing. People buy one of those price point boards and then quickly opt for a higher range one on their next purchase.”

When it comes to high end products, top ranked ASP surfers set the tone for success. Al Merrick’s Channel Islands is leading the pack, as the weapon of choice for the likes of Kelly Slater and Dane Reynolds, amongst many other of today’s surfing icons. Mick Fanning’s DHD has gained great momentum and has recently opened a new European HQ under the guidance of Tiago Raimundo. The key European players remain the same, with Pukas, Full&Cass, EuroGlass and Surf Odyssey leading the pack. On the epoxy and moulded boards front, while Surf Tech has been setting the pace for many years, Firewire seems to be the new cool kid on the block with a selective distribution and outstanding sell through despite their 800€+ average price range.

“People would wait for months for an unavailable product and would pay cash in advance without even thinking about it. Firewire drives them crazy,” says Stephane Boully, former Surf Station shop manager and owner of newly opened Gallery Shop in Soorts Hossegor.

“The surfboard market is an ecosystem of many different components, with all playing an important role, from the distributor to the local shaper,” says Cedric from Viral. Local shapers are craftsmen leading small business entities. They play an important role in a local scheme, with small productions ranging from 50 to 400 boards a year. Even though such volumes, considered individually, may seem small, when brought together they represent a fair share of the total market. But what share? That is a difficult one, Cedric confirms: “any anticipation is mere speculation because we have no market figures upon which to base our perception.” The only study was published by EuroSIMA in 2008-09 and it estimates a European production at around 42,800 units, amongst which 15,000 would be industrially manufactured.

These figures don’t take into account a large player such as Decathlon: “Your market estimations are totally off. If you only knew the volumes we are capable of selling!” A Decathlon product category manager told me. Add this to imported goods, from China, Brazil, USA and Australia, as well as massive international players such as French industrial manufacturer Bic, and the European market size estimation becomes a true game of fortune-tellers. One thing is sure though, the whole market is soaring but such growth is not without risk. “The biggest risk is the saturation of the market,” says Tiago Raimundo, from DHD. Mark Price adds: “If in the process, brands don’t control how much product they put into the market, and where they put it, it’s going to come back to haunt us. Many of the problems associated with our 24

industry of late were due to excessive distribution, regardless of the GFC’s negative impact. “ In the years to come, Mark Price puts it as simple as this: “To rip off a very good book’s title, Differentiate or Die”. For DHD’s Tiago Raimundo, “the biggest trend is board size. Everyday you see smaller boards. There is also all that hype around the retro movement.” Darren Broadbridge anticipates that demand is going towards “stronger and lighter material” even if “materials are getting more and more expensive, and that will effect final price.” Mark Price adds: “We see greater emphasis on performance AND durability combined with ever more innovative outlines, new materials and bottom contours. I think we’re in a period of intense creativity and resultant innovation.” He also foresees that “more objective, numerically based filters (like volume) to determine the right board are going to increase the number of boards sold over the web.”

Nevertheless, all agree that at the end of the day, purchasing a board is an emotional step and nothing will break the strong relationship between the buyer and the shaper/shop. “Clients want to feel the boards,” says Tiago Raimundo. “A board is a direct identification with the person, the emotional link is very strong,” says Cedric. “It is a very personalized product. Every product is unique, it is not an iPhone you see everywhere,” says Darren Broardbridge.

For that reason all agree on one point - you want to be successful selling surfboards? Make sure you know what you are talking about… and if you don’t, make sure you surround yourself with the right people who do! “You can only explain a board from experience, not from a catalogue,” concludes Darren Broadbridge.

SURFBOARD TEAM EXPOSURE VALUE (€) (JULY – DECEMBER 2013, EUROPEAN PRINT PRESS) EDITORIAL

ADVERTISING*

* “Advertising” includes advertising by the brand and by other sponsors of the brands team riders (example : Quiksilver advert with a Channel Island rider on that specific category). Source: RideO’Meter

women in boardsports

CAROLINE DEKKER: WOMEN IN BOARDSPORTS ‘In terms of advertising, sexy images of women appear to work. They sell products. So this must be what the consumer wants to see.’ – Women’s Sports Foundation FAQ topic. To get an industry perspective, we spoke to Caroline Dekker, CEO of Protest Boardwear, who shared both her own and her company’s views on women in boardsports.

By Jade Persaud-Walters.

The Winter Olympic games created a number of firsts for the women’s sport. Switzerland’s Sina Candrian landed the first 1080 in a women’s slopestyle competition, and Jenny Jones claimed GB’s first medal on snow.

But away from the competition arena, the main challenge facing female athletes is the struggle to be seen as talented professionals as opposed to ‘objects of desire’. Male athletes on the other hand, despite featuring in their own ‘Hottest Olympians We Can’t Wait To Watch’ polls, account for 96% of all sport media coverage and have significantly more varied exposure.

Protest, who sponsor male and female athletes across snow, wake and surf, are aware of the natural disparity, but shy away from making sponsorship decisions in a way that’s not healthy to the sports. “Even though we try to balance the amount of male and female athletes in our teams we also know the simple fact that there are always more men than women that reach the right level” voices Caroline Dekker.

“I think it’s not that women are sponsored because of their looks instead of their skills. As a brand you look for brand ambassadors and generally speaking female consumers are less interested in the skills of riders than men. Women are more interested in the feeling a brand can give them. However at Protest we will always look first at the skills of our athletes and if they can display a positive attitude.

They do not only represent our brand during photo shoots, but also for example during competitions or on video projects.”

Stats generated by Ride O’Meter supports the gap. The top 5 women riders are still fetching far less media exposure compared to the top 5 men. But what should be done about it? Go for what sells to increase coverage, or do what’s right for the image of the sport?

“Of course we see advertisements with attractive women to attract

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attention and try to sell their products. However we believe that building our brand is not only about spreading images of sexy women.

We believe that people didn’t get hooked by boardsports because it’s a scene of attractive women. We believe people see boardsports as part of their lifestyle. And it’s the feeling of the lifestyle that attracts people in the long term. Even though certain forms of advertising could give a short time boost, we are also aware that if we don’t stay true to the heritage of boardsports our brand will lose its credibility and that’s something you can’t undo with ads of attractive women.”

It’s not just on a board that there’s a request to see a wider female presence, but also in the boardroom. ‘If brands would recruit more female staff, they would start seeing things with a different point of view.’ Daniele Meyer, co-founder of Women in Board & Action Sports told us in an interview last year.

Heading up a company where women represent 67% of the workforce, Caroline Dekker is wise to the fact that women apply for more roles within certain departments compared to men, but shares WIB’s belief that having women in her team also brings about a diversity of skills.

“We live in a modern society, where women have equal chances to men, so I think it’s important to have women in leadership positions.

However not because they are women, but because they have the skills. As with our athletes, everyone in our company holds their position because of the skills they bring to the company. At the moment I’m the only female in the management team of four.

Personally I don’t have a preference concerning working with men or women. I have good experiences with both. I’m really happy that at Protest we have a close team, that is very ambitious, but also share the values of pleasure and joy at their work. Macho behaviour doesn’t fit into our brand and company. Our core values are widespread throughout the whole company and as a CEO I’m really proud of this.”

photo:Dragon

trend report

WHAT’S HOT IN SUNGLASSES The original - and most crucial - task of the sunglass has always been to protect our eyes from the much needed, yet harmful sunlight. But their function has evolved over the years to also protect the user’s eye from dazzling moonlight (fashion statement) and are even ‘must-have’ accessories or centre-pieces to an entire look. And so the 2014 generation combines the hottest style trends with cutting edge technology for premium performance on all levels. A report by Anna Langer.

STYLE VS PERFORMANCE Brands concur that style is super important these days, “especially with sunglasses” note Dragon, “they’re one of the first things you see on a person, so they have to look good.” And even though style is often the main reason a customer is drawn to a product in the first place, the product can’t compromise in functionality. Especially when it comes to lenses, which have to fulfil highest standards when it comes to safety, since “consumers are more educated than in the past and understand that healthy eyes are important. All brands need to offer good quality in all lenses,” Arnette says. That said there are almost as many technical innovations as there are stylish ones.

TECHNICAL INNOVATIONS A lot of brands are experimenting with new materials and are developing more eco-friendly options such as the 100% biodegradable

Plantate™ polysaccharide from Spy or the bio based Rilsan Clear material from Smith (over 53% bio-based). Zeal produce their whole collection from plant based materials (using castor beans and cotton), while US newcomers from Proof Eyewear only work with wood for their frames - sometimes from old skateboard decks.

Acetate is also a popular choice utilised in all sorts of variations by the likes of Oakley, Shred(cellulose – plant based and most readily available renewable material on the planet), Spy, VonZipper, O’Neill (with wood effects), Dirty Dog, D’Blanc (from cotton fibres), Otis and Melon Optics (both handmade). Dragon expand their H20 Floatable Collection with new lens and frame options to customise your favourite pair. There will also be more choices available for Smith’s revolutionary Chroma Pop technology, that allows for a better perception of light and contrast, as well as Spy’s Happy Lens,

“For use in active sports, Dragon, Spy and O’Neill are also introducing rubber pads for better grip on nose and temples, even in sweaty conditions.”

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trend report

“So knock yourself out with as many flashy, classic or understated styles as you like!

This summer, anything goes.”

that “maximises the transmission of the sun’s ‘good’ rays while still blocking out the ‘bad’ UV rays” and enhances contrast as well. IS Eyewear, POC, Shred and Melon Optics on the other hand use Zeiss lenses for premium visibility and quality.

Another site of innovation in 2014 is the joint between frame and arms. Often the weakest and most breakable part of a pair of glasses, Zeal and Carve are arming it with 5 barrel hinges made of stainless steel, with Shred going an extra step further adding their 7 barrel hinge, while Oakley is trying to eliminate this chink altogether with a screwless hinge construction.

Dragon, Spy and O’Neill are introducing rubber pads for better grip on nose and temples, even in sweaty conditions.

STYLE With a nod to their roots, Oakley and Smith are re-launching some of their heritage pieces (Oakley the Razorblades & Eyeshade and Smith the Archive collection) from the 80s and 90s; Zeal and Quiksilver introduce “wrap” and “shield” models and POC have come up with an old-school glacier model for Jeremy Jones. There is a strong retro vibe in general, including all kinds of round shapes (small at Dragon, for women’s at O’Neill, oversized at D’Blanc and circles at VonZipper, Proof Eyewear and Roxy) and cat eye variations (Vans, adidas, Spy, Roxy and in a square version at VonZipper). The Wayfarer isn’t going anywhere anytime soon either, with an update in pastel colours from Vans. And the Aviator, is making a strong comeback too (adidas, Animal, gloryfy), and adds valuable details such as a Wood Bar across the brow (Proof Eyewear).

But despite all this vintage love, there’s also a big trend for more modern shapes, that are angular (O’Neill, POC, Roxy, Dirty Dog and D’Blanc), sculptural (Oakley) and in general more bold (Proof Eyewear). And modern materials too, with many brands implementing metal frames in their collection (Oakley, VonZipper, O’Neill, Vans).

Some add details with wooden accents (Zeal), while others aim for durability with stainless steal (IS Eyewear). Shred are providing durable sunglasses driven by pure performance but don’t compromise on style with wooden temple options, and unique multilayer acetates throughout their line.

2014 sees even more variations and some new additions from almost everyone. There will be a lot of coloured mirrors as well (from Arnette, Carve, Dirty Dog, Dragon, IS, Nectar, Oakley, Quiksilver, Roxy, Spy, Vans) as well as an array of new shades such as Proof’s lush “Kush Green”, Dragon’s pastel “Sky Blue” and “Plasma Ion”, “galactic and lunar chrome” from VonZipper or Roxy’s “sweet soft pinks”.

And even some gold (Arnette and Carve) and orange (IS Eyewear), completing the metal trend. The biggest news is surely polarized mirrors from Smith, Carve and Zeal. And Oakley put it all together by adding coloured polarized lenses to their line.

There is also a new flashback to “classic, timeless lenses” from Oakley, Smith, Melon Optics, POC and IS Eyewear in black and grey, as well as some anthracite from gloryfy and a “super classic green G15 lens” tint from Dragon and IS. We see what trend hounds call the new “instagram look”: copper, rose and vintage grey, from D’Blanc, Otis and IS Eyewear. And Vans have a gradient lens for especially subtle transitions, too.

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FRAMES For everyone living on the bright side of life, there are all the colours of the rainbow available. Spy add some neon, while adidas and Quiksilver play with colour-blocking and Dirty Dog with “contrast veneered inlays”. Still colourful but not quite as flashy are translucent models by Dirty Dog and gloryfy, or even the bleached options from adidas, Roxy and Quiksilver offer some clear frames as well.

Vans, IS Eyewear and O’Neill soften their pallet with some pastels, while surf born brands Roxy and Quiksilver are all about “ocean colours” this year, with lots of blue and navy for the guys and turquoise or teal for the ladies. Tortoise is still a heavy hitter for a lot of brands.

Many different colour stories and combinations can also be found in various patterned styles, that include everything from flowers (Roxy) or “mini-florals” (Animal) to palm trees, hula girls and photo prints (Dragon). Gloryfy on the other hand focus on more subtle prints, while Vans and Quiksilver match up prints with their apparel and boardshorts collections.

Another big trend in 2014 will be matt finishes. Dirty Dog, Vans, Dragon, Animal, POC and IS pair this new look with colour, while Spy, gloryfy, IS, Melon Optics and O’Neill stick with classic black, the latter offering a grey version as well (and POC offer various black ones with different lens colours). Quiksilver are jumping on the bandwagon as well, introducing a “rubber soft touch”.

PRESCRIPTION Sunglasses for prescriptions are becoming more and more important for many boardsports brands, but are met with different approaches.

Some have separate lines (Oakley, Spy, Smith, VonZipper, Dragon, gloryfy, Roxy and Quiksilver), that are sold in optical stores only, as “sport shops don’t have the knowledge to provide the lenses” Smith Optics explain. “It’s two different jobs really”, with which Dragon and VonZipper agree. Adidas, D’Blanc, Zeal, IS and Oakley have all or at least the bigger part of their collections ready to be fitted with prescription glasses at the optician of choice, while Dirty Dog and Proof Eyewear already sell part of their prescription models through boardsports retailers and feel there will be more coming.

And they might be right. “The importance of sunglasses is growing especially for sports retailers, who consider eyewear as part of their core range and not just as an accessory,” adidas state. Especially since there aren’t any real “trends” anymore, as Dragon explains: “With the incessant spread and importance of social media, everyone can see what everyone is wearing, doing, making, etc. So ‘trends’ in the traditional sense of the word really don’t exist anymore.” This summer, anything goes.

TRENDS METAL - look, materials & lens tints MATT FINISH - classic black & bright colours RETRO SHAPES - circles, cat eyes, shields & wraps MIRROR MIRROR - in all colours, combinations & styles GREEN - eco-friendly, plant based materials

pictorial

TITLE: PICTORIAL

PAGE: 1 OF 2

PRODUCT: SUNGLASSES SEASON: SS 2014/15

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ADIDAS / amsterdam

ADIDAS / malibu

ADIDAS / san diego

ANIMAL / bueller 105

ANIMAL / misha 109

ANIMAL / stylus 165

ASHBURY / tripper

ASHBURY / nestor

ASHBURY / spanky

CARVE / one step beyond

CARVE / goblin

CARVE / volley

D’BLANC / guilty

D’BLANC / midnight

D’BLANC / minor

DIRTY DOG / mobster

DIRTY DOG / monza

DIRTY DOG / ultra

DRAGON / marquis

DRAGON / mr blond

DRAGON / the jam

ELECTRIC / backbone

ELECTRIC / blacktop

ELECTRIC / swingarm

GLORYFY / dejavu

GLORYFY / unbreakable

GLORYFY / chixngravy

IS EYEWEAR / dorado

IS EYEWEAR / templeton

IS EYEWEAR / walker

MELON / cali 2

MELON / nomad

MELON / stanton

NECTAR / breck

NECTAR / bungalow

NECTAR / mahalo

pictorial

NEFF / bang

NEFF / chip

NEFF / dailyshades

NIKE VISION / mavrk

NIKE VISION / charger

NIKE VISION / mojo

OAKLEY / enduro

OAKLEY / eyeshades

OAKLEY / razorblade

O’NEILL / clicker

O’NEILL / driftwood

O’NEILL / shore

OTIS / reckless abandon

OTIS / the beat

OTIS / uncommon

POC / did glacier jeremy jones ed

PROOF / mccall

PROOF / ontario

PROOF /sawtooth

QUIKSILVER / the ferris

QUIKSILVER / trenton

QUIKSILVER / ridgemont

ROXY / selena

ROXY / satisfaction

ROXY / miller half rim

SHREDS / don

SHREDS / donwood

SHREDS / shrastawood

SMITH / cornice

SMITH / lowdown

SMITH / marvin

SPY / balboa

SPY / cyrus

SPY / fold

URBAN BEACH / selina

URBAN BEACH / sheild flat brow

VANS / foldable spicoli

VANS / janelle hipster

VANS / semi-rimless cat

VZ / castaway

VZ / thurston

ZEAL / memphis

ZEAL / rival

ZEAL / idyllwild

URBAN BEACH / two tone wayfarer

VZ / booker

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big wig interview

ANDY MOONEY PRESIDENT & CEO QUIKSILVER INC. Anyone in the industry not currently living under a rock has been following the major changes at one of the largest and most iconic brands in our business, California-based Quiksilver. The publicly-traded action sports and lifestyle brand with a history going back to 1969 has been dominating the news with headlines including the sales of snowboard behemoth Mervin Manufacturing and smaller brands such as Hawk Designs. Not to mention talk of licensing agreements and internal restructuring...

Something’s going on. And as it turns out, these changes are part of a new master plan; a renewed focus at Quik’ that will bring increased profitability and sustainable growth for the future. While the rest of the industry is paying close attention – after all, what’s happening to Quiksilver is symptomatic for broader changes in the business landscape – Boardsport SOURCE spoke to Andy Mooney, President and Chief Executive Officer of Quiksilver. Here’s what the boardsports veteran had to say about strategy, the European market and the state of our industry.

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CURRENT INITIATIVES Looking at current initiatives, please explain the thinking behind the new focus at Quiksilver?

A year ago, the executive team met for a strategy session that became the foundation for our three-year, profit improvement plan. We decided that our company’s mission should be to ‘Build Active, Authentic Brands into Significant, Sustainable Businesses’.

When we looked at the eleven brands we owned in 2013, our three core brands, Quiksilver, Roxy and DC Shoes were the only ones that proved to be in line with our mission.

Strengthening the flagship brands came at the cost of withdrawing from some areas. What was the motivation behind selling Mervin Manufacturing? Is the snow business specifically becoming a ‘tougher’ sell?

Mervin is a great company. They manufacture and market high-quality product and strictly manage their supply. We didn’t believe we could leverage their brands into significant apparel and footwear businesses.

So we didn’t want to increase hard goods volumes, given the risk profile of the segment. The winter sports hard goods market is very competitive, but Mervin is well-positioned to succeed.

That explains the divestment of smaller brands and focus on your three core competencies. What is the bigger picture perspective of your current profit improvement plan?

Our Profit Improvement Plan is focused on three fundamental strategies, which are: Strengthening our three flagship brands Quiksilver, Roxy and DC Shoes, growing revenues, and operating more efficiently. Every initiative dovetails with our strategies.

Obviously, the action sports industry has been in a difficult place since 2008. Is there now light at the end of the tunnel and what can the companies that are still here do in order to survive long-term?

Quiksilver, Roxy and DC are global brands that resonate with young consumers. We believe that all three brands can grow. There are challenges and opportunities in developed markets but significant opportunities in emerging markets.

big wig interview

“We see opportunity to grow in larger multi-brands retailers by offering fast-paced, SMU products that are fashion and price-right. We see tremendous opportunity in Russia as part of our overall investment in emerging markets.”

What about the changing face of retail and the rise of e-commerce?

Many of our traditional retail partners in developed markets are facing real challenges, as the consumer has more choices to shop active brands than ever. The choices include pure-play e-commerce retailers, big box retailers and the direct-to-consumer efforts of the brands themselves. This transition is consumer driven. If we’re to thrive, we must adapt to meet customers’ needs.

There has been talk of licensing the brands into non-traditional activities. Please elaborate on what these activities can offer.

Our approach to licensing at this point is simply to license products we currently manufacture – eyewear and timing for example – to partners who view this as a core competence. Eyewear and timing require specialty distribution and speciality service. We will still service our specialty surf, skate and snow retail partners, but the opportunity is much bigger in the hands of the right partner.

THE EUROPEAN MARKET Behind the scenes, the strategic decision-making process at Quiksilver is being globalised. What is Europe’s position in this?

We transitioned to a global organizational structure from one that was regionally based and operating independently. This move was designed to centralize key business functions under the leadership of experienced, world-class executives. Our apparel product lines are largely designed in Europe, while our footwear lines are solely designed in the US. What are the main opportunities for Quiksilver and associated brands in the European market?

We are seeing multiple opportunities. Within the G5, we see opportunity to grow share in the core independent channel through better product, better marketing and better customer service. We see opportunity to grow in larger multi-brands retailers by offering fast-paced, SMU products that are fashion and price-right. We see tremendous opportunity in Russia as part of our overall investment in emerging markets.

Do you plan on changing your distribution strategy and retailer selection in Europe?

In Europe, our brands have performed better than most of our peers.

We enjoy excellent relationships and believe we have increased shelf space with our larger wholesale partners. This has helped offset some of the business lost to the smaller, independent shops that have closed due to the economic downturn.

How do you align your strategy of branded flagship stores with distribution to independent retailers? Do you plan on “core” product lines just for core retailers?

We will obviously showcase key marketed styles in our own retail stores and websites. Our view is that it’s in the best financial interests of core independent retailers to carry these products as well, as they will be heavily marketed, premium priced, ‘special’ products that should be sold at specialty retail.

price-oriented and more promotional and increasingly asking for SMU products that are unique to their store. Success in larger accounts will provide us with the marketing war chest to market the premium-priced styles carried by the core specialty channel.

OUTLOOK You said that for the future, you expect there to be “four to five major players who will have significant footprints in the specialty channel.”

What steps is Quiksilver taking to become one of these players?

We believe Quiksilver already is one of the four or five major players in our industry. We believe the industry will consolidate around wellmanaged, well-capitalized companies and brands; the brands who can deliver the right product to the right channel and co-manage the profitability of all their retail partners.

Aggressive price point strategies across the industry have had a damaging effect on the value perception among consumers. What can brands do to rebuild value appreciation and avoid products ending up at “bargain bin” online retailers?

We believe in a ‘less is more’ strategy when it comes to product development. We are focused on real product innovation, supported by high quality marketing.

Online vendors have emerged as major competitors to brick and mortar retailers and ‘smart’ customers use shops as ‘showrooms’ to test what will be purchased online. Do brands such as Quiksilver have any tools to stop this trend?

How do you ‘stop’ consumers doing what’s in their best interests? The trend of ‘showrooming’ in hard goods is likely to grow. In apparel and footwear however, we see consumers increasingly coming to the sites of our brands to learn about our products but get fitted at retail. We convert 2% of the people who come to our sites to buyers on our own e-commerce platform, so 98% are interacting with our brands, learning about our product and buying from their local retailer.

In the bigger picture, was selling all the smaller brands a move towards Quik’ being a ‘big’ brand again, or could there be Quiksilverowned or –supported smaller brands in the future?

We’re open to building or buying brands at some point in the future, as long as they meet the criteria of our mission statement.

Beyond optimizing financials, what can we as an industry do to ensure a future for the sports we love and the businesses that drive our industry?

About 125,000 kids are becoming teenagers every week. Our consumer base is growing worldwide. In my view, we must invite more young people to surf, skate, snowboard or ski and also think more broadly about our brands’ connection with younger consumers who aspire to enjoy the mountain and the wave. One of my favourite quotes from founder Bob McKnight is, “half of the world’s population lives by the beach and the other half wishes they did.”

Thank you for the interview.

We believe larger-volume accounts should be segmented from core specialty, not the other way around. Larger-volume accounts are more 37

photo: Anthony Acosta / Vans

trend report

EVOLUTION SOLUTION For their fall/winter 2014/15 skateboard footwear collections, endemic brands are banking on innovation to keep customers stoked with new materials, technologies and a variety of choices in the lifestyle segment. Analysis by Dirk Vogel It’s been almost 50 years since the release of the very first skateboard-specific shoes

by U.S footwear pioneers, the Randolph Rubber Company, in 1965. Their ‘Randy 720’ model defined the mold for vulcanized canvas skate shoes for generations to follow. Over the years, skateboard footwear has evolved through alternating cycles of emphasis on style (like the recent renaissance of understated classics) and technology (the 38

1990s athletic wave of ‘air’ dampening and mesh panels).

So what side of the spectrum – style or technology – are we on for upcoming FW 2014/15 skateboard footwear collections?

As it turns out, both! Footwear is trending towards what Hayden Biener, Footwear Designer at L.A-based brand HUF, calls contemporary skate: “We are aiming to

produce the most functional, performancedriven skate shoes that are just as equally aesthetically developed.”

Performance that looks good on and off the board is a common denominator for endemic skate footwear offerings next season, also at Osiris: “Performance-driven originality is our focus for 2014/15. We have gone back to our roots and tapped into what made OSIRIS

trend report

break out from the pack. More organic lines, quality and the essence of being fresh,” said Osiris co-owners Brian Reid and Doug Weston. Keeping it fresh also has brands branching out into lifestyle and recreational footwear categories, as well as throwing in some surprises.

GUÉSS WHO’S BACK? Speaking of surprises, the folks at Sole Technology dropped a fat one with the return of 1990s shoe brand, éS Footwear. “We’re having fun designing beautifully crafted skate shoes with inspiration from classic éS styles,” said Sole Tech’s Vice President of Marketing Don Brown, while cautioning: “éS isn’t back in full capacity so the three keywords are elusive, exclusive and evolving.

Elusive means no long-term timelines for complete flexibility to do as we please.

Exclusive means tight batches of beautiful shoes, released slowly to only a handful of countries and skate retailers. Evolving means progressing new styles, functionality and comfort based on 19 years of shoemaking.”

And who said that a strained economy is no place to raise a new brand? Enter Filament, the new shoe company launched by industry veterans Tim Gavin and Bryon Schroeder: “Our approach to designing and developing footwear for FILAMENT is a combination of performance and creative story-telling. All of our shoes use a multi-directional flex tread pattern that is based on the triangle. The triangle is a strong and important symbol for us as it represents the creative trifecta of skateboarding, art and music. This is the fibre that makes up FILAMENT.” Launching a new brand takes courage, staying alive in today’s competitive market increasingly cornered by athletic shoe brands takes much, much more. On that note, congrats to Globe on their 20th anniversary, which will be the focus of several special releases next season. “Globe is still a skate/ modern surf lifestyle story, and this year’s 20-year anniversary is pretty exciting. It’s a testament to the brand’s relevancy and longevity,” said Mike Xavier, European Marketing Manager at Globe.

PRICE POINTS: RAISING THE BAR When it comes to price points in retail, the sweet spot remains unchanged. “Between ¤75–85 is really the range where the bulk of the business sits,” said Juss Apivala, Product Manager Footwear & Equipment at Vans

Action Sports EMEA. But as of late, brands are seeing a shift, said Mike at Globe: “Around ¤70–80 used to be the sweet spot in pricing, but we are seeing a gradual acceptance of higher price points when you can overtly show added value, like through obvious premium materials or detailing. It seems people are willing to pay more for quality, and I think there is a shift away from cheap mass market vulcanized footwear coming.”

Several brands are pushing the ceiling of their premium footwear price levels, including Element: “Our sneaker range goes from ¤55– 85, but our Emerald line goes up to ¤170 with recycled materials, premium leathers and Vibram soles.” Over at DC Footwear, EMEA Product Line Manager Antoine Soule said: “The upper price limit in the skate footwear segment is around €110 retail right now but our most premium streetwear designs can sell up to ¤150 RRP.” The underlying trend is a split in customer demographics between die-hard skate rats – the kids who blaze through shoes and need frequent replacements – and premium/ lifestyle customers whose shoes may never see griptape. When it comes to supporting skate rats with affordable shoes, retailers can bank on brands like European label Sykum: “Our YSK8 model costs ¤59.95 on the lower end while the Vienna and Porto will be in stores for a still very competitive ¤69.95.

On the retailer side we’re offering a very attractive 2.5 mark-up on pre-orders,” said Hannes and Volker at Beatnuts Distribution.

At etnies, Samir Krim said: “We are trying to make sure that skateboarders can afford our skate products so the €70–80 category seems to be the most commercial for us, however, with the addition of technologies and features, some of our product have been pushed up to ¤95, our upper limit. This is the case on the etnies Highlight, the lightest skate shoe on the market, or the upcoming Marana E-lite.

Emerica is another favourite among die-hard skaters, and for good reason: “Our goal as a brand is to offer the highest quality product at the best price, ultimately the best value and proverbial ‘best bang for the buck’ for Emerica loyalists and new consumers,” said Timothy Nickloff, Senior Global Brand Director at Emerica.

SILHOUETTES: BIG PANTS, SLIM SHOES With the skinny jeans trend moving out the

door, are skateboard shoes bound to follow suit and become less fitted? Not according to Antoine at DC Footwear: “Even though pants might go comfier and slightly wider, we are definitely not going to see a U-turn to the ‘90s puffy shoes.” Vans is also committed to maintaining their slim aesthetic, which they are continuing on the new AVE pro model, said Juss: “Actually, Vans started the slim trend along with Geoff Rowley in ’99. It literally stopped the bulky D3 era and that’s one of the main reasons why people started skating vulcanized shoes.”

For Hayden Biener at HUF, it’s a question of design fundamentals: “A slimmer silhouette is how a shoe should be. All the protection can be there without having unnecessary bulk. The HUF line has always focused on a slimmer, contemporary aesthetic—to incorporate absolutely no superfluous material that does not contribute to function and design.”

Timothy at Emerica sees the shift towards slimmer silhouettes as an indicator of evolution in skate footwear: “I think as the category progresses in terms of design and materialization, silhouettes have become much more progressive and sleeker which has ultimately, in my opinion, pushed things forward.”

COLOURS AND STYLISTICS: MATERIALIZATION IS THE WORD! Despite skateboarding’s progressive nature, colour choices gravitate towards the traditional side. Gene Piccotti at footwear newcomers Volcom confirms: “When it comes to bestselling colours, always bet on black!” Juss at Vans is on the same page: “It’s kind of a funny thing to say, but skaters will probably never change. They always tend to wear the same colours. Black is here to stay along with earth tones.” Which works well on a brand level, for instance at Element: “Earthy colourways are very well received for us, they are a definite part of Element.” Sam Culshaw at DVS said: “While colourways continue to progress and material and fabric stories evolve we cannot hide behind the fact that it is still black, grey or navy that does the business.”

Over at Lakai, Mathieu Tourneur of Marketing 101 Agency said: “Dark suede colours are always the strongest, but we’ve never been shy of using a wide pallet of colours. For Fall 14, you’ll see tons of grey, orange, burgundy and deep green.” Fallen Footwear is also

“We are aiming to produce the most functional, performance-driven skate shoes that are just as equally aesthetically developed.” Hayden Biener, Footwear Designer at L.A-based brand HUF 39

trend report

photo: Sam Partaix / Vans

“It seems people are willing to pay more for quality, and I think there is a shift away from cheap mass market vulcanized footwear coming.” Globe’s Mike Xavier

mixing plain and flashy colourways, said Scott Sentianin, VP of Sales and Operations at Black Box: “We are seeing surplus greens, blacks, and greys as the dominant colours and we have sprinkled in some fun by way of lime green, orange, and tie-dye and tribal textiles.”

According to the folks at Sykum, customers are lacing up different kicks for different occasions: “Before, people had one shoe which they were wearing all day, every day.

Now it seems as if everybody has a shoe rack full of different shoes – plain and simple on one side and crazy colorways and silhouettes on the other.” Speaking of colourful, Don Brown at éS is stoked on one colour: “Red! The éS brand colour has been flying out the doors!” Brian Reid at Osiris points out: “We’ve been at the forefront of the coloured material story for over four years and you’ll still see some splash of colour throughout the line. But we’ve also been moving more into patterned materials, technical canvas and alternative materials to add pop to grounded colours.”

Reid has his finger on an emerging trend, also echoed by Timothy at Emerica: “Colourways are important, but materializations seem to carry more weight. Heavy canvas, leathers, and innovative textures have been strong for us.” Antoine at DC Footwear also uses ‘materialization’ as the new catchword: 40

“Materials originality is a key development for us and meeting great success. You will see lots of freshness through premium materialization, material mix and use of new wovens.” World Industries even went all out by partnering with camouflage experts Realtree, “to make a camo shoe that will deliver in June. We also did a shoe in a jersey fleece material instead of canvas. We’re trying to set ourselves apart through materials,” said R.P. Bess at World. Sam at DVS is on the same page: “Upper materials is where it really gets interesting and is what will set the tone for skate shoe design for the next year or two. There are so many great technologies emerging like knits, welded constructions and meshes that were not really being used a year ago. This allows for a much more interesting and complex design approach, and should breath new life into what has become a seemingly boring landscape.”

But make no mistake, print patterns are far from played out, as Hayden Biener at HUF points out: “One of the more unique colourways we are offering for Fall ’14 is a Blondie photo-pattern that has been applied to our popular Sutter model, which coincides with a capsule collaboration celebrating Blondie’s 40th Anniversary.” Vans have also been selling the Chima Ferguson pro model

Hawaiian print like hotcakes, with more creative prints to follow.

AFTER SKATE LIFESTYLE Ever since Tom Penny and Chad Muska popularized wearing Timberland boots as “chill shoes”, skateboarders have slipped into comfy footwear after a hard day of shredding.

Recently, After Skate has emerged as a fullyfledged category for endemic skate brands.

Osiris is leading the charge with last season’s model, The Uprise and now Doug Weston & crew are introducing: “The Sophistic, an innovative dress shoe silhouette on a slimmer last-longer toe and the Yachter, a boater shoe that utilizes an EVA bottom, very chilled to kickback and enjoy life – no stress all style.”

Samir Krim at etnies said: “Last year we introduced the etnies Scout , a shoe for anyone and anywhere, made with innovative, durable, abrasion-resistant and high-impact rebound cushioning STI Evolution Foam, that made it our most comfortable ‘chill shoe’. We are building upon the success of the Scout, and are introducing the Scout MT, and a very exciting Lo-Cut SC based on that same category.”

HUF has been catering to this segment with the HR-1, now also available as a Wu-Tang Clan collab. Hayden at HUF tells us: “In Fall

photo: Sam Partaix / Vans

trend report

‘13 we introduced the HR-1, which is a hiking boot-inspired upper, set atop a runnerinspired sole. It’s our own approach, a hybrid model that combined durability, functionality, and style—it’s a concept that Keith [Hufnagel] had been wanting to make happen.”

FILAMENT also has your feet covered: “We offer three distinct categories of footwear, Skate, Training and Lifestyle. As a brand that is rooted in skate, we want to offer the customer footwear that speaks to every part of their day.”

Don Brown and the folks at éS, “created different materials in the Accelite that provide amazing comfort and chillability!!” Meanwhile, Vans addressed After Skate with a separated line, which is called LXVI. Emerica has the “Westgate Cruiser LT as an after-skate franchise extension of Brandon Westgate’s innovative signature Emerica shoe.” Globe offers, “a series of two new premium styles which could be categorised as ‘modern surf’ or ‘après skate’ with The Daley Boot and the NoMaD Boot.” And Shafik El Kadi at L.Abased brand Diamond said: “Our Native Trek and Jasper could cross over into this area or category of footwear.”

PRO SHOES: HERE TO STAY Recent rumours of the death of signature pro model shoes – with some brands cutting namesake shoes from their lines entirely – have been greatly exaggerated. For proof, just wait for the highly anticipated Dylan Rieder pro model on HUF. Most brands still feel like Shafik at Diamond: “Having someone endorse your product can help communicate the overall story or message you’re trying to tell.” Antoine at DC said: “Our line features many pro-models, and as we have the most amazing skate pros, they are going to be our main focus on the seasons to come.” Fallen also said: “The majority of our line is comprised of pro 42

models. Our fan base wants to see our riders in the shoes they help design.”

Samir Krim at etnies said: “We have several colourways for our riders and pro-endorsed products across the FA14 line. The Marana E-lite and OG Marana endorsed by Ryan Scheckler, the Highlight endorsed by Tyler Bledsoe, The Marana Vulc with Willow, Julian Davidson and Nick Garcia’s colourways.”

For next season, Vans is expanding their Pro Classics range, “with an incredible story to tell with our team skaters. Kyle Walker, Dustin Dollin and Jeff Grosso; an Am, a Pro and a Legend.” As an upcoming brand at the intersection of “music, fashion and youth culture”, Macbeth is drawing on a different kind of “pro” as a source of inspiration.

“Our pro models are called Studio Projects featuring amazingly talented musicians, artists and entertainers. We’ve worked with artists like Chris Shiflett of the Foo Fighters, Mike Dirnt from Green Day, Tom Delonge from Blink182, and we did a DEVO shoe that was made entirely of 3M reflective!

Next year we’ll feature everyone from The Gaslight Anthem to The Dead Kennedys, it’s going to be a great year!” said Ben Gustin at Macbeth footwear.

Core skateboard footwear brands consider their team riders as the foundation of their offering. Timothy at Emerica highlights this point: “Signature products are an important part of Emerica’s DNA. Aside from being inherent in all that we do as a brand, the Emerica team, our family, is an irreplaceable part of all we do as a company. Retailers know our board of directors, they can go skate with them anytime.” Or as Mathieu at Lakai sums it up: “We’re a skateboard footwear company, and our team is the main inspiration of our designs. We do the Shoes they skate!”

“We’ve been at the forefront of the coloured material story for over four years and you’ll still see some splash of colour throughout the line. But we’ve also been moving more into patterned materials, technical canvas and alternative materials to add pop to grounded colours.” Brian Reid from Osiris

5 MAJOR SKATEBOARD FOOTWEAR TRENDS FOR FW 2014/15 1. The 1990s make a glorious return!

Throwbacks to the Naughty Nineties include the comeback of éS Footwear, a HUF x Wu-Tang collab, the Osiris D3 reboot and a new wave of rider-owned footwear brands spearheaded by Tim Gavin’s Filament.

2. Patterned materials are the new prints. While print patterns are still going strong – especially florals and Hawaiian patterns – brands are using advanced materials to create structures. Heavy canvas, textured leathers, waxed canvas, and nubuck uppers not only create innovative textures, but also justify premium price points.

3. After Skate Footwear. No need to resort to non-skate brands for “after skate” chill shoes, endemic brands are keeping things comfy off-board. Styles range from boat shoes, tassel loafers, to runners and tech-heavy hiking boot hybrids.

4. Higher price tags on premium ranges. Pricing sweet spots remain around ¤75–85, especially among core practitioners in need of frequent shoe replacements. But the price point ceiling in premium has been raised beyond the ¤170 threshold.

5. Pro shoes still popping. While some brands are replacing signature pro shoes with pro-endorsed colourways or quick strikes, endemic brands like DC, HUF and Emerica are still banking heavily on their pro riders.

BOARDSPORTS EXPOSURE ANALYSIS

RIDE O’METER Now covering 4 media types: print, websites, social networks and online videos, the system tracks, values, analyses and benchmarks the exposure of brands, products, riders and events in the International Boardsports media. fig1.

FOOTWEAR TEAM EXPOSURE VALUE (€) (JULY – DECEMBER 2013, EUROPEAN PRINT PRESS) EDITORIAL

ADVERTISING*

* “Advertising” includes advertising by the brand and by other sponsors of the brands team riders (example : Flip advert with a Vans rider on that specific category).

fig2.

EYEWEAR TEAM EXPOSURE VALUE (€) (JULY – DECEMBER 2013, INTERNATIONAL PRINT PRESS) EDITORIAL

ADVERTISING*

* “Advertising” includes advertising by the brand and by other sponsors of the brands team riders (example : Flip advert with a Vans rider on that specific category).

44

SOCIAL NETWORKS Social Networks have become (in a short period of time) one of the key elements to every brand’s communication strategy. With new media comes new rules, and new challenges. Not only focusing on how big and how fast your audience grows, or how often you share content, it is as well about how your audience reacts to it and creates the virality itself. Riders are also leveraging the power of such tools to run and even become their own media.

In July 2013, RIDE O’METER added Social Networks to its portfolio of measuring tools, now providing specific analytic reports on the 3 main platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) for brands, riders, events and communication agencies. Aiming at providing a true monitoring and benchmarking service, they have logged in social accounts to each of their 1,000 events, 2,000 brands and 8,000 riders contained in the database and are automatically scouting, following and analysing the activity and the virality of it all.

fig3.

SURF / EUROPEAN TOP 5 – MALE / SOCIAL NETWORKS (TOTAL FOLLOWERS, DECEMBER 2013)

FACEBOOK

TWITTER

INSTAGRAM

fig4.

INSTAGRAM FOCUS, DECEMBER 2013 Ranking

Name

Number of followers

Average likes per post

% of followers

1

Jeremy Flores

39108

2277

6%

2

Michel Bourez

18047

1169

6%

3

Aritz Aranburu

16784

1037

6%

4

Leonardo Fioravanti

14151

1386

10%

5

Kepa Acero

13870

645

5%

45

GreenroomVoice

STAKEHOLDER REQUIREMENTS & EXPECTATIONS TOWARDS A MORE ‘RESPONSIBLE’ PRODUCT. By Cira Riedel/GreenroomVoice.com GreenroomVoice hosted top quality speakers at the ISPO Academy Action Sports Summit, Munich in January. Their experienced and congenial speaker Anna Rodewald, who has a diploma in Textile Engineering led a fruitful discussion on the different approaches and ideas of everyone represented at the summit from brands to retailers right the way through to consumers. The conversation yielded great new approaches as well as great hands-on examples.

Gabriel Arthur from NORR Magazine, originally from Stockholm opened the discussion by telling us about a survey directed towards the consumer carried out by a major Scandinavian outdoor brand. The results were telling and proved to be a dominant theme throughout the exchange.

“The most important argument from a consumer point of view is transparency. No need to underline that this is what it’s all about. The second point is trustworthiness, (which goes hand in hand with simplifying the identification process of a trustworthy product flanked by scientific data) and the third and most surprising argument was: Pay your taxes!” says Gabriel Arthur. So as a brand you have to earn your reputation more and more as well as communicating in an accessible and user-friendly way. “Niche-press is definitely a very suitable communications tool to speak about scientific data and gain trustworthiness,” Arthur concluded.

Isn’t the consumer afraid of data-overload? “We need to push expert knowledge into the mainstream” answers Prof. Dr. Tobias Luthe from the University of Applied Science in Chur, “You don’t need to communicate all the details, but scientific data has its place in communication, if you place it into a context. It is important to get the data with scientific and transparent methodology, use generally accepted tools, and then put it all into a context and make sense of it- the GreenroomVoice Transparency Tool is a good tool to do that.

Relate science to your daily life: saying, that I have a carbon footprint of 10 gr per cm2 – that’s very science based - and although we need this information to make political requirements and develop products, the next step must be to relate it to every day life situations, so everyone can understand this data. We need to engage more science in communication – especially in sports and outdoor where we have the opportunity to communicate emotionally. Like in NORR-Magazine,

it’s positive, not negative and trustworthy. So doing the science is one part- but communicating the results is a different storyit’s important to use best practice and role-models that show it’s possible to make a change.”

Speaking of role models, it was great to have Seth Lightcap on stage as a representative from Jones Snowboards. As an activist for climate change, Jeremy Jones has been setting milestones with his advocacy. “I’m happy to have been part of the movement from the beginning with Jones Snowboards. Jeremy Jones, the owner is active in trying to not only prevent climate change but also educate others on the facts.” The advantage for a brand being owned by such a strong personality closely connected to these kinds of values is that it makes it easier to be trustworthy to the consumer.

“It’s hard to understand what sustainable means to the consumer.” remarks Laura Seppälä, PhD student in sustainability, “there are two groups- the first one cares but doesn’t know where and how to get responsible product, nor how to identify a really green product. And the second group simply doesn’t care. They are suspicious about greenwashing and that brands try to make themselves look good. Wider knowledge should be distributed, about both social and environmental sustainability. It’s not only about the choice of the material.”

“And last but not least: we need to create responsible advertising,” adds Tobias, “a brand needs independent parties to ensure that the measurements are trustworthy. This cannot be done by the brand itself.

But the first step will always be to use the tools! We have established methods for environmental and social Life Cycle Assessments (LCA) - we produced our eco ski on this data (www.grownski.com). Doing an LCA is trustworthy information. If we get more brands to do it, then that’s a very good start. We need to build better partnerships between industry, science, politics and consumers.”

“Engage the consumer again and think about Co-Design,” adds Laura, “Besides looking at the production side of things, we also need to look at the care of the product. This is a big part of the life cycle, and information on how to repair product and customize it to make it emotionally even more attractive is one great way of reducing impact.”

“We need to push expert knowledge into the mainstream” Prof. Dr. Luthe 47

retailer help

Photos from Civilist Skate Shop’s Instagram feed (@civilistberlin) 48

retailer help

TIPS TO BOOST YOUR SHOP’S SOCIAL MEDIA IMPACT For the return of our Retailer Help column, we take a look at the powerful – and often confusing – world of Social Media. Here’s how even the smallest shop on the block can bark on the Internet with the big dogs. By Dirk Vogel.

The other day I sat down for lunch with a professional skateboarder who also runs his own apparel company. When we talked about Facebook and Instagram – probably the only two platforms you’ll ever need for your shop – his eyes lit up with excitement: “Social media puts a lot of power into the hands of the small guys. I mean, ten years ago brands of any size would have dreamed about getting direct measurements of how many people looked at their ads – today everyone can count their ‘Likes’ and ‘Shares’ and responses. It’s instantaneous feedback!”

The current social media landscape provides the smallest stores with exactly the same tools as industry-sized brands – entirely free of charge, for the most part. And the audience is listening: There are currently around 1.7 billion social media users worldwide according to HootSuite. Analysts at the Pew Internet Project found that over 89% of 18-to-29-year-old Internet users are frequenting social media platforms, for teenagers the number is over 94%.

High time for your shop to join the conversation - if you haven’t already. The big brands may have their dedicated social media managers, but with a bit of planning and strategizing, you’ll soon be building an army of followers and ‘gramming and ‘booking it up with the best of them. Here’s how. #1: CHOOSE YOUR WEAPONS You don’t have to be on every single social network. Better to focus on telling engaging stories – with pictures, since 65% of all people are visual learners – on platforms frequented by your target demographic.

So forget Twitter (mostly used for text) or Google+ (hardly used by anyone) and get your message out on the two networks that matter in boardsports: Facebook and Instagram. When it comes to the social network regarded as the most important by teenagers, Facebook is currently trending down (at only 33% from 42% in 2012 according to NextAdvisor), while Instagram is quickly gaining ground (at 17% from only 12% in 2012). The reason why kids are tiring of Facebook?

Because their parents are there monitoring their behaviour (remember before you post the latest Baker weed board graphic).

As the first order of business, create a Facebook page for your shop, listing your postal address and phone number so people can find you, and also a new Instagram account for your shop (don’t use your private one). Make sure your Instagram user name, or handle, is easy to remember: If your shop is called Shred Skateshop, go with @shredsk8shop. And if some joker already took that name, try adding “thereal,” as in @therealshredsk8shop. Set the privacy on both

accounts to “public” (you’re a business), then go into your Instagram share settings and connect your posts with Facebook for maximum reach. Now we’re cooking! #2: PLAN AHEAD The biggest myth about social media is that all those posts and status updates by brands and celebrities are totally spontaneous (yes, and WWE wrestling is actually real). Your favourite pro skaters actually employ someone to tweet for them, at least part-time. The biggest secret of these social media wizards: Pre-composed posts, written in bulk a week in advance for specific dates (see 7. Timing is everything) and initiatives, stored ready-to-go in an Excel sheet.

Planning ahead also means following your favourite brands, pro skaters, magazines and sales reps to see what they’re talking about.

Then add their @usernames or current #subjects to posts you want them to see for maximum #stoke. #3: PAINT A VIVID PICTURE Photos are social media gold. Boardsports and related products not only look cool in photos, but Facebook posts with photos actually get 53% more Likes, 104% more comments and 84% more click-throughs according to Kissmetrics. Smartphone cameras are getting ridiculously good these days, and Instagram provides a vast range of filters to set the mood – how about the old-school “Kelvin” filter for pics of your new shipment of retro cruiser boards? Artsy!

Whenever new products hit the store, take some snappy product pics and upload to Instagram, inviting customers to come check them out. Arrange the items neatly on a neutral background, or have your shop employees do some modelling (see 4. Celebrate your team).

Add #brands and @salesreps to the caption. And you have already connected Instagram to your Facebook (see 1. Choose your weapons), right? Perfection! #4: CELEBRATE YOUR TEAM Let customers get to know your staff and post their pics on social media to add a social dimension to their shopping experience. And why not make employees wear some newly arrived clothing (just for photos, though, sorry...)? In the pre-Internet days, my friend “Mike, the Shopper” modelled the latest gear in Limited, the magazine founded by Urban Supplies distribution – and the column became a cult hit. You can also have your hardware expert give some tooling advice, or your style guy, let’s call him Ben, pick his favourite threads.

Shining the virtual spotlight goes both ways: Ask to take your customers’ photos when they make a purchase: “@sk8willy just bought a new #Baker deck! Come and get yours!”

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retailer help

TIPS TO BOOST YOUR SHOP’S SOCIAL MEDIA IMPACT Using the right hashtags can boost the impact of your posts, but be careful: #dont #hashtag #every #word!

Shining the virtual spotlight goes both ways: Ask to take your customers’ photos when they make a purchase: “@sk8willy just bought a new #Baker deck! Come and get yours!” (See #6. Engage your audience). #5: SHORT & SWEET When it comes to words, it’s all about keeping it short and using direct and simple language. According to Kissmetrics, posts below 250 characters can create up to 60% more engagement, while asking your audience questions is perfectly normal on social media. Actually, Facebook posts with questions get 100% more comments and HubSpot found that questions starting with “should,” “would,” and “which” get the most responses.

So a good caption for a new clothing post with Ben, the style guy, could read: “What do you think – should @styleguyben keep rocking this new flannel shirt by #rvca? ‘Like’ if you agree.” Or: “Share this post for a chance to win an #chocolate deck, autographed by @ internetfamous.” Now that’s how you Instagram! #6: ENGAGE YOUR AUDIENCE Don’t hide behind the counter. Social media users like it when the brands and companies they follow listen and respond back. Except, about 70% of all brands ignore their customers’ comments according to Socialbackers! Set a shining example by responding to questions (remember to tag the customers so they see your reply) and by ‘Liking’ good comments.

Also keep in mind that 35% of Facebook fans follow a page so they can take part in contests and 42% to receive discount coupons according

#7: TIMING IS EVERYTHING! Social media is a daily habit for 67% of adult Internet users, says the Pew Internet Project. But not all days are the same in terms of effectiveness: Later in the week is better, Facebook engagement is 18% higher on Thursdays and Fridays, while weekend rates are 32% higher.

Times of day are also crucial: The morning commute to school or work is prime time for socialising on mobile devices – for folks on public transportation, at least – and lunch time and 3:00 p.m. are peaks of activity, while social media goes “dead” between 6–8 p.m., only to come back strongly after 9 p.m. You can experiment with the right time for your posts by checking your metrics with Statigram, a comprehensive analytics service already trusted by 150,000 brands in 200 countries.

There is also absolutely no shame in repeating the same posts, or the same information phrased differently with different photos, several times. Most people follow so many accounts, some posts slip to the bottom of the list unnoticed. So blast out your #special sale or upcoming pro demo, or mini ramp contest a couple of times in advance (see 2. Planning Ahead), and every eight hours in the three days leading up to the event. And in case you’re wondering, now is the perfect time to put down this magazine, and start stoking out your fans with some #winning posts.

3 SOCIAL MEDIA DON’TS!

WHO WE’RE FOLLOWING...

And here are some definite No-Nos:

Take notes, these retailers are doing it right.

Don’t buy followers. Okay, there are websites letting you buy 1,000 followers for a mere ¤10, but none of them are real (Justin Bieber allegedly has 18 million fake followers). Better to have actual followers who also frequent your store. Just make sure to have more people following you, than you follow (looks desperate otherwise).

@stil_laden Product shots, events, pro visits – Vienna’s very own skate and sneaker store makes it look good.

Don’t respond to everything. Some folks leave their manners right at the door when they get on the Internet. While being a good listener is great (see 6. Engage your audience), you can also draw a line beyond which certain types of aggression will not stand: Erase offensive posts, and respond to the badmouth in private instead of engaging in a public debate (that cannot be erased once it’s out).

Don’t overdose on hashtags. Using the right hashtags can boost the impact of your posts, but be careful: #dont #hashtag #every #word! While posts with hashtags get double the engagement than plain ones, there’s a limit: Posts with one or two hashtags are okay, from there it’s just #waytoomuch!

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to Buffer. So give them what they want: Talk to the brands about getting some free gear and throw a contest. Best trick video, best snowboard photo – anything goes! Ask followers to share the post with their friends to spread the word (see 5. Short and sweet) and watch your follower count skyrocket!

@civilistberlin Sneakers, beanies and the occasional beer bong from Berlin’s savviest trend-setters. @slamcityskates London’s premier skate shop knows what customers want, with over 6685 followers – and counting. @arrowandbeast Special sales events, pro visits, new deck drops – always on Instagram. @streetmachine Shining a light on exciting products and hard-working interns up in Copenhagen.

BEST SELLERS Word from the street remains positive, with footwear still selling well but there’s also been a notable increase in the sale of both skate and snowboard hardware. New shops are opening, such as the New School Shop in Les Deux Alpes who are a skate shop offering skate classes and we also spoke with old schoolers from Rodolfo’s skate shop, Amsterdam who also have a lot to shout about after their change in location has spelt an increase in trade for them.

SKATE / PONKES SATE SHOP / HELSINKI / FINLAND What makes your store different and in what ways does your store excel beyond your competition?

We have been trading for many years, I think our experience and customer service along with the range of products we sell gives us the cutting edge on other local shops. We have a tight community and very local customers.

What are you doing to pull people into your store?

We often host skateboarding events, which brings in lot of custom. We also hold skate jams, which are very popular. All the local skateboarders attend these and bring people

with them from outside the usual circle. These are great fun and a great way to get the store out there.

What are the benefits of having a physical shop over simply having an online store?

The people can come here and see that we are real people involved in our sports. I see our shop as being more of the heart of the local community where people feel welcome and feel comfortable in coming in and trying out what we have to offer. It’s also a lot easier for us to keep up with the current trends, as we hear from people what they want.

How’s the skate scene in your local area?

We have an awesome skateboard/ longboarding scene here. There are many great street riding spots scattered all around, which makes it very popular amongst the locals. It is very rare in the summer that you will find one of these spots empty and not filled with local skateboarders/ longboarders.

What have been the best three selling categories for you in the last 12 months?

Longboards and skateboards. However our snowboarding clothing is currently the best selling thing at the moment, obviously due to the colder conditions

SNOW / THE SNOWBOARD SHOP / FLEET / ENGLAND / WWW.THESNOWBOARDSHOP.CO.UK What is your company motto?

‘Your satisfaction is our success’ you have to make the customer dream.

For clothes, our best selling brand is Element and for shoes it has to be Vans. It has been like this for the last two years with Vans, they are so popular.

How many years has your store been trading for and who runs the store?

We have been trading for eight years. We cater for many younger people as the providence that we are situated in has many students. We are a small shop run by husband and wife.

What are the benefits of having a physical shop over simply having an online store?

Well, we do not have an online store. This is because we are too busy to handle this as we only have a few employees. We enjoy working in the store as you can see the behavior of the customers in front of you. We find that a lot of people assume that products should be

What are your best selling brands?

discounted on the internet. When you are talking to a customer you can deal professionally face to face with them and make sure that they are fully satisfied.

What are the trends right now?

Trends seem to come in very fast, not as fast as Paris, but still very steady. As far as style is concerned street wear is very urban. We also see a lot of ‘mountain chic’. A big trend to hit is the return of the surf vintage. However we don’t really sell this in our products.

SKATE / RODOLFO’S SKATESHOP / AMSTERDAM / NETHERLANDS / WWW.RODOLFOS.NL

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What are the benefits of having a physical shop over simply having an online store?

Rodolfo’s opened its doors some years before online business existed, we had a long history of being a place to go for boards, drink coffee and get good service, it’s still more important to have brick and mortar next to a virtual experience. Nothing beats holding a deck and the ability to check shapes, sizes and concave at a shop.

over price. It is more important to stick to your own vision and adjust your store’s direction when and if necessary.

What kind of advice can you give other independent retailers who are trying to compete against the big box megastores?

It’s important not to go head-on in a battle

How’s the local market at the moment?

Beside the big box megastores and bigger brands taking the role as retailers, and thus acting as direct competition for all privately

How confident are you for the coming winter and going into next summer?

Rodolfo’s just moved into another location.

That in itself is always an uncertainty but luckily the regular customers stayed with us and we’re getting new people on board daily.

owned shops, I sense there is a liking for local and smaller companies amongst customers.

It’s this loyalty that helps us smaller stores survive.

Please tell us of any upcoming initiatives your shop has planned?

For the last couple of months we’ve been busy getting settled and working out the new location, plans for events and such will follow shortly, once we are settled in.

BEST SELLERS Retailers... Would you like to be featured in Best Sellers?

Email shops@boardsportsource.com

SNOW / NEW SCHOOL SHOP / LES DUEX APLES / FRANCE / WWW.NEW-SCHOOL.FR Please can you tell us how long you have been trading for and give a brief history of your shop?

We are currently a new snowboard shop that has opened in Les Deux Alpes. We are a shop run by keen snowboarders and will also be holding classes.

What accessories are the most popular?

In the shop we are currently selling mostly helmets, gloves, coats - basically mostly snowboard accessories. I have been pleasantly surprised as to the amount of custom our shop has already taken and

this is mostly due to the large amount of accessories we sell.

What is your best selling brand?

I would say Never Summer boards.

What are the benefits of having a physical store?

As keen snowboarders ourselves we love to test out all the new products and can then offer accurate and honest feedback to our customers, we are also able to host the school from here. This makes it easier for anyone even thinking of trying the sport to come and speak to us directly about anything they may

want to know concerning the sport before trying it out for themselves. We really enjoy the one on one interaction we get in the store.

Please tell us of any upcoming initiatives your shop has planned? (events, signings, revamps etc…)

We will be having an event to launch the opening of the web store and will also be hosting little comps for our school attendees.

In the upcoming season we hope to host a few more events, yet they are currently a work in progress.

SURF / SECRET SURF / SCARBOROUGH / UK / WWW.SECRETSURF.CO.UK What percentage of your sales are from online business compared to your in-store sales?

Our online shop is very much related to the weather of the season itself, if it’s a good winter or summer, we sell a lot more hardware via our homepage. Our sales should be around 15% compared to in-store sales.

What are the benefits of having a physical shop over simply having an online store?

Promoting the sports and products is a lot

more effective and personal in-store, than just having an online business. We can tell our customers about our own experiences and give them much more suitable and more personal advices.

What trends do you see upcoming?

Definitely wakeboard. A lot of people find it very accessible to surf so are now trying something different.

We sell a lot of the ION wetsuits; along with the different ranges of surfboards we have.

What are you doing to pull people into your store?

We are promoting on facebook, instagram, twitter, linkden - all the usual. We also hold mini events to advertise the store and what we have to offer.

What is your best selling accessory category?

SURF / WAVERIDERS SURF SHOP / ABERSOCH / UK Please tell us of any upcoming initiatives your shop has planned? (events,signings, revamps etc...)

We are always in touch with the pros on the tour for signing goodies, and we plan on starting up our own comp again called the Freeriders pro/ am search. We’re always looking to extend our range even more.

What particular product has been the best seller? What’s working and what isn’t?

Ultimate surfboards do really well, we sell a whole range of boards mostly around the time when the wake stock festival is happening here.

What is your best selling accessory category?

We have a huge range of surfboards, they all sell very well. The paddleboards sold great last summer, we are hoping for the same again this year.

What are the benefits of having a physical shop over simply having an online store?

This is easy. Online you can’t have face-toface interaction with customers. I believe this is a huge way in your shop being successful.

What makes your store different and in what ways does your store excel beyond your competition?

We know what our customers want and as we interact hugely with our customers we feel

like our customers trust our opinions and that keeps them coming back.

What trends do you see upcoming?

I think there will be a massive wakeboarding trend this summer. I think people are finding it more appealing.

What kind of advice can you give other independent retailers who are trying to compete against the big megastores?

Truthfully, I would just say stay in contact with the locals and build up a relationship with your customers. We find it very easy maintaining our customer relationships and feel like we have that over big stores.

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brand profile

PENGUIN

Penguin produce high quality freeride outerwear at an affordable price. They are a small Swiss company with a lot of ambition and thanks to their small size, offer retailers a reassuring ‘hands-on’ approach.

Please give an overview on how and why the company began?

We figured there’s a niche for technical freeride apparel for use only in a backcountry environment. Our passion of exploring fresh powder in the Swiss Alps has constantly driven and characterized our apparel designs.

Who is on the management team, and what are their backgrounds?

Tristan Winkler - Owner & Managing Director.

(Outdoor enthusiast) Benjamin Boss - Head of Sales. (Heads up sales in the GAS region from Germany) Steve Schaerer - Brand Director. (Previously worked with Oakley & The North Face in the EMEA region) What is the company ethos?

We want to produce the most technically advanced outdoor clothing for freeride enthusiasts, at a competitive price, and without compromising on materials. Our designs are clean, simple and uncomplicated.

What sets you apart from your competitors?

Price. We offer high-end technical products at a reasonable price to other brands in the same market segment. In order to achieve this we have limited our marketing budget to the bare minimum and let our products do the talking. People who buy our product usually love it and speak well about our brand. For a brand we believe this is the healthiest way to grow in the current outdoor environment.

Could you tell us about the way in which you use local resources in your products?

We work with a small local fabric supplier from Switzerland. They are a far better known

company than we are. In our opinion we feel Schöller currently develop some of the most technically advanced fabrics in the world. We are happy to work with them.

What do you find important about the European market?

Coming from Switzerland, we do not see Europe as a market. In fact, even the “Swiss” market cannot be defined as one market.

We have a German part, a French and an Italian part. Each of these regions works very differently. Same thing we see in Europe.

For example the German market works very differently from the Austrian and the Italian market. It’s important to be consistent but also adapt to the regional ways of working.

It’s a balancing act.

How do you support athletes and boardsports?

We have 10 pro riders in our team that we support with Penguin apparel. We also contribute to competition fees and travel expenses where we can. In addition we sponsor photo and film projects that our riders are involved in. On the ambassadors side we have 15 members and support the Swiss J&S Team (youth & sports instructors).

They are a highly trained group of ski and snowboard instructors and teach young people in several winter disciplines across the Swiss Alps.

What other marketing are you running?

To be honest very little due to budget constraints. We reinvest everything back in to the brand. We believe the best way to promote our brand is to go out there and ski/ride the regions. Talk directly to the consumer on the

mountain, converse, share ideas and listen.

Occasionally we may build a pop-up booth at a ski or snowboard event and show people what we have created and encourage them to test it.

Why should retailers sell your brand?

Because we offer a high quality technical product at a reasonable price. We offer a unique and flexible service to a retailer due to the small size of our company. We are very hands on with more or less everything. Our size allows us to be like this.

We have complete control of our inventory within the European region.

What do you see for the future of your company?

The outdoor industry is not exactly prospering at the moment. I still see a lot of potential for small niche brands such as Penguin to grow in small steps. Growing healthy is how we see the future of our company and the brand.

What do you see for the future of the industry?

To be honest the next few years will not be easy but we remain positive. Big brands should stop flooding the market with mass produced inventory and would be wiser to invest in building better quality control and a more creative approach on how to work with their partners/brand.

Where can we check out your products/ videos/stuff? (web/facebook/etc) http://www.penguinclothing.ch/ http://instagram.com/penguinclothing# https://www.facebook.com/pages/PenguinClothing/155713108220

WWW.PENGUINCLOTHING.CH / KALISTI INTERNATIONAL GMBH, THURGAUERSTRASSE 109, 8152, SWITZERLAND / INFO@PENGUINCLOTHING.CH / +41 (0)44 586 63 60 55

brand profile

METRO FREERIDE FOOTWEAR Metro Freeride Footwear is the skate industry’s first freeride footwear program. Spawned from ex-pro and founder Buddy Carr’s love of skateboarding, he intends to roll Metro out across Europe.

Please give an overview on how and why the company began?

I saw a need four years ago for a new type of wheel, a wheel that was designed for sliding, one that would be predictable, wear evenly and not flat spot. We focused in on that, started prototyping and built a team and now produce what many feel are the best slide wheels in the market. Fast-forward to now and we are taking that same energy and bringing to the global market, the industry’s first freeride footwear program.

Who is on the management team, and what are their backgrounds?

Our in-house footwear designer is a skater himself with over 10 years in skate footwear design. He understands the needs of a skate shoe and not just from a freeride point of view but also from a street skaters perspective as well. Myself, I started in the skateboard business nearly 30 years ago, ran Tracker Trucks for 20+ years and helped launch several skate brands including Skate Rags, A1 Meats, Orion Trucks, Street Rod Clothing and others over the years. I skated for the Alva skateboard team in the 80’s and 90’s, travelled the globe and met many great people that I regard as family to this day.

What sets you apart from your competitors?

We are the only shoe brand making a sole specific for the Freeride, DH and Longboard

scenes. I don’t feel like we are really competing with any other brands, my goal is to create an entire new sub category in skate footwear. The features our designer put into our unique split sole is unlike any other skate shoe on the market. It truly stands alone. Our marketing will cater specific to the Freeride culture, we will sponsor Freeride, DH and Slide style events and invest back into the scene to help it grow in a positive direction.

What other marketing are you running?

We’ll be active on our social media feeds and we’ll be posted up at events across the US. We’ll have a strong focus on smaller grass roots contests, so many of the races and slide jams are outlaw style, no permits style events. Skaters organizing events on the fly and just hoping they don’t get shut down before the finals.

Why should retailers sell your brand?

Times are uncertain and no one wants to take a risk and deviate from the formula but the only way to grow and become a true leader is to take risks. My goal is change the norm, to bring an entire new sub category to a sort of stale skate shoe marketplace.

What do you see for the future of your company?

I want to make the best footwear we possibly can and cater to a specific market. We will start the spark that will ignite an entire new

skate shoe sub category. Just as we led with our slide specific wheels, we’ll lead with our freeride specific footwear. I don’t want to stop there, I have other products that I see a need for, I’ve always looked for holes in a marketplace and then I create products to help try and fill them. I see our footwear as a launch pad for more lifestyle apparel and eventually a range of accessories.

What do you see for the future of the industry?

Our goal is to help steer the industry in a direction for positive growth. The longer we can keep the actual skaters, the ones with passion and love for skateboarding in the drivers seat the brighter the future will be for the industry as a whole. The longboard industry can and will continue to grow as more people turn to longer boards not only for the thrill of rolling on 4 wheels but for transportation needs as well. But really when it comes down to it we need the support of the retailers, the ones not afraid to take a chance, the ones that are the mavericks, the ones who know that in order to grow we must always be changing.

Where can we check out your products/ videos/stuff?

Email me your questions and comments. metrofreeridefootwear@gmail.com

METRO FREERIDE FOOTWEAR / CARLSBAD, CALIFORNIA / METROFREERIDEFOOTWEAR@GMAIL.COM

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brand profile

ION WETSUITS ION, a high quality neoprene producer for the kite, windsurf and wakeboard scene have now expanded their range to surfing and mountain biking, incorporating style and design not only on water, but on trails and tracks too.

Interview with Volker Hansen, Head of Marketing.

Please give an overview on how and why the company began?

ION was launched back in 2005 as an own brand within the Boards and More portfolio.

In the beginning the brand was focused on wetsuits, neoprene products and accessories for the international kite, windsurf and wakeboard scene. Back then wetsuits were all black in black. It was high time for something new and fresh. ION reinterpreted the classic wetsuit market with a unique combination of high quality products wrapped in progressive style and design. In 2013 we took the same approach to the slopes, by launching our bike division, since our second big love has always been mountain biking.

Who is on the management team, and what are their backgrounds?

The management team consists of Till Eberle (CEO) & Gregor König (CFO). Till achieved a Masters degree in Industrial and Light Engineering and used to be a pro-rider and member of the Germany National Snowboard team. Till started his Boards & More career as product manager for Fanatic snowboards.

In 2000, he started to build up North Kiteboarding. Gregor has a master degree of Science in Industrial Engineering and focused on financing/controlling in several multinational companies before he took over the responsibility for Finance, Accounting/ Controlling, Logistics, Purchasing, Customer Service, IT, HR and Legal at Boards & More.

What is the company ethos?

Don’t limit yourself and enjoy the full spectrum life has to offer. This philosophy is also reflected in our claim “SURFING ELEMENTS”. We just love to ride no matter what kind of board or bike you have under your feet. In the end we all share the same passion, the feeling of stoke and flow whether it´s on a board or a bike, on water or dirt.

What sets you apart from your competitors?

Growing up in the B&M setup, ION has strong links to the hardware brands within the group.

ION has basically become the daily work wear of the whole product development crew.

Therefore we get a lot of feedback from a very technical point of view that naturally led to a functionality driven approach – one of the key benefits of all ION products. Combining functionality with innovative technology and progressive design is what makes ION unique.

Could you tell us about the way in which you use local resources in your products?

All design, research and development is done in Germany. ION’s key products are wetsuits that are made of premium limestone neoprene. Taiwan and Japan are the worlds leading countries in the production of neoprene products. To meet our quality demands, we stick to experienced specialists from these markets.

What do you find important about the European market?

Europe is our home and at the same time WWW.ION-PRODUCTS.COM

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represents our strongest market. The European market is more technical driven and has a completely different appreciation of progressive design than the US market or the Australia market, for example. Within Europe we see significant differences in the needs of each market. We experience different demands for products as well as ways of communicating and interaction. We are working very closely with our network of distributors and agencies, and listen carefully to their demands. Through this, we are able to receive deep insights into each market and incorporate them into our products and communication strategy.

What do you see for the future of the industry?

The boardsports industry will always benefit from the passion that drives us. Passion of the people working in it, passion of the people living and practicing the different sports. This will lead to progression and innovation and make us less affected by the economic crises.

We would all rather save money on anything but on our love. Staying true to your heritage and being authentic is the key.

Where can we check out your products/ videos/stuff? (web/facebook/etc) Products & Team – ION website: http://www. ion-products.com/ http://ionproducts.tumblr.com/ www.facebook.com/ion.water www.facebook.com/ion.bike

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NEW PRODUCTS 01.

02.

03.

04.

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05.

#70 06.

01. DAKINE: JETTY WET/DRY 29L The new surf pack from DaKine will allow you to carry everything you need before and after your surf session, thanks to cool features such as the insulated pocket for your beers or water bottle, or the waterproof roll top wetsuit pocket. www.eu.dakine.com

02. CLICHÉ: HAIR CUP SERIES SKATE DECKS To mark this summer’s World Cup and celebrate big hair with skaters from across the globe, these decks have original artwork hand painted by Marc McKee based on 90s football Panini stickers. The full line up is Collet – France, Winter – Australia, Esponiza – Mexico, Brezinski – USA, Mendizabal – Spain and Villemin – Germany. www.clicheskate.com

03. OSPREY: STRIPE SINGLE KICK LONGBOARD The Osprey ‘Stripe’ Single Kick Longboard is the big Kahuna of Osprey’s growing longboard range. The ideal setup for frustrated surfers or those who love to keep it “old school.” www.ospreyactionsports.co.uk

04. PENNY: FADES SERIES Inspired by surfboard art and by the creative mind of one passionate Penny follower, the new Fades series combines the best of both Penny worlds: fabulous, vibrant colours, and the beach lifestyle that underpins the essence of the Penny brand. Each board across the collection mixes three perfectly complementary colour combinations in an ombre effect that fades across the board. www.absoluteboardco.com

05. FOX: ALCHEMY BRUCE IRON’S SIGNATURE BOARDSHORT Bruce Iron’s signature Alchemy boardshort features a z-lock fly system, and stretch lock drawcords to lock down a non-slip, never-come-loose fit. This short has hidden Micro Rigid Tape sewn into the lined waistband for a secure fit. Whilst welded hems and inseams are light, comfortable and stretch 100% with the fabric for extra movability and performance during watersports. www.foxhead.com/boardies

06. FIREWIRE: TIMBERTEK While by no means sustainably built, Firewire’s Timbertek has by far one of the least toxic and smallest carbon footprints of any commercially available surfboard today.

Combining a lightweight EPS core, sustainably-grown wood deck skins, Firewire’s proprietary parabolic rail construction and Entropy’s bio-resin, the Timbertek is an eco-friendly, lightweight, durable surfboard with ALL of the high performance flex characteristics of Firewire’s existing technologies. www.firewiresurfboards.com/timbertek.php

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MARKET INTELLIGENCE UK

By Gordon Way So let’s kick off with this. Real income in the UK (I guess that is disposable income) is still below the level of 2003. The recession may well be over but it bit very deep and very hard into the pockets of most ordinary citizens in the UK. The buzz at the moment is all about how our economy is growing (forecast at 2.7% today [Budget Day]).

That’s the bad news. It may not sound like much and it is over pretty quickly – but when you think that disposable income is still below the level it was at over 11 years ago that really makes you think.

OK – bad news over.

Jeremy Sladen (TSA, Ellis Brigham) – as you all know by now Jez is my favourite contributor because of his no nonsense approach to life and because he is a man of few, but very succinct words. He popped into the office today so I took the opportunity to ask him how it is?

Having Jeremy in front of me I knew it would be easier to get more than a few words out of him.

“Great” that was all I could get. Did he not have anything else to say? “Nope – it’s just great”. A bit of badgering and a bit more conversation and I can sum it up this way. Stock was his biggest issue. Not that he had too much, but not enough! Jeremy had called in to check out if we had any snowboard stock that he could get his hands on. So perennial problem – stock - was still hampering the business – but not in the normal way!

Jeremy told me that he was about to zip off to BC for a week’s heliboarding, (yawn) and told me again, and gloated rather obviously!

But I did eventually get a bit more from the big man about the business “It really is good – been a long time coming but the fact is that we have run out of stock. It’s not just TSA - most retailers are low which only bodes well for the future. The ‘bargain hunters’ will not be able to fill their pockets and this can only be good for all of us. There’s a distinct shift in the mind set of the consumer in a really positive way and it’s great” (That word again).

It was also good to catch up with him on the UK Winter Olympic results (best ever) and get a perspective both from the avid snowboarder, guru of the industry and the retailer: “The ‘Olympic effect’ will really be felt this coming winter. Snowdomes are reaping the rewards now, and will continue to do so, retailers should really see the benefit in the coming seasons. We now have to be ready, prepared and stock up for the entry-level market – something we have not had to do for years. And as for the Olympic results – well we’re just at the start of what could be a wonderfully positive spiral. Snowboarding will get more funding, that will help us bring on the great talent pool of youngsters for the next Olympics, that in turn will bring us more medals and that will grow the business. It really is great isn’t it” So there you have it – it’s great.

Not so great for Paul at Absolute Snow. I caught up with him laid up on his settee at home (probably watching Jeremy Kyle) as he’s off work recuperating from a serious back operation. Get well soon Paul!

Apart from wishing him well, which of course, I did, I figured that he, like Jeremy (Sladen not Kyle), was a captive audience and we had a good chat about the state of the market. “Season’s been good – we’re

more than happy and whilst I am not convinced that the Olympics are going to persuade people to rush out the door and buy a new ski or snowboard there is no doubt that the UK’s fantastic results will give a great boost to sales in the future” But it was not all good news “The scooter market is on its arse and skate is not a lot better. It’s been good whilst it lasted but it’s not looking so good now.”

Now, as I have said before, love ’em or hate ‘em scooters did bring a chunk of much needed business at a time when it was… well… much needed. I just hope that all those scooter kids will find their way to skate, surf and snow. Somehow I doubt it.

Paul is very pragmatic about the future but has a simple fundamental in his business: “We will continue to focus our buying on brands that manage to earn us a real solid profit. We need the margin to maintain our business and will simply put our buying power behind those brands that support good solid, sensible retailers”.

Next I turned to Freestyle Xtreme. They’re a big player in the MX market (which is part of their roots) but also a big player in the apparel and footwear markets. I spoke to Jake Loughlin (MD) and he was pretty upbeat: “Good, really good with a great start to the year.

January was excellent and unusually followed by a strong February – normally a rubbish month but this year it really picked up again”.

Asking Jake what was new, it seems that we will be seeing more of Freestyle Xtreme in the coming months: “winter... we’re moving into winter and there’s going to be a big push from us to capture some of the winter market. Our focus will be on those suppliers we already deal with who also have a winter offering but we’re taking this one seriously and we hope to make a big impact this coming season”.

As for the coming 12 months Jake is more than enthusiastic: “I’m confident, very confident. It’s going to be a good year. Our sellthrough last year was good and already indications are that this year is going to have an awesome sell through. Happy with that” There you have it – I could fish around and try and find some more bad news. I can tell you that a long established distributor appears to have gone to the wall (a Phoenix arose the next day). I can tell you that some chickens are coming home to roost with regards to paying those winter invoices. That’s all true and it’s all part of the equation – survival of the fittest and all. It’s part of the rich tapestry that is our industry – and is not dissimilar to most other industries either. But looking for bad news is not really something I want to do.

Ahhh – I know – what about the weather – there’s always something wrong with the weather. It’s rained a lot, it’s been cold but there have also been mild snaps teasing us of what is to come. Two solid warm (UK standards) weekends and it brought quite a few participants out of hibernation. Spring is not looking so bad and if we get a summer like last year (I know it came late... July 7, if I recall) then who knows maybe there will be no bad news at all.

I know, I know. I forgot to ask my kind industry folk what their Optimism Rating was – I’ll have to remember it for next time. If I were giving them scores they’d all get an 8 or 9 – I don’t think that 10 should ever be granted as it is only asking for trouble. Great isn’t it?

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MARKET INTELLIGENCE GERMANY

By Anna Langer “New year, new luck” is an old German saying but whether this is true for 2014 still needs to be determined. The German Federal Ministry for Economics predicts a slight but steady growth for the German economy in 2014, even though they admit “the Eurozone is leaving the recession inertly”. This is also true for the boardsports market, although it seems evident by now that there are some deeper issues underneath the general economic situation.

So far, experiences and opinions vary and leave all possibilities open. With a winter that didn’t even justify its name north of the Alps and seemed more like a huge prelude to spring from Christmas on, sales in the snow department have been understandably low. “Since there was no winter, winter products are hard to sell. And that’s just the start,” says Jens from skate, snow and surf shop 58 in Ulm in the South of the country.

The sunny weather and warm temperatures come in handy for all skate enthusiasts on the other hand, who have been pawing the grounds since the rainy season last year and can’t wait to get back on their boards. Since it dumped little to no snow at all in the cities, the usual spring perils of wet surfaces or gravel on the streets have been eliminated and leave nothing but joy under bluebird skies. “Longboards have sold really well already, especially complete set-ups from Globe and Apex,” Jens rejoices.

Johannes from online skate store skatedeluxe.com confirms a comparably good start to this year: “Things are looking up again, with more orders and sales compared to last year. Things are absolutely going to plan and I hope this positive development will continue to manifest.” They had a bit of a tough year in 2013 because “the German market was rather weak and we had to make a lot of changes with our brand and product portfolio.” Their solution was to branch out of the country and enter the European market. “From an IT point of view, this internationalisation was a real challenge, with a big focus on usability as well as the look of the shop. But it bodes well for the future,” he reasons.

The first months of 2014 have already brought skatedeluxe.com good sales with skate hardware, shoes and sneakers; some jackets, denim and tank tops as well as backpacks. “It’s the brands with an honest message and authentic history, who convince, for example Iriedaily, Dickies or Vans. Nike is also still strongly in demand. And more core brands are making their stand, like Huf and TPDG. We’re also very happy with the performance of our own brand SK8DLX,” tells Johannes.

In Ulm, Jens is finding similar experiences in his store 58. “Skate shoes are finally selling really well again, after months and years of disastrous sales. Especially skate brands like etnies, DC and Globe.

I think some people are just fed up with that whole Nike thing and want their traditional skate style look back,” he assumes. “There are remarkably less skaters than three or four years ago,” he says, “but with the sunshine and bluebird skies, people go out skating early again, feeding their lust for a new pair of shoes.”

And the sunny weather even sold a couple of boardshorts already, yet Jens says surf is generally a year-round business for 58. “We used to have a surf shop in Portugal too and organised a lot of trips for our customers to get down there, so we have surf clients all year round - albeit on a rather small, but consistent level. Mainly hardware, accessories and maybe winter friendly wetsuits.”

The distributors from Good Question Supplies share the success 64

with small brands and show that the true core riders are not as dependent on the weather, as the mainstream sports market in general. “We didn’t experience many down sides this winter since our portfolio is made up of niche brands, which aren’t as sensitive to weather conditions. Meaning that fans of the brands we work with head to the mountains in all conditions and don’t mind if the snow isn’t as great,” Eric explains.

They were especially successful with Airblaster’s one-piece thermal layer, the ‘Ninja Suit’, which is made of merino wool and is not the cheapest! “This high quality item wasn’t ordered as much in previous years but is our best seller this year. This proves that customers are ready to pay a proper amount of money for a proper first layer!” Eric reasons. On top of that he was surprised by the performance of their latest portfolio addition, Smokin’ Snowboards: “There seems to be a high request for brands that manufacture their own products. And features like magne-traction are great sales pitches as well.”

Big players like Burton on the other hand have had a tough year in shops like Jens’ 58, as “they aren’t core snowboarding anymore, many customers tell me they’ve become more of a backpacks and accessories brand to them.” Like many shops, Jens isn’t too happy with many of the major brands in general, who he feels have simply put too much product on the market, evoking price wars between shops – both brick & mortar as well as online. “Our market has to become trustworthy again. Why should any customer pay the regular price if they can get stuff 70-80% off throughout the year?”

It’s dynamics like that which lead him to think, the decrease in the boardsports market isn’t over yet. “I think we haven’t reached the bottom yet. There will be even more shops closing down until the market is cleaned up again.” But he’s more than confident for his own store with a history of 20 years. “We can’t balance out the loss in turnover, but we have shrunk the shop smaller, to make up for the losses and we have put a lot more effort into the service side of the shop, with snowboard and skateboard courses, day trips and a leasing concept for our Nitro kids boards. These days you have to actively create your future customers!”

This value-addition is something vital for all bricks & mortar stores, who can’t compete with the range, choice and offer of the online stores. “Besides touch and feel, which can’t (yet) be shown on a computer, there are basically no downsides to an online shop any more,” Johannes from skatedeluxe.com ponders. And Eric adds, that reproaches between shops, distributors and brands make as little sense, as utopian demands. “Cooperation is key! We have to meet each other at eye level to discuss solutions.” Some brands like Volcom, GSM, Beatnuts, Carhartt have already understood that, say Jens, while others are still following along more traditional lines. 2014 will show, which strategy is most sustainable. Because one thing is for sure, with social media and mobile Internet access anywhere, there was seldom more going on in the scene, as skatedeluxe.com Johannes cuts to the chase: “I’m sure boardsports in general will get a boost again with everything going on day after day, new brands, new products, new ideas. A lot of companies reacted to that already, and adapted to new developments, so they should be properly equipped now.”

MARKET INTELLIGENCE FRANCE

By Patrick Colton The expectation for Q1 2014 is 0.2% GDP expansion as cross boarder capital flows from Asia and MENA countries find their way into French markets. The EU central bank’s March 6 decision to hold interest rates at current low levels had stabilizing effect on equity and lending markets that bolstered consumer confidence and holiday spending. Although there is still some concern that low interest rates without inflation could send the French market into deflationary spiral, it is generally expected that the EU will begin some form of quantitative easing (printing money) that will further stimulate our exit from the protracted recession.

In short, while the Q1-Q2 outlook for France is mildly optimistic it may take several quarters before we see any positive effects in our shops, particularly when our target consumers (16 -35 years) occupy the highest rung on the French unemployment ladder.

Francois Hollande has not delivered the promised labour reform and public spending cuts fast enough to allow French businesses to remain competitive with the rest of Europe (France is second only to Denmark in its social spending with roughly 0.55 centimes of every GDP Euro spent on social programs). The recent wealth income tax (75%) and revised taxes on secondary home sales have also discouraged wealthy Europeans from investing in France.

Even shops like Endless Winter in the luxury destination resort of Courchevel (who have been relatively insulated from the economic crisis until now) are feeling the heat. “Normally our clientele is not as price sensitive as the average consumer you might find in a regular small town or inner city shop”, states Bertie Bertim, owner and managing director. While most shops feel the pinch of changing fashion trends and margin erosion to cheap mass retail substitutes, their business remained steady in 2013. However, as the new tax laws take effect they are feeling pressure.

“French customers are non existent,” Bertie laments. “We got hit a few years ago by online giants (who snaked most of their price and mid-point business) so we focused almost exclusively on higher-end customers. Our typical customer today doesn’t spend much time online looking for the best price. They are more likely to rock up with a pocket full of cash and buy what they want on the spot.” But since the new tax laws have come into effect, wealthy French clients are either staying home or taking their business elsewhere. If we look at the real estate market in surf and ski towns like Biarritz, Megeve, or Courchevel there has been a large correction in prices this quarter with more to follow. Wealthy individuals, in order to avoid stiff new capital gains taxes on their second homes, are simply cashing out of the market before March 31 and bailing on France to more taxfavourable jurisdictions. The result is that fewer high net worth customers are shopping in France, and fewer still in French specialty surf, skate, and snow shops.

Compared to Q1 last year Bertie estimates his business is down 10% in January and 15% in February. Hard goods held steady, but with unseasonably warm weather between October and Christmas, heavy jackets and outerwear sales were off and soft goods took a beating across all categories. Heavy snows in late February allowed them to bounce back to a relatively normal rhythm, but the damage was already done. Bertie reported that his best results came from top of the line technical gear (both hard and soft goods).

Bertie also reported that the seasons continue to get shorter due not only to major weather pattern changes, but also unscrupulous online retail discounting. Fred Pegilhan, owner of La Glisse in Grenoble couldn’t agree more. “In Grenoble we all look forward to frost on the ground by the end of October and some early snow in November. This year it didn’t even get cold until around Christmas and by then it was too late. In fact, this has been the warmest winter on record for over a century. At least it was good for our skate business. Fortunately we had decent snow every few days from Christmas on and were able to catch up on some sales, but overall we missed out big time.” Similar to Endless Winter, Fred’s premium snowboard sales remained stable.

When asked to comment on online business Fred simply said that “online retailing is an expensive, time consuming proposition these days. I am afraid to spend money on Adwords and other online publicity because I don’t know if it’s doing any good, especially if I put the same marketing spend to use on something I can control in my shop.” Bertie concurs, “I liken what’s happening in online retailing today to what happened years ago when Virgin Megastores or major super market chains invaded small towns. First they put all the small guys out of business with low pricing. Eventually good brands have to work with them on their terms if they want to be in the market. And once they have all the best brands they raise their prices to normal levels.” The sad part is that the expertise, knowledge, service, and passion is lost along the way. To this end I will only suggest that brands have to do a much better job segmenting collections and protecting guys like Bertie and Fred before the soul of our fine sports disappear into the ether, or the ethernet, as it were.

“Vieux Campeur moved in 200 meters from La Glisse two years ago”, Fred continues. “They have taken a ton of my business.

Fortunately most kids who know what they are looking for still come to us for advice and service, but it’s only a matter of time before Vieux Campeur start eyeing that business too. “ To further complicate Q1, the socio-political climate is tense as Russia forcefully attempts to wrestle control of the strategic Black Sea province of Crimea from Ukraine. “I don’t know if it all has to do with politics, but Courchevel is usually full of Russians spending money in my shop and this quarter they are just not here.

They are definitely the type of people who buy what they want right now without shopping around online first.” Of course the lack of Russian patronage could also be attributed to a government forced moratorium on all travel visas for Russian citizens during the Sochi Olympics. If the political turmoil continues, however, we should brace ourselves for the impact and consider marketing our outdoor wonders to the newly minted youth of Beijing, Singapore, and Dubai.

The only worthy news in the skate sector is that deck sales were up roughly 5% due to the unseasonably warm weather. Surf was non-existent as violent storms and massive waves punished the French coast and wreaked havoc on coastal villages, causing millions of Euros in damage. Not exactly shopping weather!

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MARKET INTELLIGENCE

SPAIN

By Asier Zabarte The Minister of Finance and Public Administration argues that not raising nominal wages is good for Spanish competitiveness and purchasing power. The governor of the Bank of Spain has warned that such a low current inflation rate has positive aspects relating to the moderation of wages, as it avoids a loss of purchasing power but also recognizes that means a difficulty for the deleveraging process that is engaged in the country and for the economic recovery. So let´s see how the Spanish retailer survives while indebted.

For this year’s ‘Obsession-A2’ event in Cantabria, over 300 people will come together from the surf and snow scenes for the second edition of the event. Pedro Garcia, event organiser has owned a boardsports store in Santander named Obsession, which is where the name of the event came from. I spoke with Pedro to find out more about this year’s event. “The event takes place between two spots, Somo and Alto Campo and this year we expect the number of visitors to multiply, which will work well for both brands and retailers. We hope that retailers will be able to increase their sales by around 2030% during the event – a time normally in the low-season for tourism.”

I also spoke with Pedro about the core business. “For me, it’s the daily contact with the customer that makes me happy! Don’t get me wrong, over-taxation makes me mad, but over all I’m happy with our sales as hardgoods increased by 10-15% last year.”

Next up I spoke with Nando Agosti, who founded a ski/snow hardgoods rental shop at the base of Alto Campo in 1969. Nando told us that he wasn’t expecting a massive increase in rental during the event, but appreciates that this kind of initiative helps the local economy.

Nacho and David Garcia are managers of a Surf School whose doors have been open since 1977. Nacho told us “ I think somehow big brands forget to care about the core retail as being the grass roots of it all. Executives and politicians didn’t do us any favours and nowadays we’re nothing more than a number for most. The outlets and discounts during the season by big brands are the biggest pain for local retail.

For us, wetsuit sales are grew at a rate of 20%, which is the opposite of surfboards with a 25% drop, which we solved with SUP, skate and longboards – with about a 30% increase.

Chily in Malaga has been owned by Iván Martinez de Ubago since 2009. “People are a little happier and they don´t talk about the crisis anymore. Wetsuits sales went up 30% on last year´s sales; Rip Curl’s “E-Bomb pro” and “Dawn Patrol” worked well, also Hurley´s “Fusion”, and in boardshorts their “Phantom” performed well. Christmas went well for skate sales, which helps us to survive. We are looking forward to start working with Hoff and Manual in SUP.” Pedro Jiménez from Toxicworld Boardshop in Madrid, founded the store in 2005, and specializes in longboard, skate and surf. Pedro told us: “this season is one of the worst since we opened, sales dropped 10% and hard goods are what keeps the store afloat. We need the big brands and distributors to take care of the retailers by making equal prices, respecting the sales areas and influence of each store and trying to work with all kinds of events that shops propose. e-Commerce is also very aggressive with certain sectors.”

Angel Hernandez has invented Rep-Sticker, a rapid reparation kit for surfboards that all European retailers may be ordering while reading this article. Based on aeronautical materials, the rapid reparation kit offers surfers the ability to continue surfing with moderate damage to the board.

66

SWITZERLAND

By Fabien Grisel Hot, hot, hot! While the elders predicted the coldest winter for 50 years, it seems as if the complete opposite has occurred. According to Meteo Suisse it was the third warmest winter for 150 years. Cities like Neuchatel and Geneva didn’t see one single snowflake all winter, there was heavy precipitation but often accompanied by a warm current.

Result: a winter that went by almost unnoticed, I don’t remember having to put on a jacket outside once and that didn’t help to motivate your average winter sports consumer to organise a trip to the mountains. The only exceptions were maybe Tessin and Engadine in the Southeast of our country; these areas were bombarded with snow. Indeed, all these disturbances came from the south and laid down a record-breaking snowpack in those parts, up to two metres in one week! But over most of the country the figures were not great and this meant a slight drop in resort visitors (-10% in February alone) and quite a few problems from a shop’s point of view with trouble in shifting stock.

For the snowboard market it was an even more difficult season full of challenges with half-mast rates of sale and the erosion of sales assistants’ motivation. It’s not all bad though, the snowboarders are still there and we’ve even seen some who went back to the planks come back to snowboarding to rediscover the stoke they had as teenagers. The youth are also once again attracted by the notion of standing sideways, on one of those boards with the funny looking bindings on them, which has brought with it the appeal of something new and different, like it was in the ‘90s which brought the success we know today. The fashion of “I don’t want to do the same as all the others” might well return. To illustrate this, we can see that quite a few shops have shown good board rental figures for kids of age 10-12 which is obviously really encouraging because they are the future customers of a market who needs them to survive.

To rub salt into the wounds, the mass media, notably the RTS (Radio Television Suisse) could find nothing better than to do a report on the televised evening news entitled “Snowboarding is running out of steam” with the lovely setting of Leysin where only skiers were filmed and interviewed insisting on the fact that snowboarding has become a ‘hasbeen’ while snowboarders, very much present that day, were cut from the shots. It was a report that maybe should have been made 6 years ago when there was a real dip in interest but it’s hard to swallow now when we are seeing a little comeback and undeniable curiosity sparked amongst the youth.

As for news hot off the press, we can note the arrival of a new snowboard brand available from next September: West Snowboards.

It’s a Swiss brand and the endeavour of three Swiss (Swiss-French) snowboard scene players Mathieu Rouiller, Michel Kropf and David Lambert. They started this venture all well aware of the challenges in store but motivated by being able to offer a different, high-quality product to people who believe in snowboarding like they do. Mathieu sums them up like this: “West Snowboards is the expression of our vision of snowboarding, David, Michel and I are united in transmitting our passion, which reflects the past 20 years of riding in the SwissFrench alps. “We are WEST, snowboarding is our path”. We are offering an eclectic range of boards that are simple and effective with collabs from Swiss-French graphics artists.”

In distributors’ news in Switzerland, Dav Agency will take care of the sales of Mizu and Poler while Dac Sport is now responsible for the sales of Nike Vision.

MARKET INTELLIGENCE

ITALY

By Franz Josef Holler It’s happened again - we have a new Prime Minister. It´s the former mayor of Firenze, Matteo Renzi. He comes from the same party as Enrico Letta and is the youngest Prime Minister Europe has ever seen.

He´s 39 years old and full of energy, energy that he will need as his plan to bring Italy out of the recession into a better and brighter future should happen quite fast if his last speech is anything to go by. Renzi also wants to help small businesses grow again and that´s exactly what our business needs. He also wants to fight against youth unemployment.

Young people make up a large portion of our end consumer and if they don’t have jobs there´s not enough money around for decent growth.

Spring season is in full swing we’ve already had temperatures of over 20 degrees in March. This is good for the overall mood and good for the skate business as kids are motivated to go out and shred streets and skateparks all over the country.

Price point boards are still the best sellers in most shops, but it´s different when it comes to trucks, as skaters don’t mind spending those extra few Euros to get the best trucks. It’s the same on the wheels front where Bones and Spitfire are on top of the game. Cruiser and longboard business had a slower start into 2014 as the hype has seemed to slow down a bit. Surf stores are still doing well in this category, as the slightly older surf customer is more into longboarding these days.

Surf hardware business seems stable but it´s too early to judge for most stores. Most surf stores are happy with their hardgood sales and say that on the clothing side more and more customers are in search for smaller labels and are well informed thanks to social media and the internet.

Accessories is the next big thing happening right now. Stores are making good money out of hats and socks. These two categories are by far the most sold items, followed by t-shirts for spring. Snapbacks, 5panels and New Eras sell very fast and so do socks from Stance, Huf and Happy Socks. Most stores are now also dedicating a good display to hats and socks as they are ‘must haves’ and an easy seller.

Another trend that a lot of stores are noticing is jogging pants with a chino cut; very trendy, comfortable and combine with running shoes mostly from Nike, New balance and Vans. Nike are now in every store from streetwear to boardsports and sports business - their marketing strategy paid off and retailers are happy with the sell-through they gain out of it. The Janoski and Koston Max are also selling well in different sneaker boutiques.

Not every retailer is happy with this, however, as they fear Nike could pull out of this business very fast if the numbers fall and so they want to have a good balance of brands in their shoe brand range. The well established stores especially feel that skater owned brands need to be supported in times where sell-through of corporate companies is way better and easier to sell. We need to support brands that have built our industry and we need to teach our customers where we came from as it´s the backbone of our industry.

Some new entries in the Italian market are Asphalt Yacht Club, who found a home at Fresco distribution from Merano. Poler Stuff is under Blue Distribution’s roof in Verona and Undefeated can be purchased from Slam Jam by Ferrara. Electric are now sold by Friend Distribution.

For this upcoming summer season DVS Shoes have announced an Italian Tour with their US team showing at the Italian Championships in Bolzano at the Platza Skatepark and the best trick contest BLAST! THE BIG ONE is confirmed for late June. That´s it for this issue, go out and have fun.

AUSTRIA

By Michael Reinwald The situation in Austria is getting more difficult by the minute, although there are some positive indicators in the retail segment.

While the South of the country was hit with the winter of the century, other regions of Austria received only a light dusting of snow.

Accordingly, results in retail sales varied from region to region. But one first thing’s first...

At Fame skate shop in Vienna, spring weather has brought back skate and longboard sales from hibernation, with best sellers including Girl, Skatemafia, Bones Wheels, Independent and Real. The shoe segment is dominated by Nike, Lakai and Emerica, with cup sole styles as the strongest sellers. In the longboard segment, Loaded and Sector 9 lead the way, while helmets, gloves and pads are strong categories.

While skate is up, the snow segment is suffering at Fame. Their online store is moving good amounts of bindings, boards and boots. But boots are traditionally an in-store category, as they require getting a good ‘feel’ for the fits and silhouettes. In the snowboard segment, Jones and Yes as well as GNU and Lib-Tech were strong brands. Leaders in the bindings segment are Burton and SP-United, while boots by Nike and Burton are customer favourites. The goggles segment is trending towards large fields of vision and interchangeable lenses, with Anon and Dragon emerging as strong sellers at price points of €150.00 and over.

But the important thing to keep in mind is: Without a decent amount of snow, customers will hardly be motivated to make a purchase.

Especially if the next SALE is always right around the corner...

X-Double store in Innsbruck reported similar results. Board sales were stagnant, but in the fresh summer delivery, women’s apparel by Naketano and Nikita proved a strong performer. At the same time, their market remains over-saturated, especially when bearing overwhelming competition from online resellers in mind. But Adi is hopeful that changes at one of the large big box sports retail chains will inspire customers to get back into specialty snow retail.

In the West of the country at Lifestyle in Landeck, last winter was a poor show. The previous year already saw hardgoods sales struggle, but now outerwear officially fell into a slump as well. According to Hansi, this drop is due to the weather, but also due to competition from e-retailers. Vendors such as Amazon are offering current brand apparel at mark-down prices at the start of the season. Hansi is suggesting an association of independent retailers that can bond together in limiting their orders from these kinds of broadly distributed brands to a minimum, or even drop them from their line-ups entirely in order to focus on brands they can truly stand behind.

At Alton Premium Board Store in Vorarlberg, bindings, boots and splitboards have been incredibly strong sellers, to a point where many models have sold out early on in the season. Leading brands included Jones, Burton and Slash. Strong categories also include complete skateboards and longboards.

At Radix in Linz, this winter proved a bit better than the previous one. On a positive note, some older skaters have got back on board and purchased new set-ups. Since longboards are still in great demand, Radix has opened a dedicated longboards corner. All eyes are currently on the Urfahr Park, where a new ‘Street League’ obstacle will be inaugurated this weekend with a best trick contest and BBQ. And everyone across the country is joining Andi right now in keeping their fingers crossed for a great start into spring season and a bright and sunny Easter!

67

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POSITION TITLE: Marketing Manager, EMEA & India LOCATION: Zurich, Switzerland

Skullcandy International Inte GmbH is looking for a rock star Marketing Manager to join the Zurich Marketing team currently looking after Europe, Middle East and India. Directly reporting to the Marketing Director, this entails playing a pivotal role in the Marketing team and being the go to person for all major brand executions.

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES: •Primary point person for operational marketing in EMEA – you are the face of the brand •Driving all countries and regions to take the stories to market – you are a leader •Building calendars and concept maps to allow timely and structured executions – you are organized structu •Point person for assets and tools – you are the one who knows it all •Organizing or supporting any consumer facing event – you know how to get stuff done / will get your hands dirty •Driving PR agencies across key countries (UK, FR, DE, SP, NL) – you energize and drive them •Managing Marketing budgets – you are accountable and responsible •Supporting the whole organization unconditionally, especially sales and distributors – you are a team player

REQUIRED SKILLS AND QUALIFICATIONS: •5 years experience with a strong lifestyle brand (consumer electronics, sports, action sports, music, etc.)

•A proven track record of performance, highly effective and organized •Well connected within the consumer electronics or lifestyle business •Strong connection to our brand through music and/or action sports •Self-motivated; implements the vision of the brand with minimal supervision, always enlisting, always stoking, always positive •Under-promise, over-deliver, and always follow through on commitments •Must be able to do what’s needed, travel, rent cars, manage time and pedal to the metal!

TO APPLY: E-Mail your resume and a cover letter to careers-europe@skullcandy.com. Due to a high volume of resumes, we will only contact well-qualified candidates for further interviews. Only candidates eligible to work in Switzerland will be considered.

COMPANY PROFILE: Skullcandy became one of the world's most distinct audio brands by bringing color, colo character and performance to an otherwise monochromatic space; revolutionizing the audio arena by introducing headphones, earbuds and other audio and wireless lifestyle products that possess unmistakable style and exceptional performance. From the award-winning, optic-inspired Roc Nation Aviator headphones to the evolutionary fitting FIX earbuds and a roster of some of the world's finest athletes, musicians and artists, Skullcandy continues to redefine world-class audio performance and style.

SKULLCANDY INTERNATIONAL GMBH // HEINRICHSTRASSE 235 // 8005 ZÜRICH, SWITZERLAND

POSITION TITLE: DACH Sales & Marketing Coordinator LOCATION: Germany, preferably Munich/Cologne/Berlin

Skullcand is looking for a talented and driven Sales & Marketing Coordinator in the DACH region. This entails Skullcandy successfully supporting the sales functions and implementing marketing strategies on the ground and with our best retail chains in the region. It’s the best position there is, the one that connects all the dots, maximizes sales and enlists the trendsetters.

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES: SALES •Reports to and works closely with the Country Manager to drive the business in the region •Drives customer customer specific specific plans plans as as outlined outlined by by the the Country Country Manager Manager •Drives •Supports the Country Manager in tracking all key metrics (revenue, expenses, budgets) necessary to better monitor the business and the opportunities in the region MARKETING •Works with the Country Manager and European Marketing Team to build regional plans in line with budget and communication guidelines •Is the Key Accounts’ point of contact for all in-store and trade marketing activities •Manages Marketing budgets including customer Marketing Development Funds •Organises, leads and ensures execution of all plans needing on the ground activation in the region (trade shows, events)

REQUIRED SKILLS AND QUALIFICATIONS: •3 to 5 years experience with key accounts in the major markets •A proven track record of performance of hitting set targets and goals •Well connected within the consumer electronics or Lifestyle business •Connection to our brand through music and/or action sports •Self-motivated; implements the vision of the brand with minimal supervision, always enlisting, always stoking, always positive •Under-promise, over-deliver, and always follow through on commitments •Must be able to do what’s needed, travel, rent cars, manage time and pedal to the metal!

TO APPLY: APP E-Mail your resume and a cover letter to careers-europe@skullcandy.com. Due to a high volume of resumes, we will only contact well-qualified candidates for further interviews.

POSITION TITLE: Sales Manager / Country Manager LOCATION: Gothenburg, Sweden

Skullcandy is seeking a proactive and driven Sales Manager to assist in successfully implementing strategies with our best retail chains and consumer electronics shops in the Nordic region.

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES: •Report to and work closely with the Sales Director, based in Zürich, Switzerland •Act as the lead sales and business development person across the Nordic Region •Participate in key accounts meetings in both Core and CE channels •Drive and coordinate distributors to make sure they hit their quarterly targets •Challenge the sales organisation to make sure we have the best partners in place •Ensu in-store strategies are implemented and generate ROI •Ensure •Work closely with the Marketing department to implement strong demand creation plan across all the Nordics •Work within established budgets to maximize ROI and manage budgets where applicable •Track YOY performance and best retailers in every region •Responsible for gross revenue, product margin and SR&A

REQUIRED SKILLS AND QUALIFICATIONS: •5 to 10 years experience as a Sales / Country Manager function in the Nordic Region •Experience in driving distributors •Strong knowledge of the lifestyle and consumer electronic business •Capable of driving a full P&L •Entrepreneurial and self-motivated APP TO APPLY: E-Mail your resume and a cover letter to careers-europe@skullcandy.com. Due to a high volume of resumes, we will only contact well-qualified candidates for further interviews.

COMPANY PROFILE: Skullcandy Skullcand became one of the world's most distinct audio brands by bringing color, character and performance to an otherwise monochromatic space; revolutionizing the audio arena by introducing headphones, earbuds and other audio and wireless lifestyle products that possess unmistakable style and exceptional performance. From the award-winning, optic-inspired Roc Nation Aviator headphones to the evolutionary fitting FIX earbuds and a roster of some of the world's finest athletes, musicians and artists, Skullcandy continues to redefine world-class audio performance and style.

COMPANY PROFILE: Skullcand Skullcandy became one of the world's most distinct audio brands by bringing color, character and performance to an otherwise monochromatic space; revolutionizing the audio arena by introducing headphones, earbuds and other audio and wireless lifestyle products that possess unmistakable style and exceptional performance. From the award-winning, optic-inspired Roc Nation Aviator headphones to the evolutionary fitting FIX earbuds and a roster of some of the world's finest athletes, musicians and artists, Skullcandy continues to redefine world-class audio performance and style.

SKULLCANDY INTERNATIONAL GMBH // HEINRICHSTRASSE 235 // 8005 ZÜRICH, SWITZERLAND

SKULLCANDY INTERNATIONAL GMBH // HEINRICHSTRASSE 235 // 8005 ZÜRICH, SWITZERLAND

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EVENTS#70 SURF / SKATE / SNOW / TRADE

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2-4

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2-13

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5 LONGBOARD CLASSIC STUABI AUSTRIA SNOW WWW.LONGBOARDCLASSIC.COM 5

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24

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26-28 CAPSULE WOMEN’S PARIS FRANCE TRADE, WWW.CAPSULESHOW.COM 26-29 SILMO PARIS FRANCE TRADE WWW.SILMOPARIS.COM 70

ONE EYED MONSTER ISPO 2014

686’s Jono and Stephane

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Holden stand, Marc and Mikey

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Ride

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TSG booth with Nadja holding the Gravity helmet with new goggle line and Nils with the Path helmet and a big smile

#70

Urban Beach’s Rob, Tom and Ross

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BRIGHT TRADE SHOW 2014 Bright’s Marco

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Bright’s Thomas

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ONE EYED MONSTER

#70

JACKET REQUIRED 2014

Deus Ex Machinas Rob

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Tom Henshaw (Altamont, emerica, éS)

SLIDE 2014

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Mat Horwood (Electric UK Marketing) & Pierre Greilsamer (Electric Retail & Marketing Coordinator)

Sweet Protection’s Gregory

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